Rise of nationalism is defining characteristic of current era, says S Jaishankar

The rise of nationalism is one of the defining characteristics of our era, said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday.

Speaking at an event here, Jaishankar said: "The rise of nationalism is one of the defining characteristics of our current era. It has expressed itself in many different forms across various geographies, many with visible democratic validation."

The Minister emphasised that India's contribution on several issues including climate change and counter-terrorism is making a difference.

"We in India consider ourselves unique and rightly so because our worldview is more global, not less. On key global issues, like climate change, radicalisation, counter-terrorism, connectivity, maritime security, our contribution is making a difference," he said.

Speaking about nationalism, the EAM said, "It is essential that we first appreciate that painting all nationalists with the same brush is not the thinking of the nationalist. On the contrary, it is the strategy of globalist to seek to simplify the world into an advantageous and binary proposition."

The EAM, however, underlined that for large parts of the world, nationalism is a perfectly natural expression of discovering their roots and asserting their independence.

"It is not just the conduct of states that has undermined the stability of the global order, key institutions especially the UN are visibly anachronistic. Their thinking and decision making are not reflective of modern realities. It is also evident that the overwhelming section of international community advocates changes," he said.