India's Progress Cannot Be Established Through ‘China Fix ’: S Jaishankar

NEW DELHI: On Wednesday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasized the necessity of strengthening the domestic manufacturing sector, stating that Indian economic progress cannot rely on Chinese proficiency and businesses must abandon the search for a "China solution".

Minister Jaishankar further added that no significant nation has ever maintained or improved its worldwide status without developing its manufacturing capabilities, and India must prioritize this aspect as well, during his speech at a book launch event.

India's economy can grow and become stronger only if the focus is shifted to deep manufacturing capabilities and businesses should "stop looking for a China fix", external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday. India's economic growth cannot be built on Chinese efficiency and businesses need to stop "looking for a China fix," Jaishankar said on Wednesday.

Addressing the book release event, Jaishankar said, "Make in India is not just about making, it's also about thinking. It has to be think in India. In a way, we are in a very unique circumstance and I accept that there are experiences and analogies that we can take best practices. But at the end of the day, we have to think through our growth strategy for ourselves."

The minister of foreign affairs also stated that India must not provide equal opportunities to those who provide subsidies for their production and should not permit "foreign enterprises" to benefit in the nation while disregarding "our own" advantages.

“The private sector has to be the wealth creator. No country in the world has grown on the back of the public sector...The government has to be a facilitator, a catalyst, and has to work on education, health and nutrition and bring in the right policy framework,” he said.

“So this book is about how the private sector must flourish in India and how the government must retreat in a vast range of areas,” he added. “My belief is that India needs to fire on all cylinders, not merely in services, but also manufacturing, agricultural productivity and urbanisation for it to grow on a large scale over a long period of time.”

Referring to challenges faced by India during the Covid-19 pandemic, Jaishankar said that the foreign government advised them on how to economically handle the pandemic. "Honestly I would say I am glad we did not listen to much of it. I think how you come up with your own solutions, that is something which is important," he said.

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