India must constantly reassess strategy amid complex global landscape: EAM Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said India must continuously adapt its approach to an evolving global environment as its interests international exposure and number of partners continue to expandAddressing the inaugural session of the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Indian Council of World Affairs ICWA in New Delhi Jaishankar said India is operating in an increasingly complex landscape and needs to constantly reassess its strategies and responsesHe pointed to the conflicts in the Gulf and Ukraine noting that India maintains relations with all parties involved making its diplomatic choices particularly challengingThere are two major conflicts currently underway one in the Gulf and the other in Ukraine In each case India has good ties with all the parties involved Forging an approach is therefore not easy How to balance out the various equities is a legitimate subject of conversation Or let me give you another example the global economy is witnessing the weaponisation of everything We are also seeing greater volatility in tariffs and increased dumping on other markets How could that be best countered Another subject for discussion or let us take competition itself it is now taking an extreme form with less restraint and higher risks he saidJaishankar stresses need for nuanced approachThe External Affairs Minister said India must examine ways to deter avoid or mitigate emerging risks instead of approaching global issues through rigid positionsWhat can be done to deter to avoid to mitigate Clearly much food for thought here The point Im making is that an India with greater interests more exposure a larger number of partners and operating in a more complex landscape will have to constantly apply and reapply itself to this dynamic Often the answers are in optimising strategy and responses rather than taking blackandwhite positions he addedJaishankar also emphasised that India needs to develop approaches suited to its own circumstances while learning from the experiences of other countriesDiplomacy after all is very much an exercise in nuance it is not enough to optimise India also has to customise We can draw lessons from the experiences of others but ultimately the fact is that we are unique It is therefore all the more important for us to have those debates amongst ourselves an exercise where ICWA can make a real differenceICWArsquos role in shaping Indiarsquos global outlookJaishankar highlighted ICWArsquos contribution to the study and promotion of international affairs since its establishment He noted that Parliamentrsquos designation of the council as an institution of national importance reflected its distinctive role in Indiarsquos intellectual engagement with the worldHe said the 25th anniversary was an opportunity not only to look back at ICWArsquos journey but also to consider the role it can play in the futureIndiarsquos global role continues to expandJaishankar said India is engaging with a wider range of countries and regions while its global interests responsibilities and international expectations have increasedIndia today engages with a much wider range of countries and regions Our interests have become increasingly global our responsibilities have grown and expectations of India have also risen correspondingly India is also articulating with greater confidence its perspectives on global challenges including those that concern the Global South As Indias global role grows our intellectual engagement with international affairs must keep paceHe also called for greater space for Indian perspectives in international relations saying the countryrsquos history experiences and interests should inform how it approaches global affairsWhile much of the established discourse on international relations has been shaped by concepts and experiences developed elsewhere a rising India must increasingly bring its own history experience interests concepts and even terminology to the way it approaches the world ICWA has an important place in this endeavour By encouraging informed debate from an Indian perspective it ICWA contributes to a deeper understanding of the choices before us and a more confident articulation of Indias approach to the world It must therefore play an active part in the debates that always accompany the rise of any power he addedWith inputs from IANS