Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday talked about the effects of globalisation in today’s changing world. Stating that globalisation today has designated currency, trade and tourism as “weapons”, Jaishankar said it is being “weaponised” in various ways by dominant players. The Union Minister on Sunday arrived in the Nigerian capital Abuja from Lagos after attending the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Uganda.
Addressing the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in Lagos, Jaishankar said, “Today, the currency is a weapon, trade is a weapon, tourism is a weapon. They may be dominant as producers, they may be dominant as consumers and often, with very little hesitation, leverage their market shares on the global system for their particular national purpose.”
“We know that this is a world order that was devised in 1945 when the members of the United Nations were about 25 percent of what they are today. This world order continues obstinately because those who are in the driving seat don’t want to create more seats for other people to be at that engine,” he added.
The Union minister further observed that the world order, which was at its natural diversity, was distorted by Western domination.
“The world was diverse and it was distorted by the period of Western domination and in a post-Colonial world today, restoring that natural diversity is actually a collective objective. Now what are the challenges to that process one, of course, is while many of us attained independence, we have all built our Nations and societies,” said Jaishankar.
Jaishankar Stresses on Mutual Cooperation
Emphasing on the long and and nurturing diplomatic relations between India and Nigeria, Jaishankar on Monday said the two nations have agreed to strengthen people-to-people exchanges, energy, mobility and a slew of other sectors.
The development came after Jaishankar co-chaired the 6th Joint Commission Meeting between India and Nigeria at Abuja along with his counterpart Yusuf Tuggar. The two leaders also discussed opportunities in the sectors of power, renewables, transport, healthcare, fintech, agriculture and security between the two countries.
Jaishankar further recalled the presence of Nigeria President Tinubu during the G20 summit held in New Delhi in September 2023 and said, “I think many of you know that today the term strategic partnership is laden with a lot of meaning, with a lot of content and with a lot of promise. So, when we look ahead at what is the working of the Joint Commission, I think we will be guided very much by it.”
Terming Nigeria as an important business partner of India, Jaishankar said, “We have about 130 Indian companies that have really put their economic future, struck roots in this country, to a point where they have actually become one of the largest employers in this country.”
(With agency inputs)
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