Speaking at an event in Delhi’s Kirori Mal College, Jaishankar emphasized that India’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission have had a significant impact on the way Indians are perceived abroad.
Jaishankar noted that the world closely follows the decisions made in India, as it is the largest country and the fifth-largest economy.
The minister highlighted that India’s technological achievements, particularly the Chandrayaan-3 mission and Covid management, have been among the most impactful things done by the country in the past decade.
“We are the largest country in the world. We are the fifth largest economy, soon we’ll be the third. How we do at home is watched by everybody abroad. What decisions we make at home, is also very keenly followed by the world. So, if we are now in the coming weeks going to decide our future in whatever way we wish, it’s not just a conversation amongst ourselves. It’s a conversation or a discussion in which the other six billion people are also tuned in. These are all actually aspects of why Bharat matters,” he said.
Jaishankar also spoke about India’s efforts to secure its citizens abroad during emergencies, such as Operation Ganga, which brought back Indian students from Ukraine. He emphasized that the Indian passport is now looked at with greater respect, as it shows that the government stands behind the person carrying that passport.
The minister suggested that the “real value of the passport” should be determined by who will come to a person’s aid when they are in trouble.
Jaishankar said, “The second is the manner in which we secure our citizens of India. Believe me, that has got everybody’s attention in the world. You know, a lot of us rightly are very proud of how – I’ll give you an example of how we got our students out of Ukraine in Operation Ganga. As I said, rightly so. But I also want you to know that there were many countries who actually told their students and their citizens, saying, sorry guys, there’s nothing I can do. You now have to figure out your own way out.”
“And these were not developing countries. They were even developed countries,who actually told their people, you are on your own. So, this change which has come about, that any Indian travelling anywhere has that sense, that look, you know, sometimes people talk about, you know, there’s something called a passport index. And the passport index basically is based on how many places you don’t need a visa for,” he added.
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The minister also noted that people abroad are fascinated by India’s domestic achievements, such as the ration card system, election system, and infrastructure progress.
“The third is our performance at home. And I often share with my own colleagues in the cabinet and in the parliament that they think that when the foreign minister goes out of India, all the time we discuss foreign policy makes sense.”
“But in reality, actually people abroad are enormously fascinated by what we are doing at home in the rest of our lives. They want to know how does your ration system work? How does your election system work? You know, how are you getting your gas cylinder? How are you getting your electricity connection? Why is it that it has changed because they have read all these stories,” he added.
(With inputs from agencies)
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