Sydney [Australia], November 8 : After the outcome of the US presidential elections, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that India sees a potential acceleration and disruption in the re-ordering of supply chains as an opportunity.
He identified four to five important consequences of the US-India relationship following US election results, including the reordering of supply chains, geopolitical hedging, digitisation, and mobility of talent and skills.
The remarks by Jaishankar came while addressing CEOs and Business leaders in Sydney, Australia.
On the outcome of the US presidential elections, Jaishankar said, "To my mind, there are four-five important consequences for the relationship (India-US) and the business aspect of the relations. First, there was already re-ordering of the supply chains that were taking place, it is very likely that in view of the election results in the US yesterday, this would accelerate. Some of it would be more disruptive, but we in India see it as an opportunity. Second, there would be in a way more geo-political hedging... Third pertains to the digital side..."
The COVID-19 pandemic and escalating geopolitical tensions have prompted companies to reassess and transform their supply chain strategies. This shift is driven by the need for greater flexibility, agility, and resilience in the face of unprecedented disruptions. Companies are shifting from global to regional supply networks to reduce dependence on fragile international supply chains.
Jaishankar is optimistic that the US administration under Donald Trump will maintain distinctions in immigration policies, potentially benefiting skilled workers from foreign countries.
Jaishankar added, "Fourth is the mobility of talent and skills because even if there is re-globalisation, I think the demographic unevenness is beginning to bite us. And now, the global workplace doesn't mean that the talent alone has to move. Businesses can move as well... Even the United States under Donald Trump will make a distinction in immigration and mobility..."
Notably, Trump's stance on immigration has been a cornerstone of his presidency, with a focus on securing the US-Mexico border and enforcing laws to curb illegal immigration. His campaign promises included stricter policies and deportation of illegal immigrants. However, Jaishankar's statement suggests that Trump's administration may differentiate between skilled workers and other immigrants.
Jaishankar further highlighted India's growth over the last decade, which has been marked by progress in education, infrastructure, and digitalisation. He noted that India's educational institutions have doubled in capacity since 2014, with the equivalent of two new colleges being established daily.
Jaishankar said, "The educational institutions of India have doubled in capacity in the last 10 years. They are roughly 2 to 2.5 times from where they stood in 2014. In absolute numbers, if I were to take colleges, that means creating two new colleges a day. Today, we are building about 27-28 kilometres of highway a day. In the railways sector, we are building 12 to 14 kilometres of railway tracks a day."
He added, "If you look at aviation, we are doing really well in comparison to other countries in the world. The current challenge we have is that there are about 1,000 new aircraft on order and they're not coming in as fast as we would like. In terms of infrastructure, in the last decade, on average, we've built 7.5 new airports a year. So there are 75 new airports which have been added on in the last 10 years. As I spoke about the digitisation of the country, the most common example of it is the transactions, even street vendors today do their payments through QR codes... On average, we do 11 to 12 billion transactions a month."