Discipline, Diligence: Jaishankar Draws Analogy Between Sports, Diplomacy Before Indian Diaspora In Manchester

Manchester: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday addressed the Indian community and business leaders at the Old Trafford in Manchester as he touched upon topics such as globalisation, global opportunities, and drawn an analogy between sports, diplomacy and politics.

Interacting with the Indian diaspora in Manchester, Jaishankar said, “We today understand the importance of globalizing. We are not always happy at the terms of globalization. We would like to make it fairer. But at the end of the day, for us, the world is more full of opportunities than challenges. When India looks at the world, it looks at the world confidently. That may not always be the case for everybody else, but That's their problem. So what we want to do really is deal more with the world. Promote mobility, promote trade, promote investment, promote students, promote tourism...”

Jaishankar draws analogy between sports and diplomacy 

Addressing the Indian community in Manchester which houses the Old Trafford cricket stadium where Sachin Tendulkar scored his first century, Jaishankar remembered how he named Jimmy Anderson when was asked about his most admired sportsperson and drawn an analogy between sports and diplomacy and politics as both demand discipline and diligence.

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As the interaction progressed, Jaishankar said, “...I was even more pleased to discover that the other end (at Old Trafford Cricket Ground) was named after Jimmy Anderson, a person who I once named when asked in a rapid-fire about five cricketers I admired the most in the world. Because, for me, someone who can take that load over such a long period, I'm beginning to identify with a guy. In India, we all know this as the place where Sachin Tendulkar's first century happened... I won't talk about recent matches of Stuart Broad and India, there are memories there... I've always been fascinated by the analogy, by the connection between sports and diplomacy, between sports and politics. I think there is a discipline there, there's a diligence there. There's creativity there that is not dissimilar.”

Jaishankar also inaugurated a new Consulate General of India in Manchester saying the present government is making up for a lot of things that should have been done earlier.

In some ways, it's about the past, we are making up for a lot of things what we could have or should have done earlier. As told, it's almost 40 years since we last open a consulate in the country, there has been tremendous change meanwhile, change in quality of our relationship, diaspora, Indian community, number of Indian students here, even cricket, Jaishankar said.

Jaishankar remarks on India-UK complex relationship

Speaking on India-United Kingdom relationship, EAM Jaishankar said that though its deep rooted but shares a complex history.

“It (India and UK) is a relationship rooted in history. That history is a very complex history. All of you understand that. But I think in any heritage, the smart, sensible people, in any relationship, it applies to interpersonal relations as well every big, deep, important relationship is a mixed one. I think it's important to pick on the good side,” he said.

“Look for the possibilities there... When we see the direction of the world today, I would say that the case for deepening these ties gets stronger, not weaker. And one current expression of that is the sort of accelerated effort that we are putting into the Free Trade Agreement (FTA)... Today, I am cautiously optimistic about the prospects. I'm cautious about everything in public,” the External Affairs Minister said.

On Friday, Jaishankar inaugurated the new Consulate General of India in Belfast, Northern Ireland and shared insights into how the inauguration of the Consulate came into being and how it will help cater to the needs of a growing diaspora.