Technology is never politically 'neutral', says Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar

Union Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar on Saturday termed technology as a "new parameter" to measure "power and influence" and said that it can never be "politically neutral". 

He said, "Today there are new parameters and technology is certainly one of them because what they do is they create relationships, in some case dependencies, convergencies...technology has never been politically neutral, how one approaches it. At the end of the day, there is so much interpenetration at one level and yet so much divisiveness and how you straddled that."

The statement comes amidst a global backlash by many countries on Chinese tech companies and apps. India, in the aftermath of the Galwan Valley violent face-off on 15th June, banned 59 Chinese apps including popular TikTok. 

Countries are taking a position on Chinese technology firms and just last week US President Donald Trump issued orders banning TikTok and WeChat. Globally concerns and actions are being taken by countries like the UK, the US, Canada, and others on 5G internet technology by Chinese company Huawei.

The Union minister, while speaking at the CII event virtually said, "We think technology is capability, but it is also hugely security"

Earlier this year, the Union Ministry of External Affairs had announced the establishment of New, Emerging, and Strategic Technologies (NEST) Division to evaluate decisions on technology.