"World architecture is changing": Jaishankar lays out strategic roadmap
EAM S Jaishankar calls for middle powers to pool resources in diplomacy, tech, and healthcare to reshape the changing global architecture.
In a significant address that signals a shift in how non-superpower nations should navigate a fractured geopolitical landscape, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has proposed a comprehensive blueprint for emerging and middle powers. Speaking at the opening session of the Munich Leaders Meeting 2026 in New Delhi, Jaishankar emphasized that the global landscape, its agenda, and its very architecture are undergoing a fundamental transformation.
The Minister argued that instead of waiting for traditional superpowers to resolve global crises, middle powers must proactively coordinate and pool their diplomatic, economic, and technological resources to reshape international governance and decision-making.
A New Agenda for Global Cooperation
Jaishankar identified several critical sectors where cooperation among non-superpower states could yield significant global influence. He suggested that these nations should not merely react to the actions of giants but should instead work collectively to manage:
- International Peace and Security: Jaishankar proposed that when conflicts and tensions arise, middle powers should pool their resources and back each other's diplomatic initiatives to mitigate friction.
- Supply Chain Resilience: Moving away from over-reliance on single sources to ensure stability in global trade.
- High-Tech Manufacturing: Dominating niche sectors to avoid being sidelined by technological bottlenecks.
- Global Health Security: Diversifying the production of essential medical components.
- Climate Action and Defence Reform: Coordinating efforts to address long-term existential and structural challenges.
"There is today a substantial agenda for emerging and middle powers to cooperate," Jaishankar noted. "The world is changing, its agenda is changing, the landscape is changing, the architecture is changing."
Dominating Through Niche Technology
One of the most striking points of the Minister's roadmap was the concept of strategic autonomy through technology. He challenged the notion that global dominance is reserved for the largest nations, pointing out that medium and smaller countries can hold immense power by dominating specific, high-tech niches.
He cited the semiconductor industry as a prime example, noting that key global bottlenecks are often controlled by non-superpowers. He highlighted how Taiwan (TSMC) dominates advanced semiconductor fabrication and how the Netherlands (ASML) holds a global monopoly on the EUV lithography machines essential for advanced chipmaking. "You don't have to be the biggest country in the world to dominate the world of chips or to even dominate machine production," he remarked.
Economic Alignment and Health Security
To bolster economic influence, Jaishankar encouraged the use of bilateral and plurilateral economic pacts. He pointed to the long-standing engagement between India and the European Union as a model of sustained alignment, noting that while formal Free Trade Agreement negotiations have spanned decades, the structural institutional engagement provides a blueprint for middle-power cooperation.
Addressing the vulnerabilities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Minister also pivoted to global health security. He stressed the urgent need for a more diversified production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) to prevent the kind of over-concentration that leaves the world vulnerable during crises.
Furthermore, he touched upon the demographic imbalances of the modern world, suggesting that the flow of skilled talent and expertise is essential to balance the gap between where demand exists and where the workforce is located. "The reality of the world is that where there is demand is not where there are demographics. And how do you level that out? That is best done through a flow of talent and skills," Jaishankar concluded.