In today’s scenario of multi-polarity in which power is no longer concentrated in the hands of one or two countries, India needs geo-political stability to achieve growth, according to Sanjaya Baru, Distinguished Fellow, United Service Institute of India.
Baru, who is also a Honorary Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research and Consulting Fellow for India at the International Institute of Strategic Studies, London, was delivering the Fifth NJ Yasaswy Memorial Lecture on ‘The West and the Rest: The Geo-economics of a Multi-polar World’ at the ICFAI University campus in Hyderabad on Friday.
“The country needs to invest in education and in building human capability to take advantage of the opportunities offered by a multi-polar world,” he said.
The shift of the global balance of power from the West to other countries like India and China has geo-political implications in terms of trade, environment and intellectual property protection, he added.
“With Europe losing its competitiveness, Asian countries, such as China and India, would soon catch up with the developed world, provided these countries invest in building human capability and well being. The shift of the global balance of power from the West to other countries like India and China has geo-political implications in terms of trade, environment and intellectual property protection,” Baru noted in his speech. “Knowledge, that is human capability, is the single most important attribute of power in the modern world,” he said.
C Rangarajan, Chancellor of the University and former RBI Governor said emerging technology could create problems in the western countries. “Technology should assist the humans and not try to replace the skilled labour,” he said.
In his welcome address, J Mahender Reddy, Vice Chancellor, ICFAI recalled the contributions made by Yasaswy in building ICFAI and setting it on the path of ‘excellence’.