In the name of open economy, we have given other countries a chance to make profitable games in the country and this has to be stopped, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday.
S Jaishankar was delivering the virtual keynote address at the 8th India Idea Conclave in Bengaluru. This year, the conclave, organized by India Foundation, is considering the theme ‘Building Brand India’.
He said, “In the name of globalization, we have actually hollowed out manufacturing. SMEs have been suffering for the last 30 years because they see unfair competition, see subsidized goods coming into the country. If we don’t protect them If they can, they can’t compete.” ,
According to S Jaishankar, this is being done in a different way under Modi’s ‘Brand India’ as ‘Make in India’ has moved from an aspiration to a claim.
“Look at the semi-conductor industry. We understand that today semiconductors will make or break a country like India,” he said.
S Jaishankar said, one such call is to be prudent on foreign direct investment (FDI).
The minister said, “I can tell you that in every FDI negotiation, we think very long, very hard. We are very concerned about the social fabric and employment consequences of FDI as well as its national security implications “
He said that if these are not taken into consideration then the Modi government will never sign the FDI.
“And I think it’s a deviation from the past,” he said.
The minister also said that since PM Modi took power, if he had to choose any region where India has really created a brand India, it would be the Middle East.
According to him, the traditional belief is that if a country does well with Israel, it will lose out to all other players in the region. But he pointed out that India has proved this conventional wisdom wrong in the last 10 years.
“Today, Brand India is seen as an aspirational brand. We are not just one of many willing to go with the flow. We will take tough decisions, put resources in, and we will remain in touch with the contemporary world… S Jaishankar said, under PM Modi, it is really a big change, which is why our brand is different.
India Idea Conclave will conclude on 24th November.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
