India strives for optimal positioning in foreign policy: Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday asserted that India strives for ‘’optimal positioning’’ in its foreign policy, emphasizing that New Delhi will continue to maximise the freedom of choice while maintaining the autonomy of decision-making.

‘’This means working with major nations and regions on agreed agendas; but in combinations that suit our national interest. Like any other nation, our priorities start with the immediate neighbourhood, where we prove against volatility by deepening cooperation, contacts and communication. Expressed as ‘Neighbourhood First’, it is then buttressed by a further set of policies that focus on the Gulf, on SouthEast Asia, on Central Asia and on the Indian Ocean,’’ he said addressing the 22nd Convocation Ceremony of Symbiosis International University.

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The minister said India has built on historical solidarity with developing nations by promoting the grouping of the Global South.

Jaishankar noted that the global order has now reached a point where rebalancing is creating multi-polarity. A number of centres of power and influence have emerged. No country, however powerful, can impose its will on all issues, he said in an apparent reference to India’s stand against US President Donald Trump’s decision to slap massive tariffs on Indian products.

Not just that, it also means now that there is a natural competition among nations in the world and that it creates its own balance, he added.

The minister said there are some particular features of world politics today that also bear appreciation. Policies are increasingly national, maybe even regional, and the global commons often suffers neglect.

He said that globalisation is in political retreat, even if its economic dimensions remain deeply entrenched. In many parts of the world, historical causes and historical concerns are being revived. The propensity to take risks is very much higher. ‘’All in all, we are in a much more complex, volatile and uncertain international situation. I stress this not only to make you more aware of the challenges in the world but also so that you fully appreciate the stability and the progress at home,’’ he added.