Raisina Dialogue: MoS Meenakashi Lekhi pitches for 'reforming multilateralism'

Delhi: Highlighting the importance of multilateralism in the context of changing geopolitics at the ongoing 8th Raisina Dialogue, Minister of State for External Affairs, Meenakshi Lekhi on Saturday said, “India would work towards reforming multilateralism. There is a better methodology in resolving conflicts and not letting them happen in the first place in the interest of maintaining social order.” “India has taken upon itself the task of being the voice for the voiceless, and the reform in multilateralism has to be the way forward because, in its current form, it has failed to address key issues,” she said, adding that the prevailing global scenario calls for a relook at the method and the manner in which things have happened or have not been dealt with,” Lekhi said. She said that while India is a “country of the (global) North”, it was “very much a country of the (global) South.”India is a country of the East and, by its democratic principles, a country of the West,” she added. Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar, speaking at a panel discussion on `Democracy’s Eleven: Protecting our Technology Future’, said there is a fundamental reset underway in semiconductor, electronics and innovation world order post-COVID, and like-minded nations need to work together on a cooperative framework to shape the future of technology. To safeguard citizens from online user harm, India has defined the boundary conditions of openness, safety and trust as well as accountability for platforms and companies to operate on the Indian Internet, the minister said and hoped that with global cooperation these principles will find a wider play among other nations. Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar, speaking at the Raisina Dialogue alongside Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral John Aquilino, the UK’s chief of Naval Staff Admiral Ben Key and Chief of Staff of Japan’s defence ministry Gen Koji Yamazaki, stressed that contemporary challenges in the maritime domain could be best addressed by “issue-based convergences” among like-minded countries while highlighting the advantages of “regional solutions to regional problems”. The Chief of Navy Staff, citing India’s experience, said working in smaller groups and regional frameworks is helpful in building trust, interoperability and overall outcome. Admiral Kumar said India’s policy in the region is based on the principles of respect, dialogue, peace and prosperity and it is guided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of SAGAR or security and growth for all in the region. Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the government is not in a ‘‘crazy rush’’ to sell everything and it will continue to have a presence in four strategic sectors, including telecom. In strategic sectors, a bare minimum presence of the existing public sector commercial enterprises at the holding company level will be retained under government control. The remaining enterprises in a strategic sector will be considered for privatisation or merger with another PSE or for closure. The minister said that the country will have government-owned professionally run companies in four broad strategic sectors. According to the PSE Policy, the four broad strategic sectors are - atomic energy, space and defence; transport and telecommunication; Power, Petroleum, Coal and other minerals; and Banking, Insurance and Financial Services. India’s goods and services exports are expected to cross USD 750 billion this fiscal despite the global economic uncertainties, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday. In 2021-22, the country’s goods and services exports touched an all-time high of $422 billion and $254 billion respectively, taking the total shipments to $676 billion. “Last year we crossed a record $650 billion of goods and services (exports). This year, we are aiming for an even bigger record. We have crossed last year’s figure already. We will hopefully cross $750 billion (this year),” he said while speaking at the Raisina Dialogue. With inputs from PTI Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.