New Delhi [India], March 6 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has asserted that the era of 'big deals' between dominant powers is over, stating that global multipolarity is now an irreversible reality rooted in shared historical experiences.

Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue 2026, the Minister highlighted how India's actions during the pandemic underscored the tangible nature of the Global South.

'When Covid happened, the fact that a country like India, which was still undergoing its vaccination, was willing to send out vaccines to countries of the global south. Means global south is for real because it meant something for us. So there is an emotion, and I would argue to some degree a culture, where the global West is concerned. So the global south emanates from shared historical experiences,' Jaishankar said.

He further observed a shifting internal dynamic within Western alliances, noting a departure from the previously cohesive identity of the Global West.

'I think Global West was probably a more unified term, very cultural, very political, very strategic, till recently. Now there is a differentiation in the global west,' the Minister remarked.

Addressing the structural changes in international relations, Jaishankar emphasised that the world has moved beyond the control of a few select powers.

'Multipolarity is here to stay. What we will have, which we are already seeing, is to some extent that some of the bigger countries will make temporary compacts on limited issues. I'm not saying they are insincere about it, maybe they are, but structurally, there's not going to be some big deal between powers, and the rest of the world has to put up with it. That era is over,' he told the audience.

The Minister argued that the future of global cooperation depends on accepting this new distribution of power rather than attempting to reverse it.

'One thought I would suggest is that if multipolarity is there to stay, the issue is not that it's against multilateralism. You can have multipolarity with multilateralism and multipolarity without multilateralism, or how much multilateralism? So the success of multilateralism should not depend on the weakening of multipolarity because the weakening of multipolarity is not going to happen,' Jaishankar added. (ANI)