EAM Jaishankar calls for fundamental rebalancing of global order amid COVID-19 pandemic

Fundamental rebalancing of the global order is at the heart of the changes in the current world politics and the metrics of measuring power have evolved from being just military to finance, technology and even possession of medical assets, said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday, October 15. Speaking at Bloomberg India Economic Forum 2020, the diplomat-turned-minister drew attention to the COVID-19 pandemic and said it was the most “catastrophic” event since World War II.

"We also need to assign different weightage to different players, not just the US and China but others including India. And the metrics of measuring power is now very different. It's not merely military but finance, trade, connectivity, data, technology, and as we discovered recently it is masks and ventilators," said EAM Jaishankar.

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'Will have significant consequences' 

Talking about `turning a geopolitical crisis into an opportunity', Jaishankar said that in addition to heightened poverty, the COVID-19 pandemic will also have other significant consequences. He said apart from national security and global trade, additional stress in the global system is sure to aggregate.

Speaking of pandemic induced digitalisation, the External Affairs Minister said, “It is customary on such occasion to start by emphasising how much we are missing the good old times, hoping for a return to the real rather than the virtual life. I would not do that, not because I am a contrarian but to emphasise that importance to adapting to change rather than resisting it."

His remark comes as India's total tally for COVID-19 case rose to 73,07,097. Out of the total, 1,11,266 have died while 63,83,441 have recovered. On October 15, Mumbai reported 2119 new cases and 46 new deaths, as Metro services resumed in the financial capital after 7 months. The city also saw 1970 new recoveries as the cured tally soared to 2,03,467. Mumbai is now the fifth-worst hit district in the nation with 2,36,725 cases of which 20,922 cases are active and 9598 fatalities. 

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Image credits: PTI