Women-led development central to India’s foreign policy: Jaishankar at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Friday that women-led development has become a cornerstone of India’s foreign policy under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Addressing the fourth plenary session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention in Bhubaneswar, themed ‘Diaspora Divas: Celebrating Women’s Leadership and Influence – Nari Shakti’, Jaishankar highlighted the critical role of women in achieving the vision of a “Viksit Bharat” (Developed India).

He pointed out that women-led development was a key focus of India’s G20 presidency, where the nation successfully pushed for its inclusion in the G20 conceptual framework. “We advocated strongly for women-led development, and it is now an accepted part of the G20 agenda. We also advanced this concept during the Summit of the Future,” Jaishankar said.

Jaishankar also highlighted India’s commitment to gender-sensitive projects, particularly in its development cooperation with countries in the Global South. “We are present in 78 countries through development projects, and many of these target gender-sensitive issues. This commitment to women’s development is deeply ingrained in our foreign policy,” he said.

Addressing the societal challenges that hinder women’s progress, Jaishankar emphasized the need to confront biases that start at birth and extend into access to resources such as nutrition, health, and education. “Discrimination starts at birth—who gets access to family resources, nutrition, and education. This spills over into the workplace and opportunities. To address this, we need societal change,” he said.

He linked these challenges to India’s broader vision of progress, stating that metrics like GDP growth and infrastructure development are superficial if they do not address the human side of development. “When we think of progress—building roads, metros, cities—those are important, but they are superficial unless we address the human aspect, particularly the role of women,” Jaishankar said.

Jaishankar also stressed the importance of role models and inspirational figures in driving societal change.
“If they are replicated, internalised, normalised, they actually have a transformational impact on society,” he added.