‘More than a middle power, India is a power in the middle’: EAM Jaishankar at Bloomberg New Economy Forum

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said India was uncomfortable with being categorised as a “middle power”, arguing that the country’s population, economic scale and growth potential made the label restrictive.

Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, Jaishankar said countries in the middle of the global power structure would increasingly need to assess their own interests, formulate independent policies and build arrangements with one another.

“More than a middle power, in a way, we are powers in the middle. What would really define a middle power? To use the Prime Minister’s words, the countries who have the power to empower,” Jaishankar said.

“Would India be a middle power? It’s not a comfortable description because if you are the most populous country in the world, you have a GDP of $4 trillion, give or take, and you have a lot of growth ahead of you, staring you in the face, then the middle power somehow seems to be limiting itself by that definition,” he added.

The External Affairs Minister said countries would increasingly have to determine their interests and policies independently before reaching agreements with one another.

“The middle powers would now each apply their own mind, stake out their own interests, figure out their own policies, and then reach arrangements with each other,” he said.

Jaishankar also highlighted the growing importance of economic interdependence and the risks posed by the weaponisation of strategic resources and financial systems in the changing global order.

Describing the current international environment as a “world of choke points”, he said countries could use their control over critical resources and financial mechanisms to exert pressure on others.

“It’s also today a world of choke points, and you know the tendency to weaponise. We tend to think of rare earths as an example, but the fact is even finance is a choke point. I mean sanctions are a choke point. I mean, people are weaponising their grip on finance or on the US dollar,” Jaishankar said.

He said global competition would increasingly revolve around what different countries could offer and the agreements they could negotiate to advance their respective interests.

“The point, I think, is we are moving to a world where the competition is going to be, to some degree, who has what to bring to the table, and then deals among them saying, you know, you do this, I do this. Let’s develop this together. Let’s trade this for each other,” he said.

However, Jaishankar cautioned against viewing the ongoing changes in the global order pessimistically.

“But I still think we should not have a pessimistic view about this process of change,” he added.

The discussion was part of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi, where Jaishankar was in conversation with Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

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