Witty and wise about Viksit

Dr S Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs along with Shaina NC and Keshav Upadhyay during a press conference at the National Stock Exchange, Bandra Kurla Complex, on Monday. Pic/Shadab Khan

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, juggled word craft and wisdom as chief guest at a seminar at Mumbai's National Stock Exchange (NSE) in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) on Monday morning, banishing the proverbial Monday morning blues. The minister's subject was the Roadmap for Viksit Bharat, held by the Association National Exchanges Members of India (ANMI) and NSE. Shaina NC who is in charge, Vishesh Sampark Abhiyan, Maharashtra set the tenor for a fizzy one-hour address and interaction, stating at the outset, "Mumbai could not be prouder today, to welcome Dr S Jaishankarji. We hope 2014, 2019 and 2024 is only the trailer. It will be 2047 that will show us the real picture." The 2047 date is one the Govt. has cited as the date their Viksit Bharat vision will be realised.

The car-ma

Jaishankar began by saying, "It is always a pleasure to be in Mumbai. Especially when there is a lot of excitement in the air." As a packed hall people were sitting in the aisles and standing on the sides listening, the External Affairs Minister said tongue firmly in cheek, "I have been told to speak on a roadmap to Viksit Bharat. When there is a roadmap, there is a pathway, it is a journey in which you sit in a vehicle. You have to press the right button for the car to move and if you do press the right button, you will see acceleration after June 4..." he said to laughter. June 4 is counting day post Lok Sabha elections. Jaishankar elaborated on the car analogy, "I will ask you to look in the rearview mirror and you will see both - what has been achieved till now and the destination. Driverless cars are for someone else now, we have an experienced driver," he asserted. He added, "The projection is that by 2047 we have a 30 trillion dollar economy. For that, you push the right button to turn possibility into probability and probability into inevitability."

The milestones

Jaishankar highlighted markers on the journey towards this vision. The first he said is an accent on, "Manufacturing growth. We cannot rely on somebody else's technology. For technology, we need manufacturing. We have to keep pushing for infra. We are building 28 km of highways every day and 14 km of railways daily. See the airports in our tier 3 cities, then, to feel good, see some of the airports in Europe." He added that economics and good governance play a role "We have found the silver bullet through digitisation, which is the biggest governance change. We need to have inclusivity too, as growth cannot be for some and others left behind. We have to go the extra mile for the disadvantaged."

People power

In people we believe stated the minister who spoke about people power. Jaishankar explained, "We need to create a skilled base, as we prepare for a global workplace." He hit an assertive note, "Every country must have self-confidence, which also means the right to defend itself. There is a tendency to get pressurised by people who we have historically deferred to. I am in a city which has been the biggest victim of terrorism. As the financial capital, it is a natural target of terrorism." Jaishankar summed up the Viksit Bharat pathway points as, economics, manufacturing, technology-driven, inclusive, good governance, emphasis on human resources, confidence to take the right decisions and he said as postscript, "We must include culture, knowing our roots too. As people who do not know where they come from, will not know where they are going."

Deft talker

The minister took questions in a robust interactive session with questions from his audieance on Pak Occupied Kashmir (PoK), China, and the India-US relationship. While he did drive the BJP agenda, Jaishankar was witty and the minister who said he once had a "corporate incarnation" made his points and had his answers as smoothly as a hot knife scything through butter.

June 4
Day of results