EAM Jaishankar Stresses Need For Adaptive Foreign Policy In Digital Era

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar, while addressing the event at the launch of India's World Magazine in Delhi, emphasised the necessity for India to adapt its foreign policy to meet the evolving demands of the digital era. EAM Jaishankar stated that the digital era presents distinct challenges, including building global partnerships and trusting others with sensitive data.

"The digital era calls for a foreign policy requirement of its own because the digital era is fundamentally different from the manufacturing era," Jaishankar said, highlighting the importance of forming reliable relationships with service providers and ensuring the secure management of data.

The EAM also discussed the emerging global workspace, where Indian nationals are increasingly working abroad. He cited a significant growth in this trend, with around 33-34 million Indians across the world and said that the number is expected to rise in the coming years.

Furthermore, Jaishankar talked about India's expanding responsibilities in geopolitics, asserting the concept of India as a first responder in times of need, explaining India’s foreign policy focused on "thinking big, thinking long, but thinking smart".

"The digital era calls for a foreign policy requirement of its own because the digital era is fundamentally different from the manufacturing era. The kind of hedging that could be done in manufacturing, at the end of the day, products were products, whereas something digital is not just a product anymore, it's a data emitter. Today, we have to build our global partnerships into our economics," Jaishankar said.

Jaishankar further expressed his concern over the dilemma of forming a trust with the service provider for dealing with your data.

"It is also very much an issue of whose products and services you trust, and where would you like your data to be? Where are other people likely to use your data against you? I think these are all concerns which will be important," he said.

Jaishankar further talked about the emerging global workspace and the constantly growing numbers of Indian nationals working abroad.

"Flowing from that, I think there's a new reality, another new reality which is happening, which is a global workplace. That if one looks in terms of Indians. Working abroad It's growing in leaps and bounds. In many cases, in individual relationships in the last few years, it's grown by hundreds of thousands. So it's it's interesting today that the countries where there is a large Indian population are no longer those which where it was 10-20 years ago. And this is likely to change much faster. As a ballpark figure, there are, I think, about 33 34 million Indian nationals and persons of Indian origin working abroad," Jaishankar said.

He assured that the number of Indian nationals working abroad are going to increase over the years.

Jaishankar also highlighted India's growing responsibilities in geopolitics and the idea of India as a first responder in time of need.

"Today, India is a country of whom there are greater expectations, a country which has greater responsibilities. The idea of India as a first responder will get more frequent. In the expanded neighbourhood region would be an expectation that India be part of an international response whenever wanted. Because the world is changing, there will be new ideas and initiatives" he said.

Jaishankar concluded by saying that Indian foreign policy would be "to think big, to think long, but to think smart."