India’s stature in the world has risen in last 5 years: EAM Jaishankar

Addressing a gathering at the Growth Net Summit in the national capital, Union Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar said the five years of the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has kept alive and even strengthened the expectation of change in India.

New Delhi: In his first public remarks after taking charge last week, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday claimed that a large majority of people in India have recognised that the country's stature in the world has risen in the last five years.

Addressing a gathering at the Growth Net Summit in the national capital, S Jaishankar said,” If you look around the world, South Asia is among the least connected regions due to multiples reasons such as history, identity, etc. A lot of attention was given in the last five years to this to make it more connected and I am very confident that it would be among our top priorities for the next five years."

While highlighting India's relationship with its immediate neighbourhood, Jaishankar said the priority has been to focus on the regional grouping BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) rather than SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation).

BIMSTEC, he said, is witnessing a great deal of positive energy. It was decided to leverage that and invite the leaders of BIMSTEC nations to the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Modi last month, he added.

According to the Minister, changes the world is witnessing are very sharp and globalisation is under stress, especially in terms of market access and mobility of labour.

Second is the growth of nationalism, which he said is being validated electorally across the globe, and the third is the global rebalancing taking place, especially with the rise of China.

The Minister said he will continue with his predecessor Sushma Swaraj's social media outreach to help Indians abroad.

He said "enormous emphasis" will be given to Indians in distress and they now expect the government to reach out to them.

This has changed the image of the foreign ministry, he added.

The External Affairs Minister also called for greater integration between government departments to create a stronger focus on the economic issues being faced by Indian companies, especially in overseas markets.