Ahmedabad, Sep 3: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday lauded the country’s vast social transformation and said that India is poised for economic recovery of between 7 and 8 per cent.
He also highlighted that the central government had distributed food to over 800 million people.
“India’s seen a vast social transformation. We’re today poised for an economic recovery of 7-8 per cent. The world looks at our economy with a great deal of respect… 800 million people since lockdown till today receive food from the government so we don’t have more people dying of starvation than the disease,” said EAM Jaishankar.
His remarks came while speaking at IIM Ahemdabad in Gujarat where he addressed and interacted with students on various topics about the country’s stand and the Indian foreign policy.
“Swacch Bharat and toilet building caught the world’s attention as earlier it was a blot on our image. The fact that we’ve constructed 100 million toilets with a visible improvement in sanitation has actually had a big impact abroad,” he added.
He also stressed on the indigenous production of COVID vaccines and said,”The fact that we made our own vaccine has really resonated and garnered us respect across the world. Made in India is significantly responsible for upgrading our brand.”
Earlier, Jaishankar on Monday said that the state of the border will determine the state of the relationship between Beijing and New Delhi. Speaking at the launch of the Asia Society Policy Institute in the national capital, the EAM said that much of Asia’s future depends on how the ties between the two countries develop in the foreseeable future.
“Much of the future of Asia depends on how relations between India and China develop in the foreseeable future. For ties to return to a positive trajectory and remain sustainable, they must be based on the three mutuals: mutual sensitivity, mutual respect and mutual interest. Their current status is, of course, well known to all of you. I can only reiterate that the state of the border will determine the state of the relationship,” he said.
Both India and China have engaged in a standoff at a number of friction points in eastern Ladakh for over two years. The situation worsened after violent clashes with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in June 2020. Since then, both sides have been engaged in several high-level military talks.
“Asia’s prospects and challenges are today very much dependent on developments in the Indo-Pacific. In fact, the concept itself is a reflection of divided Asia, as some have a vested interest in keeping the region less cohesive and interactive. That the global commons and the international community are better served by collaborative endeavours like the Quad apparently leaves them cold. Developing even a basic strategic consensus in Asia is, therefore, clearly a formidable task. As the international order evolves, this desire to selectively retain elements of the 1945 situation while transforming others – and we see that in the UN as well – complicates world politics,” Jaishankar further said in the event.
He also emphasized that narrow Asian chauvinism is actually against the continent’s own interests. “Precisely because Asia is so energetic and creative, it would like to benefit from the open doors of other regions. That obviously cannot be a one-way street,” he added.
Jaishankar also said that the “three shocks” of COVID-19 pandemic, Ukraine conflict and climatic disturbances are also impacting the evolution of the Asian economy.
“Together, they make a powerful case for more engines of growth and resilient and reliable supply chains. There is a parallel debate underway in the digital world that focuses around trust and transparency. How these will translate into strategic outcomes is still too early to predict,” he asserted. (ANI)
