World needs global workforce, new trade arrangements will emerge, says EAM Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said the world will increasingly require a global workforce and new trade arrangements would emerge despite uncertainties, as he underscored India's expanding engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean to diversify economic ties amid shifting global dynamics.

Speaking at an Observer Research Foundation (ORF) panel on the sidelines of the 80th UN General Assembly session here on Saturday, he said trade would "continue to find a way" despite uncertainties.

"The world will require a global workforce, and trade will continue to find a way despite uncertainties. We will see new trade arrangements, technology, connectivity, and workplace models, making the global landscape very different in a short time," Jaishankar said.


India, he said, is already engaging with regions like Latin America and the Caribbean, "aiming to expand trade and partnerships even further".

The minister stressed that in "this turbulent atmosphere", particularly for large countries, it is important to build capacities for greater self-reliance.

"That is very much the focus in India today. Technology, self-reliance, multipolarity, and South-South cooperation are all part of one basket," he said.

Jaishankar's remarks come amid recent moves by the US to raise new H-1B visa fees to USD 100,000, and impose an additional 25 per cent tariff on India as a penalty for its purchases of Russian oil, taking the total levies imposed on the country by America to 50 per cent, among the highest in the world.

Indians account for nearly 71 per cent (over 2.8 lakh) of all H-1B visas, followed by Chinese professionals with around 11.7 per cent or over 46,600.