Still a world of double standards, states India's EAM Jaishankar

According to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, there is still a world of double standards, and nations in positions of influence are resisting efforts to reform, while those with historical influence have weaponized many of those capacities.

Jaishankar was speaking at the Observer Research Foundation’s Ministerial Session titled South Rising: Partnerships, Institutions, and Ideas, which was co-hosted by the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations, United Nations India, and the Reliance Foundation.

“I think more than political will, there is political pressure for change,” he said here on Saturday.

There is a rising feeling across the globe, and the global South symbolises it in certain ways. But, he added, there is also political opposition.

Those in positions of authority, most notably in the UN Security Council, are resisting the urge to change.

“Those who are economically dominant today are leveraging their production capabilities and those who have institutional influence or historical influence have actually weaponised a lot of those capabilities as well, Jaishankar said.

They will all mouth the right things, but the reality is still today, it’s a world very much of double standards,” Jaishankar said.

COVID itself was an example of it, he said,

“But I think this whole transition will really be in a sense the global South putting more and more pressure on the international system. And, the global North is not just the North. There are parts which may not think of themselves in the North, but are very resistant to change, he said.

Jaishankar added cultural rebalancing really means recognising the diversity of the world, respecting the diversity of the world, and giving other cultures and other traditions their due respect.

He referred to the G20 Summit in Delhi earlier this month and cited the example of millets. He noted that the global South historically ate less wheat and more millet.

In the name of the market, a lot of things are done, like in the name of freedom a lot of things are done, he said to laughter from the audience.

Respecting others’ heritage, tradition, music, literature, and ways of life, is all part of the change that the global South would like to see, Jaishankar said.

The event was also addressed by India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, Reliance Foundation CEO Jagannatha Kumar, UN Resident Coordinator in India Shombi Sharp and ORF President Samir Saran.

Participating in the panel discussion at the event were the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal Joao Gomes Cravinho and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Jamaica, Kamina Johnson Smith.

Jaishankar further said that with a couple of months of India’s G20 Presidency still left before Brazil assumes the presidency in December 2023 we will get hopefully something moving on the reform of international financial institutions.

Saran referred to Jaishankar’s remark that “Europe’s problems are the world’s problems but the world’s problems are not Europe’s problems and said that some feel that Jaishankar is tough on Europe and if that is a fair assessment.

No no of course not, Jaishankar said.

Debt, SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) resourcing, climate action resourcing, internet access, nutrition, and gender are among the major concerns plaguing the entire globe, according to Jaishankar.

These themes were driven out of global debates, according to Jaishankar, partly because to COVID and partly due to the focus on Ukraine, and he added that getting the G20 to talk about what the world wanted it to talk about was a significant difficulty in the G20.

He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed it best when he said, let’s talk to the people who are not going to be at the table, let’s find out what they have to say, which is why India organised the Voice of Global South Summit 2023.

Hosting the Voice of the Global South Summit provided India with the credentials, and more importantly, the empirical foundation, to say that we’ve spoken to 125 nations and this is what is really affecting them, and that is why we need to focus on these issues.