New Delhi [India], October 5 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday emphasised the growing impact of US-China relations on global politics and warned of rising competition and risk in the international arena. His remarks came at the 4th Kautilya Economic Conclave in New Delhi.
Jaishankar stated, “Clearly, what we can see is that the US-China relationships in many ways are going to influence the direction of global politics.” He highlighted how both nations are reshaping power and partnerships in a changing world order.
Regarding the United States, Jaishankar noted, “It is not only more assertive, but it has encouraged its national interest goals to drive its approach towards partnerships and cooperation.” On China, he observed that the country is in a transitional phase, with several concepts and mechanisms it promoted still unfinished, yet its role in global affairs remains significant.
He added, “In the case of Europe, what was a sweet spot in terms of US-Russia-China, US-security, Russia-energy, China-trade, has actually got turned around and every one of those aspects today, has become a challenge.”
Jaishankar also discussed changing global energy dynamics. He noted that the US, long concerned about external energy dependence, has become self-sufficient and a major energy exporter, integrating energy exports into its strategic outlook. Conversely, China has emerged as a leader in renewable energy, meaning “pretty much any path you take on renewables, finally all roads lead back there.”
The External Affairs Minister pointed out a broader shift in global power dynamics: “We have also seen in a few cases, in the cases of major polities, that their belief in balance of power is probably much less. They seem to think that they may not need the rest of the world as much as they did before.” He warned that this mindset enables states to exercise power more freely, intensifying competition.
Jaishankar stated, “We have seen overall the global needle move much more towards competition…there is a tendency to weaponise almost everything, and there is much less reticence, particularly on the part of major powers, to use that.”
On the global economy and political risk, he described a paradoxical environment: “The intensity of multiple happenings, actually converging on the global economy at the same time, is today setting into motion a paradoxical situation where, on one hand, the very factors that are referred to encourage higher-risk taking…at the same time, there is a serious effort to de-risk every facet of both politics and economics.” He concluded, “It is almost like you are raising the height of the trapeze and removing the safety net with each passing day. That is the state of the international polity today.”
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