India intensifying engagement with global partners from position of strength: Jaishankar

Mumbai: India is engaging with international partners more intensively and from a “position of strength”, External Affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday, citing a string of recent trade agreements as evidence of the country’s growing economic clout.

In an address at the Global Economic Cooperation conference, Jaishankar highlighted the successful negotiation of several high-profile deals, including a significant trade pact with the United States.

The Global Economic Cooperation is an event organised by the Future Economic Cooperation Council in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Government of Maharashtra.

Describing the current international landscape as perhaps the most turbulent in living memory, the minister warned that the world is witnessing the “weaponisation” of production and finance, alongside tightening export controls and volatile market shifts.

“The established global order is clearly changing. Replacements are hard to create, and we appear to be headed to a long twilight zone. This will be messy, risky, unpredictable, perhaps even dangerous,” he said.

Long-standing assumptions and expectations have now become questionable, the minister pointed out.

Key dimensions are transforming simultaneously, be it strategic, political, economic or technological. Solutions lie in de-risking and diversifying across multiple domains. This approach is increasingly visible in the policy of nations, the EAM said.

Jaishankar stressed that the “reform express” will continue to roll on.

“From a position of strength, India is engaging international partners more intensively. This is demonstrated in the recently concluded trade deals,” he said.

Economic security is best served through stronger self-reliance and more trusted partners, the minister added.

Following a phone conversation between PM Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump, both sides recently announced a reduction of US tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent from 50 per cent.