 by Prime Minister Modi's own invocation of this theme and by Dr. Jai Shankar's evocative elaboration of this idea on a few occasions subsequently, that this paper, the location remarks by him this afternoon, is therefore appropriate. And I am deeply grateful for him consenting to be here with us today. It would indeed be trite to say that Dr. Jai Shankar needs no introduction to an audience like this. But it is true, all the same. He is universally acknowledged to be one of India's finest diplomats, having served with great distinction as India's ambassador to the Czech Republic, Singapore, China and finally the United States. I've had the great fortune to have known him since the mid-1980s when he served at the Indian mission in Washington, D.C. But I always felt that I have known him metaphorically even earlier because of his reputation as being one of India's finest specialists on nuclear issues. I am perhaps revealing my age when I remind you of the role that Jai first played in resolving what would be the first of many thorny problems involving relations with the United States, straightening out problems with U.S. nuclear fuel supplies to TheraPort. Little did I or he know that then, that some 25 years later, we would have the privilege of working closely during the negotiations associated with the civil nuclear deal and later when he returned as India's ambassador to the United States. I can tell you without fear of being contradicted that everything that has been said about Dr. Jai Shankar's formidable intellect and his wicked sense of humor as one widely read report put it is true. How could it not be? He is in every sense a chip of the old block, the son of the great case of Romanium who many of us present here would proudly claim as having sired our own interest in India, its grand strategy and its role in the world to include in particular its relations with the United States. These are issues that have dominated Dr. Jai Shankar's professional life in recent years. And it is a tribute to him that even as he has gone about the mundane business of consummating one diplomatic triumph after another in every capital he has served, he has always remained a cheerful and disciplined thinker, a perspicacious and articulate exponent of India's effort to reconcile its heritage and uniqueness with the hard realities of competitive international politics. So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, it is my privilege to again welcome Dr. Jai Shankar to this launch of Carnegie India and to invite him to the podium to offer the marks that will mark the release of my paper on India as a leading part. Thank you so much for being with us this afternoon. Thank you, Ashley. I must confess, I didn't fully recognize myself in your description, but it's really a great pleasure to be with all of you this morning and join you at the inauguration of the Indian Center of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Quite appropriately, the theme for the day is the prospects of India as a power. And whether this is an aspiration or work in progress, I'm glad to take this opportunity to share with you some thoughts on this subject. Let me begin by underlining that one aspect of transitioning to a leading power is to build rigorous and competitive think tanks. That may be a natural corollary of a globalized society, but like much of the change around us, it doesn't happen by itself. Articulating a contemporary agenda today by going beyond the debates of a less confident era is necessary. After all, an aspiring power must assess new opportunities and challenges and put out its narrative. It must influence global thinking and while being well informed of how it is perceived by others. Balancing argumentation and outcomes is also part of this evolution. For all these reasons and more, the establishment of Carnegie India is a very welcome development We in the Ministry of External Affairs look forward to working with Carnegie India on matters of shared interest. Now as far as India's prospects are concerned, the quest towards becoming a leading power rests first and foremost on our success in expanding the economy. In that pursuit, the role of diplomacy in attracting foreign capital, technology and best practices is significant. That was the experience of Japan, the Asian tiger economies and China before us. The record over the last two years has been encouraging in this regard. We hope to build further on it. Indeed you will note how central these issues have been in our engagements abroad, including during high level visits. Similarly, hand holding investors, disseminating best practices and facilitating business partnerships are all today part of our daily activity at home. But there's more to this than the transactional side. Persuading key partners that it is in their strategic interest that the Indian economy is strengthened both qualitatively and quantitatively is one of the core objectives of our current diplomacy. That our economic endeavors have received a positive response abroad is at least partly influenced by these larger geoeconomic arguments. Focusing diplomacy on domestic development has to be a generational effort if it is to yield serious results. It calls for the change in attitude and skills of our diplomats, which I can affirm is already underway. In the last many months you would have all become familiar with our broad approaches to foreign policy. Probably the phrase heard most in that connection is neighborhood first. Well, this cannot be said often enough. It is also, it also apparently needs more elucidation. The term is meant to convey a strong sense of priority, not suggest a problem free future. In diplomacy, challenges are often in inverse proportion to distance. The point to note is that this articulates a comprehensive vision of our broader neighborhood. It is posited on the belief that whatever our past, the realization of shared prosperity can be our goal. To achieve that, we will not only have to sharply raise levels of cooperation and connectivity, but also to bring to bear a new mindset where India is concerned. It could itself drive regional cooperation rather than be driven by it. In fact, we should be pursuing our goals purposefully without letting them be overly influenced by the limitations of our partners or diverted by the difficulties of the day. What is this thinking that infused a new energy into SARC visible since the Kathmandu summit of 2014? The change is equally discernible in the plethora of initiatives coming out of India, whether it is the SARC satellite, disaster management exercises, or the e-knowledge network. When SARC has worked, we are happy to forge ahead with it where there have been difficulties. We are equally open to working plurilaterally or even sub-regionally. The intent is to get the region to be more serious about cooperation within. The degree of attention being devoted to our neighbors today is perhaps unprecedented. It is visible in the frequency of interactions at every level. And more important, it is yielding results. With Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka, it is hard to dispute that the overall atmosphere of our ties are more cordial. That better chemistry reflects faster execution of projects, expanded exchanges, and more ambitious agreed goals. With Myanmar, we have navigated the transition with delicacy and are well poised to engage the incoming government. Admittedly, in Nepal and Maldives, there have been challenges that arose from their domestic politics. But even here, patience and perseverance are making their impact. Activating partnerships and expanding capabilities in the Indian Ocean has also been central to our quest for security. In Afghanistan, going through a difficult period, our reputation for reliability has only been strengthened by the broadening ambit of bilateral cooperation. Pakistan, of course, is a category by itself. But given the challenges of that relationship, we have fared well in keeping the focus firmly on the central issue of terrorism, in maintaining an engagement that factors in the complexity of that polity and in enhancing global understanding of our approach. That said, we also look beyond to a more normal relationship featuring economic cooperation and people-to-people ties. Not surprisingly, the very concept of a neighborhood has expanded as we look out at the world with greater ambition. The last few months have shown how much closer the Gulf in the West and the Malacca Straits in the East are to us. This is not so much as a geopolitical concept, but as a reflection of the realities on the ground. An aspiring leading power, at the minimum, needs to expand its footprint. And we have been very active in that regard. The Africa Summit, a South Pacific Islands conclave, an integrated tour of Central Asia, and a comprehensive engagement in the Indian Ocean are some of its manifestations. High-level visits are taking place to more countries, sometimes after a gap of decades. It is difficult to win friends and influence people, even on global issues, without steady and continuous engagement. Interestingly, since this government came into office, we have had ministerial level visits to about 130 nations, a level of intensity in our engagement that sends its own message. Not coincidentally, our relationship with major power centers have also improved greatly in this period. Cooperation with the United States has deepened virtually across the board, building on strong political, economic, and societal convergences. With Russia, significant energy and economic initiatives have imparted new momentum to a time-tested strategic partnership. With European Union nations, both individually and collectively, changes at home have created fresh opportunities for greater collaboration. With China, the considerable potential of our economic cooperation is beginning to get unlocked. Where Japan is concerned, new vistas have opened up that could have a major impact even in the short term. More than the bilateral relationships themselves, our positioning interstate among major powers is better than it has ever been before. But let me also add that long-standing ties with ASEAN have been further consolidated, that all major players in West Asia are today productively engaged. And we have reached out to Africa and Latin America at the highest levels and you could expect considerable diplomatic activity there in the near future. Now, if lack of engagement constitutes a limitation, multiple directions of diplomacy are not without their own challenges. The agenda of one particular relationship may be divergent from another. Reaching out to powers and competition with each other is also not easy. There could be apprehensions about being entangled in the game plan of others. Or debates on the nature and extent of our response to competitors. As horizons widen, challenges of addressing such dilemmas and making choices become more complex. This is the case to our East as much as it is to our West. The world is changing as we speak with power shifts underway, new ideologies rising and sovereignty being eroded. But simply because it is complicated, we cannot fall back on passivity as a default position. To do that is to condemn ourselves to be perpetual spectators. As Mark Zuckerberg noted, in a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks. Therefore, assessing and reassessing where our national interest lies and pursuing it relentlessly is the answer. And it is the scale and scope of how we define that interest that would characterize us. It is said that the hallmark of a serious power is its ability to pursue competing goals at the same time. That overstatement does bring out an underlying reality of optimally reconciling the pulls and pressures of global politics. Playing the game on a bigger stage and at a higher level does need more engagement, better understanding and bolder policies. Above all, it requires an adaptation to change, a precondition to be able to use it to advantage. This process can be unsettling and the proponents of the status quo will always make their arguments. Timidity may be presented as caution and inaction as prudence. Every solution could have a problem. But the world is not standing still and neither can India. Whatever the pace and extent of this change, history has lessons for an aspiring power. Leverage the dominant, collaborate with the convergent and manage the competition. An important characteristic of a power that seeks to go beyond the limited agenda is its interest in global issues. In the case of India, for a variety of reasons, this actually features in our foreign policy from the very start. The nature of our influence in international relations has however changed in recent years. A dynamic balance has emerged between our national positions and our collective endeavours. We have always been strong in multilateral diplomacy and in recent times worked harder to create positive outcomes. The COP 21 at Paris is a recent example, not just as an outcome but also an advocacy of solar energy and in energy innovations. There are more, some traditional like peacekeeping operations, others contemporary like SDGs. Forging an international consensus on a difficult issue like terrorism is a test that still awaits us, even if there's been progress in this respect. Interestingly, we have been more open to regional and functional groupings in different areas, ad hoc or more structured. Our reputation naturally grows in moving beyond argumentation to practice. Strides that we have made in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief have had a resonance that is difficult to quantify. Certainly the operations in Yemen and Nepal, coming a decade after the 2004 tsunami, has increased respect for India as a global citizen. A nation that seeks to stand out must have its distinct branding that is usually built on its culture and traditions. Taking those on to the international stage has been a broad-based and long-standing effort of many organizations and individuals. Bollywood may have made the strongest impact at the popular level, but there are other facets of our global personality, from traditional knowledge and wellness practices, to religion, philosophy, arts and craft. Getting this heritage more deeply into the consciousness of the world is a critical part of enhancing our standing. And the experience of the International Day of Yoga has been truly encouraging. There are equally appealing contemporary facets of our nation, among them our democratic way of life. Whether we are conscious of it or not, the world sees us espousing pluralistic values, often as an example. High growth in a democratic framework, leapfrogging into the digital era, and the quality of our human resources are forging our modern image. The diaspora has been particularly effective in spreading this. At the end of the day, the transformation of Indian power is a whole of the government exercise, if not a whole of the nation one. Diplomacy only leads the way, being both an enabler and an integrator. Today, our successors in expanding options abroad, be it in defense, trade or energy, have created real opportunities to move up to the next level. How well we exploit these opportunities is up to us. There will be complications, uncertainties, even impediments. Above all, there are the compulsions of the growing pace of change. Bernard Shaw said that progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. Carnegie India can certainly contribute to the why, the how, and the when of that process. I look forward to it. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Foreign Secretary, for that very powerful presentation made with your trademark subtlety. There is much that you have said today that merits further reflection, and I hope that in the months ahead, the work that we do can contribute towards a further analysis of some of the themes that you have laid out today. The Foreign Secretary has very kindly agreed to take two or three questions before he has to run back to work, so I have to be both judicious in terms of calling on people and the time that you're going to have. If you can, when I recognize you, just identify who you are and keep your questions really pointed. I would appreciate it. Yes, sir. First step. I'm Lefingel Mbias Malik, apart from having two thing thanks. I also happened with the person who conducted the talks with the Chinese 25 years later when both armies came face to face. My question is, at the time, Chinese were not that assertive as they have become now. You spend a lot of time to talk about the neighborhood and India trying to improve the relationship with the neighborhood. Little while ago, we had Dr. Ruan. He said that it's easy to love a human being than to love a neighbor. Now, I do not know what exactly is our approach. Is it what Dr. Ashley Telles? Way back in 1997, he wrote a paper on South Asia and he defined that if the bigger power does not disturb the status quo, please correct me if I'm wrong, the smaller power does not have the incentive to do so. So the onus actually lies on China. But from the talk, I got the impression that they are ready to do many things, but not to take that responsibility. Thank you. Yes. Take a group. I can take a question? Yes, absolutely. Or you want me to... Whatever you find. Yeah. Well, one, Ashley is not always right. Most of the time, he is. But so this is the exception, apparently. But I think what's happening on the border is really two countries meeting as nation states, modern nation states for the first time. And obviously, they have claims on each other. And how much disturbance of the status quo there is is both a function of intent and of capabilities. So if capabilities are more one-sided, there is a greater temptation to disturb the status quo. So to the extent capabilities are better balanced, the status quo is better preserved. And balancing capabilities on our end certainly requires better infrastructure, better equipment, better preparation. I mean, I don't have to tell you, you are from the Army. So I think that's very much the focus of what is today the policy within the government. Thank you. Smita Prakash from E&I. My question to the foreign secretary. The prime minister seems to have invested a lot of political capital in improving India's relations with Pakistan. The sudden stopover in Lahore and asking the JIT or allowing the JIT to visit Bhattankot. But in your speeches now, you said that terrorism continues to be the central issue with Pakistan. So in the almost two years that this government has been in power, what is the change in India-Pakistan relations? And does terrorism, is terrorism still the central focus in your interactions with Pakistan, whether yours, the NSA's, or the prime ministers? Thank you. Well, I mean, if you've seen the interactions, I think one change has been the centrality of addressing the issue of terrorism to the dialogue, the interactions between the two nations. That was reflected when the two prime ministers met in Ufa. It was underlined when the two NSA's met in Bangkok. If you see the sort of innocence, the reconstituted dialogue that we have, the comprehensive bilateral dialogue, the salience of terrorism. Because I mean, this is not a point of argumentation. It's taking into account what is happening on the ground. So until we are able to address the issue effectively, obviously, it is hard for us to say that the relationship is normal, because this is what puts Pakistan in a different category than our other neighbors. Because there's not an issue that comes up with other neighbors. So yes, terrorism remains very much the focus of the relationship. And Pathan Koth has made it so as well. Thank you. I'll take one last question. Yes, the lady at the back, please. Foreign Secretary Smita Sharma from India Today. You spoke about diplomacy being used for economic investments and foreign investments. So if diplomacy can be used as a carrot, can it also be used as a stick with a country like China that continues to use its veto every time there is a move against terrorism or terrorists for India at the level of the UN? Look, I think in diplomacy, you don't speak of carrot sense sticks. It's undiplomatic. So my sense is that the particular issue that you have referred to is something we have taken up with the Chinese. We've taken it up at a fairly high level. And we will continue to pursue this with the Chinese. But this is an issue. It's an issue to be pursued with the Chinese in a UN context. So I wouldn't like to give the impression that somehow this is going to overflow into other areas. I we've had a sort of backing and forging with them on this issue. So you will have to wait and see where this goes. Jai, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for coming here this afternoon and for actually making a very powerful statement about how you see India's evolution and its own program with respect to becoming a leading power. There are many things that you said today that really merit further reflection. And I hope that we will pay some attention to some of your formulations, which I thought were exquisitely important for the months and years ahead. I want to thank you for being with us. And I invite Shivnath to have the last word. Thank you, Ashli. Thank you, Dr. Jai Shankar. On behalf of Carnegie India and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, I would like to thank the foreign secretary, Dr. Jai Shankar, for being with us here today and share his views on India as a leading power. So your clear focus and relentless energy in driving India's rise in today's changing global order is one of the reasons why we feel so encouraged about the work we are going to do here and the work Carnegie has done globally. And thanks for welcoming us and giving us ideas as to how we can work on areas of shared interest. Carnegie India's focus areas, apart from foreign affairs, is also to look at the political economy of reform in India and the role of innovation and technology in India's internal transformation and international relations. With three clear areas of work cut out for us and guidance from leaders like you, we feel confident we will be able to contribute to the journey of transformation the nation is going through. We will do this through collaboration and joint work with other think tanks and institutions who are willing to work together as we know that one single force or organization cannot drive this change. Carnegie India's journey began a few years ago when some very strong believers and supporters, some of those who are in this audience made a commitment to bring the legacy and credibility of 100-year-old organization into India. They felt a global think tank like Carnegie could make a difference and with the help of Indian scholars do its bit. So here we are, Carnegie Endowment's century-old existence is the foundation on which Carnegie India is beginning its journey. We know that both our board members as well as Indian supporters who are putting their time and money have high expectations from all of us. We will ensure we do not disappoint them. We at Carnegie India are excited and look forward to doing some groundbreaking work with the help of young Indian talent to address Indian problems as an Indian think tank. Carnegie India's aim is to take India to the world and within the country take its own successes and solutions to a larger Indian audience. On behalf of my director, Dr. C. Raja Mohan and all the staff here, very few of us I can tell you, here in India, as well as those supporting Carnegie India from our Washington D.C. office led by President Bill Burns, who's here with us, I want to thank each one of you for being with us and also all our founder committee members who have been extremely generous in their commitment to ensure we focus on research and high-quality work. When the Prime Minister welcomed us yesterday and of the opening of the India Central Meeting, he said it was reflective of democratic traditions and liberal thinking in the country. He also expressed hope that the center would further promote the climate of research and liberal arts, especially among the youth and strengthen strategic partnership between India, the U.S. and the rest of the world. So here we are, the journey has just begun. We know we are at the right place, at the right time and at the right moment. This is India's moment, and we must put all the intellectual rigor and analytical skills to identify the big ideas which will add value to India's journey of becoming a leading power. I would like to thank you all for being with us today. We need your good wishes, support and guidance. We wish you all the best and a great future. Please do stay in touch with us through our various social media handles and our website, CarnegieIndia.org. And with that, I now request to you all to please join us for lunch. Thank you, thank you everyone for being here. Thank you.