Jaishankar said the global agenda in so many ways today is about restoring the world to its natural diversity which is a “collective objective” but faces multifarious challenges in its implementation.

Lagos, Nigeria: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday said that weaponizing of globalization as currency, trade, and tourism are being used as “weapons”. Addressing the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in Lagos, Jaishankar, while acknowledging the positive outcomes of globalization, noted that the flip side of this trend is concentration of economic power in a few regions, upon which much of the world depends.

The EAM noted that the world order established in 1945 still persists, with those in control reluctant to create more opportunities for others.

“When I spoke about globalization and concentration a different challenge emerging out of that is how globalization itself has been weaponized that today currency is a weapon, trade is a weapon, tourism is a weapon, that dominant players they may be dominant as producers they may be dominant as consumers that they often with very little hesitation leverage their market shares on the global system for their particular national purpose,” he said.

1945 world order persists obstinately

Jaishankar said its a well know fact that the world order devised in 1945, when the members of the United Nations were roughly 25 percent of what they are today,  continues obstinately because “those who are in the driving seat don’t want to create more seats for other people to be at that engine.”

Jaishankar said the global agenda in so many ways today is about restoring the world to its natural diversity which is a “collective objective” but faces multifarious challenges in its implementation.

“The global agenda in many ways today is about restoring the world to its natural diversity because the world was diverse the world is diverse it was distorted by the period of Western domination and in a post-Colonial world today restoring that natural diversity is actually a collective objective,” the Minister said.

Jaishankar Nigeria visit

Jaishankar is on a visit to Nigeria from January 21-23, during which he will co-chair the 6th India-Nigeria Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) with his counterpart and meet with other leaders.

The EAM will also inaugurate the 3rd edition of the Nigeria-India Business Council meeting and also chair the regional conference of Indian Heads of Missions.

India and Nigeria have traditionally enjoyed close and friendly relations. This is EAM’s first visit to Nigeria, which will further consolidate bilateral ties  between the two countries, according to Ministry of External Affairs release.

Prior to this, he also led the Indian delegation at the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), to be held in Kampala, Uganda.He also met several foreign leaders and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the summit.

(With ANI inputs)