Fair world order feasible if Asia multipolar: EAM

New Delhi, May 14

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar today invited the European Union to participate in the Indo-Pacific and offered India’s role in diversifying its economy. He suggested the need for a regular, comprehensive and candid India-EU dialogue on the Indo-Pacific that “is not limited to the crisis of the day”.

He was speaking at the EU-Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum (EIPMF) at Sweden. “The more the EU and Indo-Pacific deal with each other, the stronger will be their respective appreciation of multipolarity. A multipolar world is feasible only by a multipolar Asia,” said Jaishankar, who also held discussions with several of his EU counterparts on a range of bilateral issues, including strengthening ties amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“The EU has major stakes in Indo-Pacific developments, especially as these pertain to technology, connectivity, trade and finance,” he said, adding it had to be seen in context of observance of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and urged the EU to look at the reality, saying, “Agnosticism on such matters is therefore no longer an option.”

The reference was to China which has not accepted a UNCLOS verdict demarcating the maritime territorial limits of the South China Sea. It has rather entered into negotiations with five other countries over deciding the limits of the South China Sea. Just last week Chinese maritime “militia” shadowed warships of India and ASEAN countries as they conducted exercises in the South China Sea.

In a reference to China, he said, “Established thinking is being tested by the outcomes of the last two decades. How to respond to non-market economics is proving to be a formidable challenge than most expected?”

“Recent events have highlighted the problems with economic concentration, as also the need for diversification,” he said referring to how supply chains of global factories depend on China.

“De-risking the global economy involves reliable and resilient supply chains and promoting trust and transparency in the digital domain,” he added.

Pitching the India story and how EU could use it, the minister said transformations underway in India, like digital public delivery or green growth initiatives deserved EU’s attention. India’s rapidly expanding global footprint would intersect with the EU more in the coming years, he added.