Pune: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday stated the picture of India right now is that of a nation that is prepared to go to any extent to defend its nationwide safety. Every nation has its challenges and no problem is as sharp as that of nationwide safety, he stated, including that India is a nation that will neither be pushed out nor will it enable its primary backside strains to be crossed. The minister was addressing ‘Festival of Thinkers’, an occasion organised by Symbiosis International University right here. “In the last few years, we have been tested for a long time on our western border. I think things are a little different now and everyone will agree. Few things had happened in 2016 and 2019 and we have been tested and we are being tested on our northern borders,” he stated.Â
“How India comes through this test will show our ability to stand up,” Jaishankar stated. “We have today the image of the country which is willing to do what it takes to defend its national security. It (India) is a very forbearing country, a patient country, it is not a country that goes around picking fights with other people, but it is a country that will not be pushed out. This is a country that will not allow its basic bottom lines to be crossed,” he stated.
“Since it is a polarised world, different countries will try to prejudice you. They will urge you. Sometimes they use pretty strong words. Now how do you stand up for your interests and sometimes the interests of others who may not have the same ability and strengths that you do. We are seeing that today,” he added. Referring to the Ukraine battle, he stated the pressures which got here with that battle had been additionally the second when our sense of independence and sense of confidence had been examined.
 “We are seen as independent and also seen as not just standing up for our rights, which we should and we are (doing it), but we are also becoming the voice of the global south. Last month, we had a consultation process ahead of the G20. It was the first time it happened. We as the president of the G20, at the level of Prime Minister, myself, Finance Minister, Trade Minister and Environment Minister, had a consultation with 125 countries of the global south.”
 “We want to go into G20 saying that there is a large part of the world which is not sitting on that table but they have a legitimate interest and somebody needs to speak up for them. India today is perceived by the rest of the G20 not only as the voice of independence and self-confidence but also as the voice of the global south,” Jaishankar stated.
