New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India should engage the world on the basis of its confidence in its identity rather than trying to please the global community.
Speaking at the Raisina dialogue, Jaishankar said the country needs to put behind the idea that it needs the approval of other countries. “We have to be confident about who we are. I think it is better to engage the world on the basis of who we are rather than try and please the world as a pale imitation of what they are. This idea that others define us, somehow we need to get the approval of other quarters, I think, that is an era we need to put behind us,” he said.
Speaking at a session on India’s 75-year-long journey after Independence and the way ahead, Jaishankar said, “We should not be looking at the world with a sense of entitlement. We need to earn our place in the world and which, to a certain extent, therefore, comes to the issue of how the world benefits from the growth of India. We need to demonstrate that.”
Asked about what should be the priority for the country in 25 years, Jaishankar said capability development in all possible areas should be the central focus.
In his address, Jaishankar also highlighted how the country played a key role in promoting democracy in South Asia. “If I were to pick a single thing that we have done, the difference we have made to the world in the last 75 years, it is the fact that we have a democracy,” he said.
