External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has expressed confidence that the US administration under Donald Trump will maintain distinctions in immigration policies, potentially benefiting skilled workers from foreign countries.

Even if there is re-globalisation, the demographic unevenness is beginning to bite the world. The global workplace does not mean that the talent alone has to move. Businesses can move as well. Even the US under Donald Trump will make a distinction in immigration and mobility, he said while addressing CEOs and Business leaders in Sydney.

Mr Jaishankar said India sees a potential acceleration and disruption in the re-ordering of supply chains as an opportunity in the wake of Trump’s reelection in the presidential election.

He identified four to five important consequences of the US-India relationship following US election results, including the reordering of supply chains, geopolitical hedging, digitisation, and mobility of talent and skills.

On the outcome of the US presidential poll, he said, “To my mind, there are four-five important consequences for the relationship (India-US) and the business aspect of the relations. First, there was already re-ordering of the supply chains that were taking place, it is very likely that in view of the election results in the US, this would accelerate. Some of it would be more disruptive, but we in India see it as an opportunity. Second, there would be in a way more geo-political hedging. Third pertains to the digital side.”

The COVID-19 pandemic and escalating geopolitical tensions have prompted companies to reassess and transform their supply chain strategies. This shift is driven by the need for greater flexibility, agility, and resilience in the face of unprecedented disruptions. Companies are shifting from global to regional supply networks to reduce dependence on fragile international supply chains, the Indian minister said.

He highlighted India’s growth over the last decade, which has been marked by progress in education, infrastructure, and digitalisation. He noted that India’s educational institutions have doubled in capacity since 2014, with the equivalent of two new colleges being established daily.

“The educational institutions of India have doubled in capacity in the last 10 years. They are roughly 2 to 2.5 times from where they stood in 2014. In absolute numbers, if I were to take colleges, that means creating two new colleges a day. Today, we are building about 27-28 kilometres of highway a day. In the railways sector, we are building 12 to 14 kilometres of railway tracks a day,” he said.

He added, “If you look at aviation, we are doing really well in comparison to other countries in the world. The current challenge we have is that there are about 1,000 new aircraft on order and they’re not coming in as fast as we would like. In terms of infrastructure, in the last decade, on average, we’ve built 7.5 new airports a year. So there are 75 new airports which have been added on in the last 10 years.”