In a strong message against protectionism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said countries could not find solutions behind walls of protection but in embracing change. “What we seek is a level playing field for all. India stands for open and stable international trade regime,” PM Modi said at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
“We will also support rule-based, open, balance and stable trade environment in the Indo-Pacific Region, which lifts up all nations on the tide of trade and investment,” he said. In a speech that also laid out how India had many partnerships and its friendships were not aimed at containing others, PM Modi spoke about India’s relations with the United States, Russia and China.
India’s global strategic partnership with the United States continues to deepen across the extraordinary breadth of our relationship, he said, describing it as a measure of our strategic autonomy that India’s first Strategic Partnership was with Russia and matured to be special and privileged.
On New Delhi’s relations with Beijing, he said no other relationship of India had as many layers as the one with China. PM Modi and President Xi had held an informal summit in Chinese city of Wuhan in April last week during which they exchanged views on solidifying the relationship between the two Asian powers.
“I firmly believe that Asia and the world will have a better future when India and China work together in trust and confidence,” he said, underlining that an Asia of “rivalries” will hold the region back while an Asia of cooperation will shape the century.
India stands for a free, open, inclusive Indo-Pacific region, which embraces us all in a common pursuit of progress and prosperity, he said.
Prasanta Patnaik