External Affairs Minister Jaishankar said that Indian businesses will have to use “national security filters” while dealing with Chinese companies. While addressing a gathering at an event hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the veteran diplomat suggested that India should focus more on sourcing from domestic manufacturers.
The proclamation from the EAM came amid lingering eastern Ladakh border row. During an interactive session, Jaishankar emphasised that Indian firms should take into consideration the national security sensitivities in their business proposition with China. However, he made it clear that this does not mean that nothing can be sourced from the neighbouring country.
“Where China is concerned, we will still encourage people in this country – manufacture in India, source in India, procure from India,” Jaishankar said, responding to a question.
“We have not completely and utterly prohibited people working with China but frankly, we would much rather you work with Indian companies if there is an Indian option available to you. That I think is good for our national security, we hope you think that it is good for your own business in the long term,” he added.
Jaishankar on border row
Jaishankar had harsh words to say when it comes to the ongoing border row between India and China.
“Would you do business with somebody who has just barged into your drawing room and is trying to make a mess of your house fencing? You won’t. There is a common sense proposition there,” he said.
The external affairs minister also flagged concerns over the ‘weaponisation’ of economic activity. He elucidated how access to raw materials or even the stability of tourism is being utilised to exert political pressure.
“A different dimension of the concerns that we harbour is one emanating from a combination of excessive market shares, financial domination and technology tracking,” he averred.
“Between them, they have actually allowed for the weaponisation of virtually any form of economic activity. We have seen how both exports and imports, access to raw materials or even stability of tourism has been utilised to exert political pressure,” Jaishankar furthered.
Jaishankar emphasised that the current time calls for “something more than business as usual”.
“Because trust and reliability have become so important, foreign policy is today charged with creating the comfort levels between governments to make that happen,” he said. “This is especially so in terms of de-risking supply sources and enhancing collaboration in sensitive, critical and emerging technologies,” he added.
The Indian diplomat insisted that India’s economic priorities will have to align with its strategic interests. “An economy with India’s prospects also has to look at accessing global resources more seriously if we are to fuel our growth,” the minister said. He pointed out that for a very long time, India looked at Russia from a political or security perspective, but a recent spike in the country’s trade and new areas of cooperation with the countries in the East should not be regarded as a “temporary phenomenon”.
With inputs from PTI.
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