External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar emphasized that India aims to regain its historic status as a technological power through the New Education Policy, which is designed to prepare people for the challenges of the ‘new world’.
Speaking at the Kashi-Tamil Sangamam 3.0 in Varanasi, Jaishankar also highlighted the importance of yoga and traditional medicine.
“I think the relationship between India and the world…we have historically been a source of technology for the world in the earlier times. I think today we are trying to recover that again, and part of what we are trying to do through NEP (New Education Policy) is to prepare people for the challenges of the new world. One area where we can show that already is space, a lot of our space industry is driven by very young people. When we look at AI, the Prime Minister just came from the AI Summit in Paris.”
Jaishankar emphasised India’s progress in the fields of modern technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence and drones. He also highlighted the role tradition can play in assisting technology by citing examples of Yoga and traditional medicine.
“We concentrate on developing the talent of our people. that our people with the history and tradition that they have will be able to… In many technology industries, India is working to make the world a better place. Through the NEP program, we have brought in new industries. For example, the AI Summit has just been held in the drone programs. So, we have brought in new technologies through the NEP,” Jaishankar said.
Jaishankar added, “Even Prime Minister says technology and tradition. So tradition can also help technology and that is where the knowledge, Indian knowledge system can make a difference. Now, already, people are discovering…that they took yoga as a physical exercise…Same thing with traditional medicine. People were very, skeptical outside India…So it is up to us also to rediscover it and propagate it. So, we need to understand the importance of traditional medicine and take it to the next level. For example, traditional medicine, even if there are many doubts about it, we can learn about its utility and usefulness.”
