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India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, in a wide-ranging address after receiving an honorary doctorate from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, issued a sharp assessment of shifting global power structures and warned that traditional rules of engagement are giving way to more fragmented, unilateral approaches led by major powers, chiefly the United States. Image Source: EAM Jaishankar Describing a world where “politics increasingly trumps economics,” Jaishankar noted that Washington, long seen as the architect and underwriter of the global rules-based order, is now dealing with nations bilaterally rather than through established multilateral frameworks.  “The United States has set radically new terms of engagement,” he said, adding that China has similarly continued to act by its own rules, intensifying the global trend toward power-based realignments. In this emerging landscape, the minister said, decisions are no longer made purely on economic efficiency b...

At the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of Government meeting in Moscow, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar delivered a sharply focused address and called for urgent structural reforms in the SCO, firm action against terrorism, and deeper economic and cultural integration across the bloc. Jaishankar began by warning of an increasingly volatile global economy, where “supply-side risks have been aggravated by demand-side complexities,” demanding urgent “de-risking and diversification.”  Indian EAM Jaishankar Meets Russian Prez Putin, again! He emphasized that trade frameworks among SCO members must be “fair, transparent, and equitable,” directly tying this to India’s active pursuit of free trade agreements with multiple member states. On modernization of the SCO, Jaishankar issued a pointed reminder: “As the organization becomes more diverse, the SCO must be more flexible and adaptable.”  He urged the immediate adoption of English as an ...

In a clear signal of continuity amid a turbulent global order, India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Monday, and restated the India-Russia relationship as a “factor of stability in international relations.”  The talks, held ahead of President Vladimir Putin’s scheduled December visit to New Delhi, focused on advancing bilateral cooperation and aligning perspectives on key geopolitical flashpoints, including the Ukraine conflict, the Middle East, and Afghanistan. India's EAM Jaishankar in Russia, again! Via: MEA/FM "This particular occasion, for me, is all the more important as we prepare for President Putin’s visit to India," Jaishankar said in his opening remarks.  He added that multiple bilateral agreements and initiatives across sectors were under active discussion and expected to be finalized soon.  These, he said, would "add more substance and texture to our Special and Privileged Strategic Pa...

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Wednesday described the India-Japan partnership as a “strategic and stabilising force” in the Indo-Pacific. He warned that the region faces an increasingly complex challenge in maintaining openness and order. File Photo: EAM Jaishankar Speaking at the 8th India-Japan Indo-Pacific Forum, Jaishankar used blunt language to outline the stakes: the geopolitical churn, technological disruption, and weaponised interdependence shaping new alignments.  Against this backdrop, he said, the India-Japan compact has gained “greater value than ever before” -- both in anchoring regional security and driving global economic resilience. The forum, jointly hosted by the Delhi Policy Group and the Japan Institute of International Affairs, comes months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s August visit to Tokyo, where both sides unveiled a ten-year roadmap with eight priority pillars and a targeted Japanese investment of 10 trillion yen.  Jaishank...

In a sharply worded address delivered in New Delhi,  India's Foreign Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar  openly challenged the credibility of the UN system, calling out its structural dysfunction, selective morality, and strategic irrelevance in the face of global crises. “All is not well with the United Nations,” Jaishankar said flatly. The statement, delivered in a room of diplomats, UN officials, and members of the press, cut through the ceremonial tone of the day and forced attention onto the UN’s internal contradictions.  File Photo Source: EAM Jaishankar At the core of his critique: a Security Council frozen in time, and a multilateral order that speaks the language of equality while practising exclusion. Jaishankar focused his most searing remarks on the UN’s inaction in the face of terrorism. “What does it do to the credibility of multilateralism,” he asked, “when a sitting Security Council member openly protects the very organisation that claims responsibility for a ba...

India and the Central American Integration System (SICA) reaffirmed their shared development vision in New York on the sidelines of UNGA80, with External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar calling for deeper cooperation across digital payments, climate resilience, renewable energy, and public health.  India-SICA Foreign Minister’s Meeting Co-chairing the India-SICA Foreign Ministers' Meeting with Panama’s Foreign Minister Javier Martínez-Acha, Jaishankar positioned India’s outreach as both practical and strategic, focused on turning political goodwill into economic and technological outcomes. Speaking candidly about common challenges such as poverty alleviation, post-pandemic recovery, and climate disruptions, Jaishankar said India sees SICA as a key partner in South-South cooperation and stressed that countries in both regions can tackle shared challenges more effectively by doing so together.  He pointed to the momentum built during the 2023 political dialogue in Panama Cit...

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar delivered a pointed address at the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New York on Thursday, warning that ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza are not only escalating geopolitical instability but also inflicting deep economic damage on the Global South. India's Foreign Minister Speaking on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly Speaking on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly, Jaishankar said the correlation between international peace and global development is no longer theoretical -- it is now “well established” as both continue to deteriorate in parallel.  He cited soaring costs and disrupted access to food, energy, and fertilizer as direct consequences of war, disproportionately impacting the developing world. “The costs, especially to the Global South, were starkly demonstrated by ongoing conflicts, particularly in Ukraine and Gaza,” he said. “Making energy and other essentials more uncerta...

India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar just chaired a High-Level Meeting of Like-Minded Global South countries on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York. He urged developing nations to act collectively in shaping global governance frameworks, including reforming multilateral institutions. Jaishankar just chaired a High-Level Meeting of Like-Minded Global South countries Addressing the assembled ministers and representatives, Jaishankar laid out a pointed five-pronged agenda for strengthening the Global South’s role in world affairs.  Pleased to meet FM Lejone Mpotjoana of Lesotho today on the sidelines of the High Level Meeting. 🇮🇳 🇱🇸 #UNGA80 pic.twitter.com/3hXORk1uoG — Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) September 24, 2025 Emphasizing the urgency of coordinated action in an era marked by rising risks and complex challenges, he underlined that it is “natural” for the Global South to turn to multilateralism for solutions -- but on t...

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New York this morning on the sidelines of the 80th UN General Assembly.  Jaishankar meets Rubio The two officials discussed a broad range of bilateral and global issues, with both sides underscoring the importance of sustained engagement to advance shared priorities. This makes Jaishankar’s crucial, publicly disclosed meeting with Rubio since his appointment earlier this year under the Trump administration.  While details of the conversation were not made public, the meeting comes amid shifting geopolitical alignments, growing Indo-Pacific coordination, and renewed urgency around multilateral reform.  In a post on social media, Jaishankar confirmed the engagement and said both sides would remain in touch. The interaction follows a series of high-level diplomatic engagements between India and the United States in recent months, as both governments work to consolidate cooperation ac...

Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said he spoke with Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski about “recent developments pertaining to Poland’s security,” after Warsaw reported 19 Russian drone incursions and NATO invoked Article 4 of its founding treaty. File Photo: Jaishankar & Sikorski. Source: Diplomatic Channels Jaishankar underlined that India “favors an early end to hostilities and a durable solution for the Ukraine conflict,” while Sikorski has already described the overnight strikes as a “Russian armed provocation” that triggered NATO’s first-ever coordinated shootdowns over Alliance territory. The call followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s discussion a day earlier with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni , where both leaders urged “an early and peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine,” according to India’s Ministry of External Affairs.  Meloni’s office confirmed the two leaders backed “all international efforts to foster a ceasefire and a re...

At a significant moment of geopolitical flux, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar used the platform of the BRICS Leaders’ Virtual Summit to issue a sharp indictment of the global governance system , urging urgent reform of the United Nations and its Security Council , while forcefully condemning the weaponisation of trade and selective sanctions regimes . Image Source: EAM Jaishankar Representing Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the summit hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , Jaishankar warned that rising conflicts, systemic inequality, and institutional paralysis have left the multilateral system incapable of addressing the world’s most pressing challenges -- from war and climate change to economic fragmentation. Multilateral System ‘Failing the World’ In his remarks, Jaishankar said the multilateral framework was being tested like never before, citing the pandemic’s aftermath, armed conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia, extreme climate events, and ...

Canada and India have moved to restore their strained relations with the mutual appointment of high commissioners, which ends nearly a year of deep freeze triggered by explosive allegations of state-sponsored violence.  On August 29, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand named veteran diplomat Christopher Cooter as Canada’s new high commissioner to India. Simultaneously, India announced the appointment of Ambassador Dinesh K. Patnaik as its next envoy to Ottawa. Image Source: Canada FM Anita Anand on X The reappointment of high-level diplomatic officials signals a thaw after bilateral ties hit a historic low following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s stunning allegation in September 2023 that agents of the Indian government were involved in the assassination of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Sikh separatist leader, and labelled a Khalistani terrorist in India, in British Columbia.  India, on its part, had strongly denied the claim, calling i...

India has reaffirmed its position that any trade deal with the United States -- including decisions around purchasing Russian crude oil -- will be governed strictly by national interest. This comes amid heightened pressure from the Trump administration and an imminent escalation of trade tensions, with 50% tariffs on Indian exports to the U.S. set to take effect on August 27. Image Source: Ficci_India A 25% tariff already in place since August 7 is expected to double later this month, with the additional burden attributed by Washington to India’s continued crude oil trade with Russia.  The Trump administration claims these purchases are indirectly supporting the Russia-Ukraine war -- a position India has firmly rejected as “unfounded and coercive.” At the Economic Times World Leaders Forum in New Delhi, External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal both made clear that India would not be swayed by geopolitical pressure, and would continue to act in...

India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on Thursday, reinforcing New Delhi’s strategic alignment with Moscow in the wake of new U.S. tariffs and sustained criticism of India’s energy trade with Russia.  The two sides reviewed bilateral cooperation, reiterated support for multipolar engagement, and laid the groundwork for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s upcoming visit to India. Image Source: EAM Jaishankar Jaishankar, addressing a joint press briefing alongside Lavrov, said the India–Russia relationship had remained one of the steadiest among major global partnerships since the Second World War. “Our leaders met in July last year and then again in Kazan.  These high-level engagements have consistently provided wise and practical guidance to our strategic partnership,” he said. Lavrov confirmed that President Putin’s visit to India is being planned before the end of 2025 and will be accompanied by a substantial pac...

India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday defended India’s continued purchase of Russian oil amid mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump, stating that New Delhi is not the largest importer of Russian energy and that its oil imports from the United States have, in fact, increased. Image Source: EAM Jaishankar Speaking in Moscow after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Jaishankar said he was “perplexed” by criticism from Washington, given that India had consistently been told to act in the interest of global energy stability.  He noted that China and the European Union are larger buyers of Russian oil and liquefied natural gas, respectively. “We are not the biggest purchasers of Russian oil -- that is China. We are not the biggest purchasers of LNG -- that is the European Union,” Jaishankar said.  “Incidentally, we also buy oil from the US, and that amount has increased. So honestly, we are very perplexed at the logic of the argument,” he...

India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar arrived in Moscow this week for high-level engagements aimed at recalibrating India-Russia economic ties, as both nations navigate a shifting global order marked by Western sanctions, U.S. tariff pressures, and deepening energy interdependence. Image Source: MEA/FM on X At the heart of the talks was a growing imbalance in bilateral trade. India’s increased imports of discounted Russian crude -- which now account for around 44% of its oil supply -- have widened the trade deficit to an estimated $58.9 billion.  Addressing the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) alongside Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, Jaishankar described the gap as a “serious concern” requiring urgent solutions. “We need to address this imbalance by diversifying trade, removing bottlenecks, and finalising the India–Eurasian Economic Union free trade agreeme...