JaishankarBengaluru, Dec 7 (PTI) Foreign Secretary S Jaishankartoday laid a pitch for India making a strong commitment topromoting its technologies abroad through business activitiesand development partnerships.
"On the diplomatic side, widening Indianaccess technology has been one of our longest standingendeavours. I can state with some pride that there have beenvery few countries whose foreign policy has created that manyopenings with major technology sources," he said at atechnology summit here.
India has negotiated bilaterally and multilaterally toexpand technology cooperation and understanding in a widevariety of fields.
"While traditionally, the focus was on nuclear, defenceand space, today it extends to other forms of energy, railroads, urban and agricultural technology, water resources andhealth," Jaishankar said.
He was speaking on 'Technology Diplomacy: Prospects forIndia and Japan' at the two-day Global Technology Summit 2017organised by Carnegie India here.
Pointing to the country's efforts till now to accelerateinward flows, the foreign secretary observed that this wasbalanced today by a growing emphasis on outwardcollaborations.
Towards that end, it is imperative for India to shapekey negotiations and deliberations, whether it is in Geneva,Vienna or Paris, he stressed.
It was equally essential now to start taking the lead indeployment of technologies and the International Solar Alliance was a notable initiative in that regard, Jaishankarpointed out.
"But as a country, we need to show strong commitment to promoting our technologies abroad through business activities and developmental partnerships," Jaishankar said further.
He also touched on its various facets, includingextending lines of credit and facilitating trade and services.
Stating that the history of international affairs is inmany ways the history of technology, he said equations betweensocieties and nations had been largely determined by thisfactor, and most dramatically, they were expressed in theoutcome of military conflicts.
But there was also more secular rise of economic power,one that is essentially driven by the growth of technologicaland later industrial capacities, he explained.
"... if technology impacted the international powerdistribution, the pace and capacity for adaptation certainly contributed to the rise and fall of nations and eventuallyto the nature of the global order," Jaishankar added.
Acknowledging that India's contemporary history had beenone of playing "technology catch-up" like other largemodernising societies like Russia, Japan, Korea and China, theforeign secretary said that for a variety of reasons, it hasbeen a much harder journey for India.
Now, the technology challenge, according to the topdiplomat, had shifted from access to absorption, generationand deployment, and it was sought to be addressed byprogrammes like Make in India, Skill India, Digital India andStartup India.
"Making it easier to do business is also integrating India into global technology supply chains. This willaccelerate as we appreciate the distinction between Make inIndia and Make for India," Jaishankar emphasised.
He cited the example of Japan that brings a uniquecombination of economic, political, technological and culturalsynergies and the country indirectly or directly has driventhe larger economic resurgence of Asia.
"So, if there is a partner that India needs to reach outto at this juncture it is that country (Japan)," he said, adding that Japan has had the long-standing presence inIndian economy and society.
Jaishnkar also noted that Japan was responsible for twomajor technological upgrades in India -- Maruti and Metro --which have had the ripple effects beyond the narrow sectorsand helped change the Indian mindset and lifestyle.
"We are now poised for a third upgrade like high-speedrail technology," he said, adding that "today, there seems tobe a much broader Japanese thinking on India -- one thatsuggests that the larger and stronger Indian economy is inJapan's strategic interest".
Japan is the partner country for the Global Technology Summit 2017.
Speaking at the same event, Japanese Ambassador to IndiaKenji Hiramatsu said there is huge potential for his countryto tap into from Bengaluru, India's technology hub.
"I will be discussing this possibility with Japanese business leaders," he said. PTI KSU RA VSARD.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.