'Old, Rich, Opinionated Person Who Thinks..." EAM S Jaishankar Reacts on George Soros' Remark on India, PM Modi

External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar today criticised US businessman George Soros for his remarks predicting democratic revival in India and targetting PM Narendra Modi over the Hinderburg-Adani row. Hitting out at Soros, Jaishankar said that the businessman is an old and opinionated person who thinks the world would work as per his choice. The EAM said that people like him hail elections if the party of their choice wins and term the democracy flawed in case of the opposite result.

"Mr Soros is an old, rich opinionated person sitting in New York who still thinks that his views should determine how the entire world works...Such people actually invest resources in shaping narratives...People like him think an election is good if the person they want to see, wins and if the election throws up a different outcome, then they will say it is a flawed democracy and the beauty is that all this is done under the pretence of advocacy of open society," said Jaishankar. 

Jaishankar is in Australia for bilateral meetings. Addressing the media, he said, "One big change that happened in India in last 3 decades is that bulk of our trade has shifted Eastwards. Over 50 per cent of trade today is with countries East of India and that is a huge shift from the earlier Colonial patterns centred around West, European & Middle Eastern markets."

Speaking about India-US relations, Jaishankar said that there have been big changes in India's foreign policy, and stressed that there's been a big change in American thinking as well. "This is not the same US with which we dealt in the 60s or 80s or even in 2005...There is an evolution out there & that evolution today can be seen on a whole range of issues & as a result, we actually today have new strategic concepts, new geopolitical therapy, new mechanisms like QUAD," said Jaishankar.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called on Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese today and held discussions on a range of subjects, including bilateral strategic partnership, economic opportunities, people-to-people ties and cricket. Jaishankar, who arrived here from Fiji, also conveyed personal greetings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his Australian counterpart.

Earlier, Jaishankar spoke at the Sydney Business Breakfast event where he emphasised that in today's global landscape, like-minded countries need to work together "to derisk economy" and rise to challenges of the digital world and build relationships that serve as stabilisers for the economy.

"India and Australia are on-track. Bilaterally, our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership sets the framework and the ECTA will turbocharge the relationship. Regular contacts are helping," he said.

Soros in a speech on Thursday said that Gautam Adani is accused of stock manipulation and his stock collapsed like a house of cards. Adani Group has been accused by US shortseller Hindenburg of engaging in "brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud" over decades, a claim that Adani Group has stoutly denied. Terming Modi and Adani as "close allies," whose "fate is intertwined", the 92-year-old billionaire investor said, "This will significantly weaken Modi's stranglehold on India's federal government and open the door to push for much-needed institutional reforms." "I may be naive, but I expect a democratic revival in India," Soros said. (With agency inputs)