‘Now, weeks and tweets make a difference’: Jaishankar bats for de-risking, flags market uncertainty

India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar took a veiled dig at US President Donald Trump while talking about the unpredictability of the global order and said time changes fast and even a few months, weeks and tweets make a difference now. Speaking at the ORF panel discussion on ‘At The Heart of Development - Aid, Trade & Technology’ on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly, Jaishankar said, “A few months ago, it was very clear the world was moving towards much greater unpredictability, volatility, uncertainty...What we are seeing is that times are different and a few months, weeks and tweets make a difference.”

He reiterated India’s pitch to de-risk the world and hedge against uncertainty and said, “The level of policy changes and their practical impact, played out publicly, is one part of it. We started by worrying about our supply chain and our sources of production. When we said let’s de-risk the world and hedge against uncertainty, it meant having more production centres, more resilient, redundant supply chains.”

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The minister further said, “We also have to protect ourselves against the uncertainty of market access. Almost the entire economic chain has become far more risky. The central proposition in diplomacy and international relations is how to de-risk, hedge, and become more resilient, safeguarding oneself against unforeseen contingencies, and then build policy and plans around it. It is a huge challenge for the entire world.”

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In a veiled criticism of the United States and China, Jaishankar flagged growing trade protectionism, tariff unpredictability, and coercive supply chain practices by major global powers.

In his address at the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Jaishankar cautioned that such actions were eroding trust in the international system and disproportionately hurting the Global South. The remarks appeared to take aim at recent moves by Washington and Beijing, calling out what he described as “trade hypocrisy” and selective responses to global crises.

“De-risking is a growing compulsion, whether from limited sources of supply or over dependence on a particular market,” he said, while emphasising that Bharat “will always maintain its freedom of choice.”

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