“The global economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic will continue to remain a challenge and India has been looking at it not as constraints but as an opportunity for its economy as well as rebalancing of the international system”, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Thursday.

While addressing at a virtual seminar organized by the National Defence College, Shringla expressed India is committed to working for a rules-based international order strengthened by rule of law, transparency, freedom of navigation, respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, and peaceful resolution of disputes. And "Our objective remains to advance the security and economic interests of all countries,"

Among a number of other statements, he added, "The global economic fallout of the pandemic will continue to remain a challenge for us in times to come as we saw during the 2008 economic recession. The setback of this magnitude requires a carefully deliberated approach,"

Talking about evolving geopolitical scenario, Shringla said India's role in its extended neighborhood in recent years has been that of a "net security provider". At the same time, he added that net security does not have to be seen in the context of hard security. "Net security also means cooperation with our neighbors in the Indo-Pacific region on maritime security, anti-piracy, maritime surveillance and responding to marine pollution, etc," he said.

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