With India’s rising stature in the world and its economic growth, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday used cricketing terms to explain the phenomenon and said here, “I’d call it rebalancing. It is history switch hitting.”
Using cricket analogy freely, he also said at a session in the ongoing Raisina Dialogue, a multilateral conference, with “Captain [PM] Modi. the net practice starts 6 in the morning and goes on till fairly late... He expects you to take that wicket if he gives you the chance to do it.”
The conference was also attended by former British prime minister Tony Blair and former England cricket icon Kevin Pietersen.
Incidentally, he introduced switch hit to tackle bowlers. The ex-cricketer also called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.
Asked if India is a bigger economy than Britain and dominating cricket, the Minister said, “I’d call it rebalancing. It’s history switch hitting... India (is) in (a) very unusual position, once more decisively upwardly mobile which lot of other civilisational states aren’t in position to do.”
During the dialogue, Jaishankar was also asked about the rising interest among people on global issues.
The External Affairs Minister said, “It is because world is in a difficult place, more people are getting interested in the world. The second reason is globalisation of India. Like a cricket team, we don’t want to win matches only at home but abroad as well.”
Backing India to play a bigger role at the international level, Blair said, ‘It is absurd to think that India is not a permanent member [of the United Nations Security Council] but you can say that for other countries as well. The West has no option but to share power. The question is how to make sense of diplomacy in this new world.’
He also said, ‘Real challenge today is how to make sense of the shifting geopolitics, and in that position India is absolutely critical because the progress in India in the last few years has been remarkable. The position of India is potentially more powerful than ever.’
