NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said that while the ‘Nehru development model’ enjoyed national consensus for decades, it “failed” the country.
Claiming that the current government after 2014 has sought to “correct it abroad” while also addressing consequences at the domestic level, Jaishankar said the narrative around the model influenced “politics, bureaucracy, planning system, judiciary, public space, media, and education.”
In a virtual address during the launch of ‘The Nehru Development Model’ by former Niti Aayog vice chairman Arvind Panagariya, Jaishankar claimed both Russia and China today “unambiguously reject” the economic ideas of that period.
“Yet, these very beliefs appear to live on in influential sections of our country even today,” he said.
“The paradox, however, is that for more than three decades now, there’s actually been a national consensus that this development model eventually failed the country,” Jaishankar added.
In his address, the minister said that the development model “inevitably” produced a Nehru foreign policy, which he claimed the current government is “seeking to correct abroad, just as attempts to reform the consequences of the model at home.”
“As a result, we undertake only the necessary reforms, seldom the ones we truly need,” the external affairs minister (EAM) said.
He said that while India has undoubtedly gained from increased economic openness over the past 33 years, today’s global landscape is far more complex.
“We are now in an era of weaponized economics, raising critical questions about what we export and to whom,” he said.
The minister added that modern priorities have shifted from openness to focus on resilience, reliability, and trust. “Openness with caution is perhaps the way forward,” he said.
Speaking on Atmanirbharta, or self-reliance, he said that it should not be mistaken for protectionism. “It is, in fact, a call to think and act independently, as well as a means to safeguard national security,” Jaishankar said.