Jaishankar says US chose to become a lonelier power

India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told participants at the Munich Security Conference that the United States had “deliberately become a lonelier power,” describing Washington’s repositioning as a choice amid sharper competition with China. He said China’s growing economic influence and efforts by emerging and middle powers to diversify partnerships were also reshaping the global landscape. Jaishankar characterized the international order as marked by a radical repositioning of the United States and China’s rise. He said China’s economic capabilities were increasingly translating into political influence and put its share of global manufacturing at about one-third. The figure was presented as his estimate; the reports supplied no underlying data or time period. He said competition between Washington and Beijing extended beyond the two countries, with states using their available leverage as a strategic tool. That competition, he added, coexisted with complex economic and other interdependence. His remarks described his assessment of geopolitical change rather than establishing its scale or causes independently.