External Affairs Minister Jaishankar flags concern over weaponisation of trade

The world is witnessing greater weaponisation of tariffs sanctions and export controls and India must navigate the challenge by working with partners who are trustworthy and present fewer risks External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on WednesdayHis remarks at the Raisina Dialogue came amid growing global concerns over US President Donald Trumps threat of imposing reciprocal tariffs on its partners and other nationsHowever the external affairs minister made no mention of Trumps threat of tariffsTariffs sanctions export controls whether we like it or not they are a reality countries use them he said speaking at a session titled Commisars and Capitalists Politics Business and New World OrderIf one looks at the last decade we have seen a much greater weaponisation of pretty much any kind of capability or any kind of economic activity he saidThe external affairs minister also talked about ways to deal with the situation arising out of weaponisation of tradeExplaining he said staying on the right side of the weapon so you dont get hit and finding partners who are more trustworthy and present fewer risksThe world today makes business decisions factoring in national security in a manner in which it did not do so before especially in the digital era he saidIn the digital era its not just about cost it is about comfort and trust If you are today looking at a strategic level the business conversations you keep hearing are about resilience reliability trust transparencyYou want to do business more and more with those with whom you are secure he addedTo a question on whether the Trump administration is aiming to create a new world order Jaishankar said If your question is what the US is doing you should ask the Americans not meWe should be doing many things including engaging the Americans and engaging the Global South Our effort is to maximise our options to increase our turnover to improve our technology he notedIndia and the US are currently holding negotiations for a bilateral trade agreementFollowing talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump in Washington DC last month the two countries announced they would negotiate a mutually beneficial multisector Bilateral Trade Agreement BTA and set a target to firm it up by this yearIn the meeting the two sides also set an ambitious target of USD 500 billion in annual trade by 2030 to narrow the trade deficitCommerce Minister Piyush Goyal was in the US this month to hold talks on the trade deal with his American counterpart as well as the US Trade Representative and their teamsIn line with his America First policy Trump this month announced reciprocal tariffs from April 2 on its partners and other nations that impose higher levies on imports from the USThe US presidents tariff tussle has stoked fears of a global trade war with many countries already announcing countermeasures to deal with itIn his comments Jaishankar also called for norms and regulations for big data and artificial intelligence AIIt does matter where our data goes who looks at our data who processes it who develops the AI based on our data We cant be agnostic in the digital era he saidJaishankar said reliability and trust are crucial in these domains as wellIndia must play to its strengths a huge amount of data because theres a large population and an enormously diverse society he saidWe have to make the most of it he notedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever