External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said the time when a handful of countries could dominate the world has ended, and the future will be “much more multipolar.” He was speaking at a geopolitics and economic conference held in Delhi.
Referring to the Covid-19 pandemic, Jaishankar said India’s actions during the crisis reflected its identity as a developing country in the international arena. He noted that the Union government provided vaccines to people across the country and also came forward to send vaccines to other developing nations.
He observed that developed countries, which earlier appeared as a more cohesive bloc shaped by culture, politics and strategy, are now beginning to show differences among themselves.
According to him, international politics is no longer under the control of a few powerful states. Instead, multiple centres of power are emerging, and countries will increasingly form temporary partnerships focused on specific needs and issues.
Jaishankar added that the world will not return to older practices where a few nations set the rules through agreements and others were expected to comply. He said international cooperation must adapt to the present distribution of power rather than resist it.
