“Our figures vouch for this transformation,” he said, pointing to the growth of global capability centres in India, rising demand for Indian talent abroad and individual success stories.

“Perhaps more than others, India is today defined by its talent and by its skill.” Jaishankar said India now approaches the world “with more confidence and with more capability”, noting that while most nations assert themselves through trade, investment and services, India is distinguished by the global relevance of its human resources.

On global economic shifts, he said decolonisation had allowed many countries to prosper by controlling their own destinies, though outcomes depended heavily on leadership and policy choices.

“The nation that has gained the most in this era is China,” he said, adding that India has also done well, particularly in the post-reform period and even more in the last decade.

“In contrast, much of the Western world now feels that it has stagnated, a sentiment that has increasingly come to acquire a political meaning,” he said, citing offshoring of production, demographic challenges and lifestyle factors as contributors to declining competitiveness.

“The cumulative result of all these developments is that the global economic and, thereafter, political pecking order has changed very significantly,” Jaishankar said.