External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 10-hour train journey on his recent visit to Ukraine. S Jaishankar said that he could have done that 'with a Vande Bharat', adding that it was a 10-hour long journey each way, and was the only option in that situation.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was responding to a question at the ET World Leaders Forum about PM Modi's train ride to Ukraine. The minister said, "I could have done with a Vande Bharat." He added, "It was 10 hours each way, and I think, given the situation, obviously, you got what you got, but 10 hours is 10 hours." "I remember Prime Minister Narendra Modi going on a Shinkansen bullet train in Japan, I often cannot remember any other train ride at least for a long time," he further said, in response to another question on the last time an Indian Prime Minister took a train ride. Jaishnakar also said that every government, consciously or otherwise is today assessing risks, and the majority of the policies are on de-risking.
"If I were to have a one-word summary of this situation, which is risks.Because what we have seen really for the last 15 years is a steady increase in terms of risks in the to the global order, in the international economy, in individual countries. There are risks that are actually coming out of the process of change...If there is a major war going on in Europe, there is a huge conflict going on in West Asia, and the Middle East, there are tensions around Asia, there is a revival of territorial claims, and border frictions. Those are actually, with each one of them, the risks mount...there are risks to supply chains today, not just Houthis in the Red Sea, there could be climate risks, there could be pandemic risks, there could be technology risks," Jaishankar said.
"The idea that there are borders and borders are some kind of hardlines, and problems can be stopped on that side of the border, those days are over," the EAM underlined. "To me, every government, consciously or otherwise is today assessing risks, and the majority of the policies are on de-risking...The ones who do it better, have the ability, then to explore opportunities but the focus of the world is on de-risking," he further said adding that India, today is exploring opportunities, and trying to get involved more in global supply chains.
*With Agency Inputs
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