EAM Jaishankar Warns of Global Cost of Wars
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has warned that countries far removed from ongoing wars are increasingly paying the economic price of conflicts they did not create, calling for restraint, de-escalation and uninterrupted global energy and trade flows.
Jaishankar Raises Global Cost of Ongoing Conflicts
Addressing the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, Jaishankar said countries with little or no role in current conflicts were being penalised through higher energy prices, disrupted trade and wider economic instability.
He invoked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s earlier message that this is “not an era of war”, arguing that prolonged hostilities were undermining development and disproportionately affecting countries with limited influence over the conflicts themselves.
Jaishankar said those suffering the consequences often had the least say in decisions that shaped the crises.
India Calls for De-Escalation in Gulf Conflict
The External Affairs Minister expressed concern over continuing hostilities in the Gulf, saying the latest conflict had worsened an already difficult global situation.
He also criticised attacks on commercial shipping and seafarers using international waterways, describing such actions as unacceptable.
India called on all parties to exercise restraint, protect civilians and ensure that energy supplies and commercial shipping remain uninterrupted.
UN Reform and Multipolar World Highlighted
Jaishankar also argued that the existing global order was no longer adequately reflecting current geopolitical realities.
He said the world was moving towards a more multipolar system and called for reforms to international institutions so that developing countries and emerging powers have a stronger voice in global decision-making.
India has consistently argued that multilateral institutions, particularly the United Nations Security Council, must be reformed to reflect present-day economic and political realities.
