EAM’s address at the Aravalli Summit 2025 (October 06, 2025)

Chancellor Ambassador Kanwal Sibal,

Vice Chancellor Prof. Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit,

Dean SIS Prof. Amitabh Mattoo,

President, Chintan Research Foundation Shri Shishir Priyadarshi

Excellencies, Teachers, including my teachers,

Friends, Students, Colleagues,

It is a great pleasure for me to join you all as we celebrate the School of International Studies turning 70 and holding the first Aravali Summit. In the course of introducing that, mention was made of the Parthasarathy Rock - G. Parthasarathy was of course the founding Vice Chancellor of this University, and I had, I must share with you, the privilege of being his Special Assistant when he was the defacto Foreign Minister, which proves that JNU knows how to look after its own. I myself entered the rolls of SIS in its 20th year. And so for me, this is a personal milestone of 50 years of association; 52 if I also count my MA courses which I did while studying in the School of Social Sciences.

2. Now, I had the advantage, and thank you Amitabh, for reading his piece about the institutional journey in the issue of the International Studies that we just released, and I reflected on the good fortune of having the opportunity to interact with some of the founding stalwarts of the SIS. It was, however, the next generation that really taught me, when I was doing my MA at SSS, and then the MPhil and PhD at SIS. So let me genuflect to them all today on this occasion - and some of my teachers are present here - and also let me express my fond sentiments for the cohort of fellow students, with whom, as is typical in JNU, I am still very much in touch.

3. Now, my generation was witness to the physical shift of SIS from Firozeshah Road to the Old JNU Campus, before it came here. And as many of you would know, the School was associated from the beginning with the Ministry of External Affairs and with the Indian Council of World Affairs, two institutions that I obviously know well in my professional life. Being in the same domain, it is also natural that I am familiar, maybe more than familiar, with many generations of scholars and academics of SIS. In the Ministry and Embassies abroad, we would renew our acquaintance regularly and exchange notes and views. So today, I speak to you not just as the Foreign Minister or even as an alumnus, but as someone with a deep and abiding connection to the School of International Studies.

4. As I do, the thought crosses my mind whether studying international relations has actually helped me to practice it more adeptly. Certainly, a PhD and MPhil that were on the impact of nuclear technology on diplomacy provided a foundation for some professional responsibilities. Early in the Ministry of External Affairs, I dealt with the issue of Tarapur fuel supply and then in the fashioning of the first export control regime that we finalized in 1984. Thereafter, that foundation was useful when we negotiated the nuclear deal with the US two decades later and engaged with the Nuclear Suppliers Group. A very different dimension were the SIS courses that I undertook on Chinese and Soviet politics, which certainly made it so much easier to function when I worked in those societies. Looking back, perhaps the schooling in SIS also helped shape many other traits, including the inclination to engage and utilize the academic community and its platforms. And perhaps in a way, I could blame my books on all of you!

5. Now, the SIS started at a stage of our history when we began re-engaging with the world after our independence. Since then, it has analyzed and interpreted global events while nation-building advanced. A large portion of this period was when India confronted significant problems and adverse circumstances. Today, SIS must consider shifting gears and undertaking the task of addressing the agenda of Viksit Bharat. Now, this is no simple matter because it appears that it is India's destiny that its rise take place in an exceptionally turbulent era. When I look back at my research on the evolution of a global order in the aftermath of a World War, it seems almost glacial in comparison to the mega changes that we are witnessing today.

6. Consider the global landscape now and let us reflect on the intensity of the transformation and their implications. A third of global manufacturing has moved to a single geography, with attendant consequences for supply chains. There is rising anti-globalization sentiment in many societies. Trade calculations are being overturned by tariff volatility. The global energy scenario has changed profoundly with the US becoming a major fossil fuel exporter and China a key renewable one. There are competing models on the harnessing of data and evolution of Artificial Intelligence which jostle with each other. Big Tech has become a significant player in itself. New routes of connectivity are emerging, some of them with a strategic purpose. The mobility debate seeks to reconcile skills, demand and social reactions to them. The application of sanctions, the seizure of assets, the advent of crypto - they have all today changed the face of global finance. Competition for rare earths and critical minerals has become visceral, even as technology controls have further tightened. The quality of weaponry and the nature of war itself has been transformed, making it more stand-off, more impactful and definitely more risk-prone.

7. Now, the strategic consequences of such deep change across a broad swathe of human activity occurring in such a short timeframe is surely very profound. We see an erosion in sovereignty facilitated by tech penetration and manipulation. Global rules and regimes are being revisited and at times, even discarded. Cost is no longer the defining criteria for economic transactions; ownership and security are equally so. End to end risks are rising, beginning with the concentration of production, moving through limited supply chains and then to dependence on key markets. Alliances and understandings are being reviewed and renegotiated. A belief in balance of power is being replaced with actions based on margins of power. Cumulatively, the world is witnessing more competition and less compacts. The needle has shifted towards an intersection of interests and away from the promise of cooperation. It is driven by the weaponization of everything, with less inhibition to use available tools. Now all nations face these predicaments. But while the majority are struggling to cope or busy defending their interests, India has to strategize and India has to continue rising amidst such volatility.

8. Friends, the challenge for analysts and practitioners alike is to accurately read this complex and evolving landscape. Only then can we figure out how best India can calculate and respond. This is by no means a defensive stance. We have to safeguard our interests and yet, continuously advance up the global hierarchy. We have to de-risk our exposures and engagements and yet, take risks when necessary. We have to appreciate that interdependence is both a stabilizer and at the same time a vulnerability. And the world is all about being on the positive side of that ledger. From India's perspective, three driving forces of demand, of demographics and of data will propel its rise. While this is naturally a domestic agenda, the foreign policy implications are to weigh the pros and cons of our choices. Not just that, indeed, to maximize the freedom of choice itself. Along with that, we have to create the ideas, the concepts, the terminology, the explanations and the narratives for the journey towards 2047. This is what awaits the SIS of the future.

9. Now, every domain has its own truisms and fundamentals. Even as we look ahead, it is essential to appreciate the lessons of the past. And few are better placed to undertake that exercise than an SIS which is entering its eighth decade. Probably the most obvious of them is the importance of realism and the significance of national capabilities. Both were underestimated in the early decades after independence, with costs and consequences that we all know well. Our goodwill towards neighbours cannot presume that they necessarily reciprocate that sentiment. The value of territory and its strategic implications must never be taken lightly. The defence of our boundaries needs the requisite infrastructure, not just declarations of intent. If nations have permanent interests, then adjusting policy to global shifts must be accepted as a necessity. These learnings have been taken into account by policy formulation in the last decade.

10. Now allow me, in addition, to highlight ten particular dimensions of change that we have also seen in the same period:

(i) Relationships need to be continuously tended, not episodically addressed. That is why we see a more intense diplomacy and a more high profile one within the Sub-continent itself and with the Gulf, ASEAN, Central Asia and major powers. Some bilateral visits have actually taken place after a gap of decades!

(ii) In our own region, we have to ourselves underwrite the infrastructure for cooperation if it is to be proofed against political volatility. This is the essence of Neighbourhood First policy. India has to be the 'go to' option in any crisis for the entire subcontinent.

(iii) The maritime aspects of our interests and concerns must not be underestimated. It is not just past history; it continued till the first decade of this century. That is why we now have the SAGAR and the MAHASAGAR outlook.

(iv) The strategic diminishing of India as a result of the Partition has to be overcome and it has to be done by reaching out to the extended neighbourhoods. This explains the Act East, the Link West, the C5+1 and the Focus Africa initiatives.

(v) Even as we optimize our positioning among major powers, the constituency of the developing world should be continuously cultivated. Therefore, India proposed the Voice of the Global South Summits and undertook the Vaccine Maitri initiative.

(vi) As our economy grows, so too do our responsibilities and in fact, the world's expectations of India. That is why we have emerged as a regular First Responder and a reliable development partner with projects today in 78 nations across various continents.

(vii) Recognizing that we have forged strong partnerships with many nations without making any an exclusive one, our preferred method of expanding cooperation is and will be through agenda-based platforms. Therefore the membership of Quad, of BRICS, of SCO, of the I2U2 amongst others.

(viii) Re-engineering connectivity is today vital. Increasing our options through engagement in multiple directions is in progress. We can see that in the IMEC, the North-South Transport Corridor, the Trilateral Highway, the Polar routes, among others.

(ix) A nation's profile is also judged by the power of its ideas. In recent years, we have initiated the International Solar Alliance, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, the Global Bio-fuel Alliance, the International Big Cat Alliance, etc. Or given a global thrust to yoga and wellness, millets and nutrition or to sustainable lifestyle. What may look ambitious today like One Sun One World One Grid could actually be a reality not that far away; and

(x) Overall, India must operate in a multi-polar environment while itself preparing to emerge as a pole. That is why multi-alignment serves it well right now and the goal of becoming a leading power is a natural one for the future. And preparations must commence now to create a global footprint, a task that will probably take two generations. No region is too far away anymore to engage for Indian diplomacy. And you can see that whether it is the Nordic, or the FIPIC involving Pacific Islands, West Africa, CARICOM or CELAC.

11. Friends, there is a strong and direct connection between the internal dynamics of any nation and its external manifestations. The concept of comprehensive national power has not only gained greater acceptance but also serves as a key national security objective. Many of our preferences and initiatives are decided keeping it in mind. In engaging the world, it is also essential that we factor in the demands of the real economy and the views of the real society. This was not always the case in the past, where policy preferences were sometimes at odds with socio-economic sentiments of our society. Especially in this day and age, we cannot be impervious to public opinion. Developing and projecting our national personality on the world stage is also critical as we occupy a more prominent place. After all, we are a civilizational state and the quest for modernity and progress must be harmonized with our traditions and culture.

12. So let me say this - the SIS has been in the forefront of developing India's diplomatic capabilities for seven decades now. This has been both an intellectual endeavour as well as being a training ground. It has served as an inspiration for the proliferation of International Relations studies in the rest of the country. Today, it must help shoulder the responsibility of preparing India to enter a higher orbit and emerging as a leading power. We need the concepts, the strategies and the terminology to facilitate that journey. Auditing our performance and illustrating it with case studies is enormously helpful. How to debate within and how to disseminate beyond is the task that SIS must pursue vigorously. As India globalizes, public interest about the world will also grow commensurately. The power of analysis and of articulation must address that societal need as well.

13. So, as we mark SIS@70, let me conclude by emphasizing what a privilege it has been to be associated with this august institution. I have every confidence that it will grow from strength to strength and live up to the promise of its very distinguished history.

Thank you very much.

New Delhi
October 06, 2025