AMN / WEB DESK
India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar has said that a multipolar world is feasible only by a multipolar Asia. Addressing the EU-Indo Pacific Ministerial meeting at Stockholm in Sweden today, he said, the more European Union and Indo-Pacific deal with each other, the stronger will be their respective appreciation of multi-polarity.
Dr. Jaishankar called on the leaders to consider six points, which include globalisation, Indo-Pacific and leveraging of market shares. On globalisation, Dr. Jaishankar said, the European Union has major stakes in Indo-Pacific developments, especially as they pertain to technology, connectivity, trade and finance and it has to, in respect for, and observance of (the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) UNCLOS.
External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar said that India and European Union (EU) need a regular, comprehensive and candid dialogue, especially with regard to the Indo-Pacific. Dr. Jaishankar stressed that talks are not just limited to the crisis of the day. He said that transformations underway in India will merit the EU’s attention.
Highlighting that Indo-Pacific is increasingly central to the direction of global politics, Dr Jaishankar said, the EU and the world is better off with additional drivers of production and growth. Noting that the leveraging of market shares, production capacities and resources is an issue that can no longer be overlooked, he said, a strategically more aware Europe should not limit its consciousness geographically.
Calling Indo-Pacific a complex and differentiated landscape, Dr. Jaishankar emphasised that the EU and Indo-Pacific will become more strong if they deal more with each other. In such an engagement with the Indo-Pacific, the External Affairs Minister hoped that the EU will naturally seek like-minded partners. India is certainly among them, he added.
Stating that India is also rapidly expanding its global footprint and will intersect with that of the EU more in the coming years, Dr.Jaishankar highlighted that transformations underway in India, like digital public delivery or green growth Initiative, certainly merit the EU’s attention. The External Affairs Minister said, any evaluation of the Indo-Pacific will naturally factor in the Quad as a platform for global good.
Dr. Jaishankar arrived in Sweden for a three-day visit to participate in the EUIndo-Pacific Ministerial yesterday. Dr.Jaishankar met his Swedish counterpart Tobias Billstrom and his Japanese counterpart Yoshimasa Hayashi in Sweden. He met with his Indonesian counterpart partner Retno Marsudi and Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan at the EU-Indo-Pacific Ministerial.