External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said on Saturday that the world is entering into a new era of “pluratarillism” which among other things also recognises the shortcomings of multilateralism.
Speaking at the Indian Ocean Conference in Abu Dhabi, he said, under these circumstances, there will be more activities in and around the Indian Ocean region and it will also mean “stronger cooperation among resident players”.
“It will lead to new equations and more contemporary understandings,” Dr Jaishankar underlined.
“Since 2008 we have witnessed greater caution in US power projection and an effort to correct its overextension,” he said.
“The very centrality of the Indian Ocean to the global economic processes will ensure responsiveness to ongoing changes,” he stressed.
Certain developments have significantly “heightened uncertainties” in today’s world, he said in reference to
the American withdrawal from Afghanistan among them.
This (US withdrawal) leaves both “the immediate and extended region grappling with serious concerns,” the
Minister said.
The two-day 5th Indian Ocean Conference is being held in Dubai. The theme of the Indian Ocean Conference 2021 is “Indian Ocean: Ecology, Economy, Epidemic”.
The Minister also said another major trend is the rise of China.
“Even otherwise, the emergence of power at the global level is an ‘extraordinary happening’.
That it’s a different kind of polity enhances a sense of change. USSR may have borne some similarities but never had centrality to the global economy that China has today,” he maintained.
Dr Jaishankar earlier in the day met UAE Foreign Minister A B Zayed “Noted the steady progress in our bilateral cooperation. As always, his insights on global and regional developments were of great value,” Dr Jaishankar tweeted.