Key Points
- Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar highlights the urgent collective task to de-risk the global economy
- The Indian external affairs minister emphasises that a new multi-polarity is emerging as a result of the rebalancing of the global society
- Australia’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen says Australia and India are key partners in addressing the climate crisis and accelerating the global energy transformation
Speaking at the inaugural Raisina @ Sydney Dialogue on 18 February, India’s Minister of External Affairs, Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, said India’s G20 presidency this November is proof of the re-balance of global society.
“Till 2008, the global leadership was seen as G7, which was too narrow… Today, the production and consumption centres of the world are vastly different and the [power] balances are shifting,” Dr Jaishankar said at the event.
“This rebalancing today is actually creating an emerging multi-polarity… there will be more powers who will have more influence on global debates and global outcomes than they did before,” he said.
Dr Jaishankar added there is an urgent collective task to de-risk the global economy from over-dependence on manufacturing and energy services, particularly in green energy technologies.
External Affairs Minister of India, Dr Jaishankar at the Raisina @ Sydney Dialogue. Credit: Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI)
He said there is a need to decentralise, collaborate, diversify and democratise green technologies, and create more reliable and resilient supply chains.
“I think the Australian view is very much aligned with India’s thinking… For me, this relationship is exceptionally important, and it would make a big difference in the G20, in the Quad, bilaterally and regionally,” Dr Jaishankar added.
“We see the future as more renewable, more nuclear, and we see the future as more green hydrogen, green ammonia… So I do think that the energy and economic security side of the India-Australia relationship is really growing,” he said.
‘India is a trusted and reliable trading partner par excellence’
Australia’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, said Australia and India are key and increasingly important partners to tackle the climate crisis and accelerate the global energy transformation.
“The theme of India’s G20 presidency, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (One Earth, One Family, One Future), is an indication of the importance India is going to place in interconnected sustainability… and in ensuring that we are tackling climate change,” Mr Bowen said.
“There is no stronger supporter of G20 chairmanship by India than Australia. We will support you in every way possible, and partner with you in this important role,” he said.
Australia’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen MP at the Raisina @ Sydney Dialogue
“We need trusted and reliable trading partners being more active in manufacturing the energy supply chains... and India is a trusted and reliable trading partner par excellence,” Mr Bowen added.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and India’s Observer Research Foundation (ORF) jointly organised the Raisina @ Sydney Dialogue to discuss how India and Australia can further deepen their close collaboration and contribution to a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
‘The world is less Euro-Atlantic now’
When questioned about billionaire and philanthropist George Soros’s comments about an urgent need for institutional reforms in India, Dr Jaishankar said that Soros has a “Euro-Atlantic view of what democracy is”.
He called Mr Soros “an old, rich, opinionated person… who thinks his views should determine how the entire world works” and said that such individuals “actually invest resources in shaping narratives”.
We are a country which went through colonialism, we know the dangers of what happens when there is outside interference… if you do this kind of scaremongering, it actually does real damage to our societal fabricDr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar,
“There are practices, beliefs, and cultures which are relevant to how democracy is actually executed… so an honest conversation about freedom and democracy is the need of the hour, especially whose values and beliefs define a democracy,’’ Dr Jaishankar added.
