The Lowy Institute

The opportunities and challenges presented by globalisation are very much on the mind of India’s Minister for External Affairs, Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. He wants India to enter the global arena “with cards to play” and, to that end, has argued for India to take a stronger approach to building its national capabilities. Those national capabilities have been tested by COVID-19, which has infected over 1 million Indians and claimed nearly 140,000 lives.But Dr Jaishankar also recognises the need for India to focus on greater international cooperation in solving the existential problems of the day, including climate change, terrorism and pandemics.“The world is not going to carry on with business as usual,” Dr Jaishankar recently observed. “Those with a more self-centred view of world politics will have to come to terms with the needs of the day.”The Lowy Institute was pleased to host Dr Jaishankar at a time of great ambition for India-Australia ties. In this virtual event, the Executive Director of Australia’s