Industrialised economies in the west cannot be ignored, said S Jaishankar (File)

Mumbai:

There is a trend towards a more diverse, multipolar world but older, industrialised economies have not gone away and remain prime investment targets, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday.

Speaking at the silver jubilee celebrations of the Aditya Birla Group’s Scholarships programme in Mumbai, S Jaishankar said while a lot of countries are nervous about the US — following the return of Donald Trump as President — India is not one among them.

“Yes, there is a shift. We are ourselves an example of the shift… if you look at our economic weight, you look at our economic ranking, you look at even Indian corporates, their reach, their presence, Indian professionals, which I spoke about. So no question there is a rebalancing,” S Jaishankar said in response to a question on the reset in the global power dynamic that was playing out amid the shift in the balance of power from the west to the east.

“And to my mind, it was inevitable,” he said, adding, “because once these countries after the colonial period got their independence, they started making their own policy choices, then they were bound to grow.” “The part which is not inevitable is that some grew faster, some grew slower, some grew better, and there the quality of governance and the quality of leadership came in. So, there is, in a sense, therefore, the constant and the variable.

“There is a trend towards a more diverse, multipolar world. But there is also, you know, a period when countries really surge ahead. I mean, it’s like what happened in the corporate world as well.” He, however, said the industrialised economies in the west cannot be ignored and remain prime investment targets.

“But do remember one thing, the older, the western economies, the older industrialised economies, they have not gone away. They still count, they are still prime investment targets. They are big markets, strong technology centres, hubs for innovation. So let’s recognise the shift, but let’s not get carried away and kind of overstate it and distort our own understanding of the world,” the minister said.

Speaking on the India-US relationship and Trump’s win, he said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first three calls, I think, that President (elect) Trump took.” India and Prime Minister Modi have built rapport with multiple presidents, he said.

“For him (PM Modi) there’s something natural in terms of how he forges those relationships. So that’s helped hugely. And I think the changes in India have helped as well,” he said, when asked how he sees the US presidential election outcome impacting India-US ties, especially given PM Modi’s strong personal rapport with the US President-elect.

“I know today a lot of countries are nervous about the US, let’s be honest about it. We are not one of them,” S Jaishankar said.

Earlier, Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said investment in talent is what shapes the future, and emphasised that with the scholarship programme, “we were driven by the ambition to create a cadre of handpicked leaders who would excel in India and also represent our country abroad”.

“The Aditya Birla Scholarship is a tribute to my father’s legacy and an ode to the spirit of ambition and extraordinary determination that defines India. With this scholarship programme, we were driven by the ambition to create a cadre of handpicked leaders who would excel in India and also represent our country abroad,” he said.

Terming the scholarship a microcosm of India’s immense talent — abundant and outstanding — Birla said, “The extraordinary success of the programme, as measured by the achievements of our scholars over the years, only indicates that ultimately investment in talent is what shapes the future.” Established in 1999 in memory of late industrialist Aditya Vikram Birla, the programme has emerged as one of India’s most-coveted merit-based scholarships, according to the group.

The programme partners with 22 premier institutions, including select IITS, BITS Pilani, leading IIMS, XLRI, and national law schools.

Over its 25-year journey, over 10,000 applications have been evaluated by a team of experts, maintaining a steadfast commitment to excellence and diversity. The total number of Aditya Birla Scholars now stands at 781 across engineering, management, and law disciplines, according to the group.

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