Gains of globalisation at risk, warns PM

Pak must walk away from terror for dialogue with India, says Modi at Raisina Dialogue

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said Pakistan must walk away from terror if it wants to have a dialogue with India. On India's relations with China, the PM said it wasn't "unnatural" for two large neighbouring powers to have some differences, but called upon Beijing to show sensitivity and respect for New Delhi's core concerns and interests.

Speaking at the second edition of Raisina Dialogue, an international conference on issues of geopolitics jointly organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and Observer Research Foundation, the PM echoed Chinese President Xi Jinping's views on globalisation, made earlier in the day at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The PM said that while technology has made physical borders less relevant, "but walls within nations, a sentiment against trade and migration, and rising parochial and protectionist attitudes across the globe are also a stark statistic." He said that as a result, "globalisation gains are at risk and economic gains are no longer easy to come by."

On his vision for India's neighbourhood, Modi said it is guided by peaceful and harmonious ties with entire South Asia. This vision, he said, led him to invite leaders of SAARC nations, including Pakistan, for his swearing in as the prime minister of India on May 26, 2014.

"For this vision, I had also travelled to Lahore. But, India alone cannot walk the path of peace. It also has to be Pakistan's journey to make. Pakistan must walk away from terror if it wants to walk towards dialogue with India," he said. On terrorism, the PM said that those in India's neighbourhood who support violence, perpetrate hatred, and export terror stand isolated and ignored.

Modi said "the world needs India's sustained rise, as much as India needs the world" for its economic advancement. But, he said, "sluggish growth and economic volatility" are "sobering" facts.

The PM also indicated that reform of global institutions was long overdue. "Institutions and architectures built for a different world, by a different world, seem outdated. Posing a barrier to effective multilateralism," he said. India has for long demanded reform of the UN, which should expand its Security Council to include emerging powers like India as its members.

He said the post-Cold War world has begun to re-order itself, but "the dust has not yet settled on what has replaced it." What has emerged in its place, Modi said, is a multi-polarity of the world, and an increasingly multi-polar Asia, and India welcomes this. He said the multi-polarity captures the reality of the rise of many nations and accepts that voices of many, not views of a few should shape the global agenda. "Therefore, we need to guard against any instinct or inclination that promotes exclusion, especially in Asia," the PM said.

While not referring to China directly, the PM said "rising ambition and festering rivalries are generating visible stress points" in Asia. He said the steady increase in military power, resources and wealth in the Asia-Pacific has raised the stakes for its security. "Therefore, the security architecture in the region must be open, transparent, balanced and inclusive. And, promote dialogue and predictable behaviour rooted in international norms and respect for sovereignty," he said, in a reference to tensions in the South China Sea.

Modi said India's relations with the US, Russia and Japan have strengthened. "In my conversation with President-elect Donald Trump, we agreed to keep building on these gains in our strategic partnership," he said.

The PM, who has earlier been criticised for bringing up domestic politics at international forums, said that in 2014 people of India "ushered in a New Normal" and entrusted his government with a mandate for change. "Change not just of attitudes but of mindsets. Change from a state of drift to one of purposeful actions. Change to take bold decisions. A mandate in which reform would not be enough unless it transforms our economy and society," he said.

On climate change, India has an aggressive target to generate 175 giga watts from renewable energy. "Out of this, 50 Giga Watts has already been achieved," he said.