‘They would be net losers if…’
Speaking at the World Annual Meeting of India 2025 in the capital New Delhi on Wednesday, Jaishankar answered a question about the growing political and social backlash against immigration in various countries and argued that the debate is often misplaced.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar has warned that countries like the US and Europe could undermine their own interests and become “net losers” if they impose excessive restrictions on immigration and hinder the movement of skilled workers. Speaking at the World Annual Meeting of India 2025 in the capital New Delhi on Wednesday, Jaishankar answered a question about the growing political and social backlash against immigration in various countries and argued that the debate is often misplaced.
What did Jaishankar say?
“These are problems that they need to solve because in most cases. The real crisis has nothing to do with the mobility of the incoming workforce,” Jaishankar said at the event. He added that many of the current concerns in Western countries are linked to policy decisions made over decades rather than the presence of foreign professionals. “If there are concerns in, say, the United States or Europe, it’s because they have very consciously and deliberately allowed their businesses to move over the last two decades. That was their choice and their strategy. They need to find ways to fix that, and most of them do,” EAM said. he said.
‘We will achieve some lifestyle’
Jaishankar also emphasized the importance of conveying the mutual benefits of allowing talent to move freely between countries. “The part that interests us is to convince them that mobility, the use of talent across borders, is to our mutual benefit. If they really put too many barriers to the flow of talent, they will be net losers,” he said. He said that as economies shift towards advanced manufacturing, the need for skilled professionals will increase and domestic systems alone cannot meet these demands. “As we enter the age of advanced manufacturing, we will need more talent, not less, and talent cannot be developed at a high rate organically. There is a certain structural barrier there. You can see the tension in their societies,” he said. Jaishankar expressed confidence that Western countries will eventually find ways to balance political pressures with economic reality. “They’ll probably achieve some lifestyle there,” he said.
(With inputs from news agency ANI).
