It's world of double standards: EAM S Jaishankar on developed nations' resistance to change

Sandeep Dikshit

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New Delhi, September 24

Days after the Justin Trudeau government in Canada levelled allegations against India over Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s murder, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that the world is still full of “double standards” and those countries which are occupying positions of influence are resisting the pressure to change and those with historical influence have weaponised a lot of those capabilities.

Speaking at a Ministerial Session in New York titled “South Rising: Partnerships, Institutions and Ideas”, hosted by the Observer Research Foundation in collaboration with the India’s Permanent Mission to the UN and Reliance Foundation, Jaishankar said: “I think more than political will, there is political pressure for change. There is a growing sentiment in the world, and the Global South in a way embodies it. But there’s also political resistance. Those who are occupying positions of influence, we see this in the United Nations Security Council most of all, are resisting the pressure to change.” he said. “Those who are economically dominant today are leveraging their production capabilities and those who have institutional influence or historical influence have actually weaponised a lot of those capabilities as well. They will all mouth the right things, but the reality is still today, it’s a world with very much double standards,” he added.

The double standards were exemplified by Covid. The transition can only happen when the Global South puts more and more pressure on the international system, he suggested. Jaishankar said that partly due to Covid and partly due to Ukraine, subjects of importance to the Global South were driven out of global conversations. “To get actually the G20 to talk about what the world wanted it to talk about — that was a real problem in the G20,” he said.

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Resisting reforms

Those who are occupying positions of influence, we see this in the UN Security Council most of all, are resisting the pressure to change. — S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister