Mandate reflects public approval of security policy: Jaishankar

The massive mandate won by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha elections is a vote also for continuing the government's foreign policy with emphasis on security issues, new External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Thursday.

In an interaction with industry leaders at the 7th Growthnet annual summit organised jointly by the Ananta Centre and industry chamber CII, Jaishankar also said that the line between economics and politics was becoming thin in the context of globalisation and that India had to chart her own independent course by engaging with multiple economic realities.

"The mandate (Lok Sabha) is also a vote for the emphasis the government has given to the security issue and for continuity in foreign policy," Jaishankar said.

"Globalisation is now under stress ... and so the line between economics and politics has become very thin. But given the situation, we have to work with it," he said.

The Minister noted that a big country like India had always followed an independent path in foreign policy.

"There are now multiple (trade) regimes and realities - free trade agreements (FTAs), bilateral and even unstructured trade relations - we have to engage with all of them," he added.

--IANS

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