S Jaishankar On Why It's A "Good Moment To Be India's Foreign Minister"

Democracy has allowed cross-sections of the society equal representation - bringing to the fore voices from outside cities - and this has boosted India's growth story, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Friday, as he received the 'India First' award at NDTV's Indian Of The Year ceremony.

"Democracy has delivered," he said, "I mean... look at our politics, our journalists, our sportspersons, etc... we are today far more representative. Success is not something that is metropolitan."

Mr Jaishankar also declared, "This is a good moment to be the External Affairs Minister of India" and hailed "an extraordinary period in our national lives", highlighting India's amplified global influence and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's role in that growth story.

"I have worked all my life in governments and for governments... but when you have a PM with such a strong commitment to modernising India... who is prepared to carry out reforms you should and not just those you must... then it is an extraordinary period in our national lives."

"What used to be dreams of our citizens are now their demands. This is a 'can-do' generation... this is a generation that is producing bullet trains... this is a generation that successfully completed the Chandrayaan Moon mission... we faced China's border challenges with firmness," he said.

"In the past... India left 26/11 (the Mumbai terror attack) unanswered, but today we answered Pakistan with Uri and Balakot. And nobody expected us to pull off (hosting) the G20 Summit."

Mr Jaishankar referred to a conversation at a public event earlier this week, at which a guest pointed out that India's trade had boomed since 1991/92, when the economy was liberalised.

"... in 1991/92 we were a $250 billion economy with trade of $40 billion. Today we are a $4 trillion economy with trade of $80 billion. Think about that... I'm throwing these numbers out as a way of measuring how much more we are dealing with the world... how much we matter to the world."