Bilateralism now topping the agenda: FM

The global churn and India's reset played out on day one of the BS thought summit, with the who's who from government, economy, banking, defence coming together

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Multilateralism is fading; India needs to place greater emphasis on bilateralism in trade, investment and strategic relations, Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while delivering a keynote at the second edition of the annual Business Standard summit, Manthan, on Thursday in New Delhi.

The discussions on day one of the two-day summit, which coincides with Business Standard's 50th anniversary year, focused on India in a new world order. While acknowledging that the world is going through a churn, and not a gentle one at that, the finance minister said, "In this global reset, we have to put India's interests first and on the top."

She also emphasised the need to reimagine the most-favoured-nation status, noting that "every country wants to be treated as special".

Bilateral arrangements are going to be the order of the day as multilateralism is "sort of, out", Sitharaman said.

The summit saw top minds from India and abroad coming together to deliberate on a range of subjects. Among them was Bhupender Yadav, Union minister for environment, forest and climate change; PK Mishra, principal secretary to the Prime Minister; Amitabh Kant, India's G20 Sherpa; Uday Kotak, founder and director of Kotak Mahindra Bank; Chris Wood, global head of Equity Strategy at Jefferies, Ajay Bhushan Pandey, chairperson of the National Financial Reporting Authority (NAFRA), besides economists and defence experts.

Technology and talent also had Sitharaman's attention. "India's leadership in technology will place us at the high table," she said, underlining the importance of investing in both technology and the people who drive it.

Regarding talent, she advocated for India to become a magnet for global talent and adopt a more open-minded approach.

Apart from these, debt management and fiscal prudence must remain priorities, she said while urging states to actively participate in these reforms.