India Put Up With Unfair Competition For “Too Long”, Says S Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that India has put up with “unfair competition” for too long in the name of the globalisation era.

He said that India must have the ability to call it out if the competition is unfair.

While speaking at the 96th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on Friday, Mr Jaishankar noted that history is on India’s side and every measurable index is working in India’s favour.

Mr Jaishankar said, “For us a challenge both at home and abroad, is really the protection from unfair competition. That how do we get the data, how do we build the understanding, how do we make sure that feeds into policies? How then do we build our defences? And how do we take action against unfair competition because for too long this country (India) has put up with unfair competition in the name of there’s a globalization era, aisa hi hota hai, we have to live with it.”

“We don’t have to live with it. If competition is unfair, we must have the ability to call it out and finally, how do we help with the globalization of India because the world is globalising. History is on our side. Every measurable index is working in our favour. In that 25 years, that 25 years is not just about growing in India as a Viksit Bharat. It is actually also growing in the world as a Viksit Bharat,” he added.

Highlighting how the position of India in the world has changed over time, Mr Jaishankar said that 15 years back, India was called the back office of the world. However, he added that today India is called the “pharmacy of the world, designer of the world and producer of the world.”

He said, “I would say perhaps about 15 years ago, we used to be called the back office of the world. Today, we are called the pharmacy of the world. We are called the designer of the world. We are called the researcher of the world. We are called the producer of the world. We are called the digital, in a sense, the digital Pioneer, if you would.”

Speaking about India’s achievements, Mr Jaishankar said, “When we speak about our achievements, it is something real, contemporary, and impactful for the rest of the world. I take the conversation on subjects like vaccine, the medicines we provided, the 5G stack that we are rolling out, the UPI payments, which dwarf every other competitive source out there, the Tejas that the Prime Minister has just flown in. So we strive for food security, for energy security. These are long-standing problems, but for which we need to find better and better solutions.”

He said that India needs to make efforts as the country moves into the next 25 years. Mr Jaishankar stated, “But what I can say is, as we move into the next 25 years, whether it is a challenge like EV or a challenge like AI. This country needs to pull up its socks. Get ready. I think this decade has laid the foundation for it.”

He further said, “Prime Minister once sort of, he has a turn of phrase. So he said it’s both about tradition and technology. How do we get it both together? I think in a way, for us today, it’s also both about being more nationalist and being internationalist. How do we, again, find the balance? How do we reconcile both together? And what I can say is that it is only through continuous progress today that we can really lay the basis for greatness tomorrow.”

In his remarks, Mr Jaishankar also explained his perspective on ‘Bharat’ and asserted that Bharat is a ‘belief’ and ‘attitude’ rather than just a geographical entity.

“To me, Bharat is actually a belief and an attitude. For me, Bharat has an economic dimension. It has a political meaning. It has cultural, social, I would say even personal expressions. At the end of the day the term, Bharat means don’t let other people define you. Try and define yourself. That it has to come from itself because that very term Bharat which is so laden with symbolism actually captures centuries of what we are all about as a people,” he said.