External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called for greater cooperation from Indo-Pacific nations to tackle covid.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called for greater cooperation from Indo-Pacific nations to tackle covid.
NEW DELHI — India’s economy will bounce back and recover from the damages caused due to the second wave of covid-19, the country’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.
Addressing the inaugural session of the first edition of the Indo-Pacific Business Summit, Jaishankar expressed his confidence over India’s economic recovery.
“Indo-Pacific reflects the reality of globalization, the emergence of multi polarity and the benefits of rebalancing. Common good and common efforts are best addressed through a business summit,” Jaishankar had tweeted earlier.
“India is coming out of the second wave and will witness a strong economic recovery. It will be a more dynamic and friendlier business destination,” the union minister said.
According to data released by India’s National Statistical Office in February, real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at constant prices in the year 2020-21 is estimated to attain a level of INR 134.09 lakh crore ($1.79 trillion).
The minister said that the pandemic had disrupted supply chains around the world, negatively impacting manufacturing and making international trade unpredictable.
Jaishankar said that the country will “contribute to being an engine of growth for the global economy and will very much be a part of more reliable and resilient supply chains that the post-covid world requires.”
He also spoke on the Indo-Pacific vision which was “seamless and integrated space disconnected decades ago” but as “many Indian Ocean economies trade further east and as Pacific ones too have displayed a presence south and westwards, we are quite sensibly seeing the landscape for what it really is.”
The Minister explained that “the vision means the overcoming of the Cold War and a rejection of bipolarity and dominance and is an expression of our collective interest in promoting global prosperity and securing the global commons.”
Jointly organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Ministry of External Affairs, the event witnessed the participation of ambassadors of 12 countries including the Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid, Mauritius’s Foreign Minister Alan Ganoo, France’s Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade Franck Riester, and Australia Foreign Minister Marise Payne.
Addressing The Indo-Pacific Business Summit, Jaishankar raised the “salience of health” amid the Covid crisis, the “power of the digital” and said, “like-minded countries must work together for data-driven digital development partnerships.” He also spoke about “the importance of building or re-building greener.”
On the occasion of the summit, the Australian Foreign Minister & Minister for Women Marise Payne tweeted “Practical Australia-India cooperation on vaccines, maritime security and secure supply chains will shape our region’s economic recovery.”
(With Inputs from ANI)
(Edited by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan and Praveen Pramod Tewari)
