NEW DELHI: External affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Monday said the world is in “an age of flux,” but asserted that India has demonstrated its ability to “rise to the challenges.”Jaishankar made the remarks during an interactive session on the third and final day of the 5th Kautilya Economic Conclave in the capital. He shared the dais with Singapore’s former foreign minister, George Yong Boon Yeo, during the concluding session of the event.Asked how he viewed the challenges ahead amid growing geopolitical uncertainties, the external affairs minister outlined his assessment of the evolving global landscape.“We know that this is going to be an age of flux, as you call it. It is going to be turbulent and volatile, with uncertainties. We are seeing two major conflicts, along with other frictions. As I said, there is pressure from non-market factors and tariff volatility,” PTI quoted Jaishankar as saying. He was referring to the Ukraine-Russia and US-Iran wars.“Taking all of this into account, yes, these are choppy waters,” he added.
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However, Jaishankar expressed confidence that India would be able to navigate these challenges.“I’m very confident that we will rise to the challenges. We have been able to rise to the challenges, whether it was Covid, or the challenge of a double conflict today. The challenges of energy, food, fertilisers… We need to factor them into our thinking, plan and respond — that in a sense is the task before us. And I’m very confident that we will rise to the challenge,” he further stated.On the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Jaishankar remarked that New Delhi continues to maintain that dialogue and diplomacy are the way forward to resolve the conflict.On the need for reforms at the United Nations and other multilateral institutions, Jaishankar described the UN as “gridlocked”, saying that “a few countries” were resisting efforts to reform the global body.
