Jaishankar flags Concern over Weaponisation of Trade

The world is witnessing "greater weaponisation" of tariffs, sanctions and export controls and India must navigate the challenge by working with partners who are trustworthy and present fewer risks, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday.

His remarks at the Raisina Dialogue came amid growing global concerns over US President Donald Trump's threat of imposing reciprocal tariffs on its partners and other nations.

However, the external affairs minister made no mention of Trump's threat of tariffs.

"Tariffs, sanctions, export controls -- whether we like it or not, they are a reality, countries use them," he said speaking at a session titled "Commisars and Capitalists: Politics, Business and New World Order."

"If one looks at the last decade, we have seen a much greater weaponisation of pretty much any kind of capability or any kind of economic activity," he said.

The external affairs minister also talked about ways to deal with the situation arising out of weaponisation of trade.

Explaining, he said staying on the "right side" of the weapon so you don't "get hit", and finding partners who are more "trustworthy" and present fewer risks.

"The world today makes business decisions factoring in national security in a manner in which it did not do so before, especially in the digital era," he said.

"In the digital era, it's not just about cost, it is about comfort and trust. If you are today looking at a strategic level, the business conversations you keep hearing (are about) resilience, reliability, trust, transparency."

"You want to do business more and more with those with whom you are secure," he added.

To a question on whether the Trump administration is aiming to create a new world order, Jaishankar said: "If your question is what the US is doing, you should ask the Americans, not me."

"We should be doing many things, including engaging the Americans and engaging the Global South. Our effort is to maximise our options to increase our turnover, to improve our technology," he noted.

India and the US are currently holding negotiations for a bilateral trade agreement.

Following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump in Washington DC last month, the two countries announced they would negotiate a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) and set a target to firm it up by this year.

In the meeting, the two sides also set an ambitious target of USD 500 billion in annual trade by 2030 to narrow the trade deficit.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal was in the US this month to hold talks on the trade deal with his American counterpart as well as the US Trade Representative and their teams.

In line with his "America First" policy, Trump this month announced reciprocal tariffs from April 2 on its partners and other nations that impose higher levies on imports from the US.

The US president's tariff tussle has stoked fears of a global trade war with many countries already announcing counter-measures to deal with it.

In his comments, Jaishankar also called for norms and regulations for big data and artificial intelligence (AI).

"It does matter where our data goes, who looks at our data, who processes it, who develops the AI based on our data. We can't be agnostic in the digital era," he said.

Jaishankar said reliability and trust are crucial in these domains as well.

"India must play to its strengths -- a huge amount of data because there's a large population and an enormously diverse society," he said.

"We have to make the most of it," he noted.