External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasised that India’s strategic interests are best served by considered calculation rather than knee-jerk responses as the country navigates global turbulence. 

Speaking at the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Indian Council of World Affairs in New Delhi, he underlined the importance of continuously assessing and optimising India’s strategy in a complex international environment.

He pointed out that two major conflicts are currently underway, one in the Gulf and the other in Ukraine, and India maintains good ties with all parties involved. This makes forging an approach particularly challenging, as balancing equities requires careful deliberation.

He noted that the global economy is witnessing the weaponisation of everything, with volatility in tariffs and increased dumping in markets, raising the question of how best to counter such trends.

Jaishankar stressed that India’s growing interests, wider exposure and expanding partnerships demand sustained effort to respond effectively to rapid changes. He explained that India, with greater interests and more partners, must constantly apply and reapply itself to this dynamic environment. Often, he said, the answers lie in optimising strategy and responses rather than reacting impulsively.

He assessed India’s approach to current turbulence through outcomes such as energy security, exports, supply chains and the safety of the Indian community abroad. On energy security, he highlighted diversification as a key factor in keeping supplies steady and costs manageable.

He added that new partners, markets and routings have protected and even expanded exports. Supply chains, he said, have benefited from nimble solutions, while the Indian community abroad has been secured in large measure due to sound policy choices.

Jaishankar reiterated that strategic interests are better served by considered calculation than by knee-jerk responses. He argued that each of these outcomes demonstrates the importance of continuous debate and dialogue in shaping India’s responses to global uncertainties.

He also underlined the need for India’s intellectual engagement with international affairs to keep pace with its expanding global role. India today engages with a much wider range of countries and regions, and its interests have become increasingly global.

Responsibilities have grown, and expectations of India have risen correspondingly. He noted that India is articulating its perspectives on global challenges with greater confidence, including those concerning the Global South.

Jaishankar added that as India’s global role grows, its intellectual engagement must evolve. Much of the established discourse on international relations has been shaped by concepts and experiences developed elsewhere, but a rising India must increasingly bring its own history, experience, interests, concepts and terminology to the way it approaches the world.

He concluded by stressing that the complexity of India’s external environment, marked by conflicts in the Gulf and Ukraine, uncertainty over tariffs, dumping in markets and the wider weaponisation of economic instruments, makes continuous debate and dialogue indispensable for shaping effective responses.

ANI