S Jaishankar urges India to speak out against 'unfair competition'

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at the 96th Annual General Meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) emphasised that India has endured "unfair competition" for too long amid globalisation era. He urged India to speak out against unfair competition.

"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 globalisation era, we have to live with it," Jaishankar said, as reported by ANI.

He added that we must have the ability to call out unfair practices and 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 globalisation 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.

Jaishankar said that about 15 years ago, India was called the back office of the world, and today it is called the "pharmacy" of the world, "designer" of the world, "researcher" of the world and the "producer" of the world.

He also said that when India speaks about its achievements, it is "contemporary" and "impactful" for rest of the world.

Talking about country's achievements in various factors, he mentioned about vaccine and medicine distribution, 5G technology, UPI payments, and advancement in areas of aerospace, mentioning Tejas, which PM Modi had recently flown.

"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 added.

Jaishankar highlighted the need for India to gear up for the challenges coming up in the next 25 years in the sector of EV and AI.

He also shared his viewpoint on 'Bharat', asserting it to be more than a geographical entity and said that it embodies a "belief" and "attitude". He highlighted its economic, political, cultural and social dimensions, emphasising the importance of self-definition.

"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.