Pranab wants economic perspective in Indian diplomacy

Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said Indian diplomacy needed to acquire an economic perspective to its thinking and strategic approach, for furthering the country’s interests in the changing global order.

Addressing senior officials of the Indian Foreign Service here on Wednesday, he said as a stakeholder in the international system, the country needed to manage the changes underway so that its political and economic interests were not compromised.

“The global economic and financial architecture is transforming and the developing economies are contributing to this churning with their improved economic clout. This is a big change. We are all witness to an emerging new world order, where there is a higher degree of dependence amongst nations and, hopefully, also a more dynamic and equitable arrangement for global prosperity,” said Mukherjee.

He stressed the need to prepare strategically and with the help of requisite expertise for addressing the issues before the international community and contribute in shaping a more equitable, secure and progressive world order.

The minister said this necessitated an open mind thinking and in acquiring skills to address these challenges.

He said the major emerging market economies were experiencing robust growth, though the surge in capital inflows and inflation, including that from the hardening of global commodity prices, was a source of worry.

Mukherjee said he was confident that India was in a position to sustain high economic growth in the coming years and create a more inclusive outcome. In another function, addressing probationers of the Indian Economic Service, Mukherjee said achieving sustained growth at nine to 10 per cent annually, with fiscal prudence and moderate inflation, was a major challenge.