Davos 2022: Gautam Adani says Aatmanirbhar Bharat best way forward for India

Billionaire Indian industrialist Gautam Adani, who recently attended World Economic Forum annual meeting at Davos, Switzerland, has emphasized the need to have a global collaboration rather than just cooperation to meet needs and challenges on matters including the Covid pandemic, sustainability, and geopolitics. Adani stated in his blog titled, ‘The Paradoxes at Davos 2022’ that there is a need to focus on being self-reliant or Atmanirbhar Bharat, a call made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Indian industrialist also pointed out that the ‘one-sidedness’ of the participating countries is a cause of concern, highlighting less participation from countries including China, Japan, and South Korea in the forum.

“Frankly, this one-sidedness is a cause for concern. It reflects, perhaps, a growing close-mindedness that became a characteristic of the global response to the pandemic, as countries withdrew behind their borders,” he said.

Gautam Adani also touched upon the developed nations’ continuous lecturing to developing economies on climate change, in his blog.

Adani wrote, “developed nations that were setting targets and giving stern lectures about climate change to the rest of the world now appear to be less censorious as their own energy security is threatened and prices spiral. Very few are willing to admit that there had been an overswing on the side of green solutions and technologies that were still in their nascent stage and  that his fragility has been totally exposed by the crisis in Ukraine.”

Speaking on the global response to Covid-19, Adani said it was a strange mix of ingenuity and global cooperation on one side and blatant selfishness on the other.

Sharing about his interactions with other delegates at the forum, Adani mentioned a lot were centred around defence. 

Adani shared that most delegates he held discussions with stated that a new and more sophisticated arms race may be coming now.

Alliances will be formed around defence agreements and many countries may prioritise defence manufacturing and procurement as a non-negotiable aspect of self-reliance, he said.

Amid such scenarios, Adani said that one of the best ways forward would be to pay attention to Atmanirbhar Bharat or the self-reliant call by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“I am convinced that our Prime Minister’s Atmanirbhar Bharat scheme is precisely the catalyst India needs to step up and strengthen self-reliance across all sectors – be it vaccinations, defence or semiconductors,” Adani wrote.

“India is right to focus on self-reliance, while also seeking to provide an alternative to a world in need of alternatives. If there is a rejigging of the world order, it needs to be one that is based on respectful multipolarity. The world need not be flat. Not when flatness really just means that the world has been forcefully flattened. Instead, let’s seek a more stable world order built around countries that are self-confident, self-reliant and willing to speak to each other in terms of mutual respect rather than coercion and condescension. This is the paradox we must solve,” he wrote.

“Therefore, as a response to global conditions, I am convinced that our Prime Minister’s Atmanirbhar Bharat scheme is precisely the catalyst India needs to step up and strengthen self-reliance across all sectors – be it vaccinations, defence or semiconductors. It is clear, in this uncertain time, that there is little alternative to effective, confident self-reliance and that we are now onto this era of self-reliance,” Adani mentioned.

“…As we go through this process there will be pushbacks – and we will run into controversies in other parts of the world. So be it. Many will try to stop us building semiconductor plants. Many will dissuade us from investing a larger portion of our GDP in defence. Our principles will come under criticism. What we must keep in mind is that many of those who set targets for emissions reductions for India are also those that shy away from acknowledging the disproportionate responsibility borne by a small number of developed countries for the climate crisis. In other words, it is far easier to talk than to walk the talk…” he wrote on LinkedIn.

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