Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], April 4 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday praised the progress of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Raipur after attending its 15th Annual Convocation Ceremony in Chhattisgarh.

Speaking with the media, after the event, Jaishankar said, 'The program went well. We visited IIM Raipur and saw the tremendous progress it has made. They have now made a name for themselves.'

He also highlighted his interaction with students during the ceremony. 'We also met the students who had come for the convocation. So, it went well,' he added.

Earlier, addressing the 15th Annual Convocation Ceremony of IIM Raipur, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar noted that India has 'solidly come through' the turbulent global environment amid the West Asian conflict and the Russia-Ukraine war, 'managing domestic and external challenges successfully.'

Jaishankar called for 'hedging, de-risking and diversifying' to secure India's interests as he noted that the resources can be used as leverage amid shifting power structures across the globe.

Jaishankar said, 'The turbulence in the world currently is also structural in many ways. The global order is changing before our very eyes with visible shifts in the relative power and influence of countries. The politics of some societies find it difficult to come to terms with these changes. New developments in technology, in energy, military capabilities, in connectivity and in resources have encouraged risk-taking in an increasingly competitive environment. Everything today is being leveraged, if not actually weaponised. The world is then confronted with the prospect of securing itself in an increasingly volatile and unpredictable environment. This has necessitated hedging, de-risk and diversifying. Whether this is a business choice or a foreign policy.'

'There is an optimism in our society that is lacking in many other parts of the world. Now you could ask, why is that? The last 10 years have been much better, giving rise to the confidence that the next 10 and those beyond will also be. We are, after all, now among the top five economies. No one can dispute that the multiple global shocks that have recently tested our resilience, and that India has come through that solidly. We have managed both domestic and external challenges fairly successfully,' he added.

He emphasised building national capabilities to realise the goal of Viksit Bharat 2047, while lauding 'inclusive growth, representative politics, and decisive leadership' by the Centre.

He said, 'More inclusive growth, representative politics, and decisive leadership have created a new foundation from which we can all now harbour higher aspirations. We have not only embraced the digital revolution enthusiastically, but actually purposefully applied it to our lives. Even many developed societies have not done so. Maybe it is also the awakening of a can-do spirit.' (ANI)