ET Awards 2023: Modi’s popularity is the envy of other politicians in the world, says EAM S Jaishankar
India to geopolitical challenges, cultural adjustments, and the need for businesses to invest in domestic supply chains to counter China, said external affairs minister S Jaishankar, Reformer of the Year, covering a broad range of subjects during a conversation at the ET Awards. Edited excerpts:
What has changed in India and what is changing between India and the world?
Let’s take four aspects of those changes. First, the politics. The world sees an improvement in governance. It sees a Prime Minister whose popularity rating is the envy of all other politicians in the world. It sees something very rare in this century — the possibility of three successive terms in a democratic polity. That means both progress and stability.
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Offering CollegeCourseWebsiteIIM KozhikodeIIMK Chief Product Officer ProgrammeVisitIndian School of BusinessISB Leadership in AIVisitIndian School of BusinessISB Chief Digital OfficerVisitSecond, the economics. They see infrastructure change driven by Gati Shakti. It’s easier to do business. I am not sure the world is conversant with the details. But they sense 250 million people emerging from poverty, the layer above them, which is getting into a new middle class. They know there’s consumption and production increase out there.
Now, to technology. Here, there’s a big difference. People see a bigger innovation startup skilling effort. There’s an appreciation India is taking manufacturing seriously. Without that, nobody’s going to take
