NEW DELHI: Two days before representing India at US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday that it is "an event that is expected to have profound consequences for the global order."
Urging that Trump’s ascension to power for a second term should not be viewed as a cause in itself, the external affairs minister suggested: "We should perhaps analyse it as a symptom of a churning that has now reached a critical point."
"That process has many dimensions, many issues, including a rebalancing of economic and political power over multiple decades. It has been accelerated by a particular model of globalization, which while creating greater prosperity, has also led to more insecurity. Conflicts, pandemics, and climate events have actually been aggravating factors in this period. Technology too has played its due part, by enhancing inter-dependence and inter-penetration," Jaishankar said while delivering the Nani Palkhivala Memorial Lecture in Mumbai on the topic 'India and the World.'
He pointed out that those most anxious right now are "the nations and organizations who are deeply invested in the current order" as for them, any significant departure raises risks and questions a long-standing model.
"For the countries who are less invested, it could very well be a time of opportunity. New openings and novel practices could create space that did not exist earlier. India falls in the latter category," Jaishankar added.
Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on January 20, as he assumes a second term in office.
With Trump in the White House, Jaishankar anticipated a potential shift in US foreign policy, moving from traditional global leadership to an 'America first' approach.
"Today, we may well be on the cusp of a new era. One where the United States departs from an established tradition of foreign policy and focuses on its own interests, rather than in shaping the world itself. Where the focus is more on the compulsions of competition rather than on observance of regimes," he said.
"Therefore, the relevance of India to global outcomes will be a subject of ever increasing interest. A year ago, I wrote a book on why we matter to the world. Now, as global volatility rises, I believe that we do so even more," the external affairs minister said.
Talking about the neighbourhood, Jaishankar singled Pakistan for its continuing support for cross border terrorism that has become a cancer consuming its own body politic.
"Pakistan is an exception in our neighbourhood, in view of its support to cross border terrorism. That cancer is now consuming its own body politic. The entire subcontinent has a shared interest in Pakistan abjuring that approach," he said.
