Global order turning more multipolar and transactional, says External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday that the new global order will be more multipolar, transactional, and unstable, featuring multiple centres of autonomous decision-making and sharper competition.

Current Global Volatility

Speaking at the 24th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in a conversation with HT's Editor-In-Chief R Sukumar, Jaishankar stated that the world is navigating very stormy seas due to multiple conflicts. These include wars in Ukraine and West Asia, the grim situation in Sudan and Central Africa, and disruptions in food and fuel supplies. He noted that the Russia-Ukraine conflict has entered its fifth year, while the West Asia situation became much more bitter and intractable following the Hamas terror attacks in October 2023. Food exports stuck in the Black Sea and rising fuel costs have impacted global prices, including in India.

Shifts In Alliances

Jaishankar explained that international alliances will become less cohesive and more transactional as countries make more national choices based on self-interest. The global stage features more variables and fewer predictable outcomes due to a larger number of self-centred players. He pointed out that US-China competition drives much of this volatility, alongside a changed approach by the US toward even its long-standing partners. Factors such as US energy self-sufficiency, growing technology gaps, and a revolution in warfare have increased the global propensity to take risks.

India's Strategy

To navigate these challenges, Jaishankar emphasized that India's compass will be its national interest. He noted that India must build domestic capacities through initiatives like Atmanirbhar Bharat, Make in India, Innovate in India, and Production-Linked Incentives. Describing the period from the 1960s to the end of the 1990s as lost decades for manufacturing, he stressed the need to improve infrastructure, logistics, education, skilling, and invest in semiconductors, life sciences, and artificial intelligence.

Context

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar regularly outlines India's diplomatic vision and foreign policy stance at major public forums and leadership summits. His remarks reflect New Delhi's pragmatic approach of maintaining strategic autonomy while balancing relationships with major global powers amid ongoing geopolitical friction. Such foreign policy assessments help guide national economic and security planning as global supply chains and trade networks face increasing disruption.