Grow at home, engage abroad: External Affairs Minister Jaishankar tells students at IIT Madras event

Union Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishankar, on Friday (January 2, 2026), launched the IITM Global Research Foundation which is conceived as a strategic, sustainable and scalable platform to take IIT Madras’s academic, research and innovation strengths to the global stage. The Minister also inaugurated ‘IITM Festival Fortnight,’ which includes the open house, through which the public is given access to IITMs’ labs and innovation centres, Shaastra, the annual technical festival and Saarang, the annual cultural festival.

During a fireside chat with Mith R. Jain, co-curricular affairs secretary, IIT Madras, he said countries have grown by growing at home and then engaging abroad, leveraging the international environment in a way contributing to it and gaining from it.

“When we say ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’, the term is we have never considered the world as a inimical or hostile place from which we have to defensively protect ourselves. We have limitations on our resources. With limited resources how do you have maximum impact? That is actually the problem that has to be solved. What we try to do in Indian Foreign Policy and diplomacy today is solve that problem. We try to do that partly using our competitiveness and strengths and leveraging other institutions and possibilities,” he added.

Citing an example Mr. Jaishankar said: “An IIT Madras campus in Tanzania is a way by which Indian Foreign Policy has leveraged the capabilities of an institution here to make a huge impact.”

S. Jaishankar, Union External Affairs Minister and V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras releasing a booklet at the inauguration of the IITM Global Research Foundation in Chennai on January 2, 2026
| Photo Credit:
R. Ragu

To a query on how to prevent other countries from misreading India’s intentions, Mr. Jaishankar said it could be done through communication. “If you communicate well, clearly and honestly, other countries and other people respect it and accept it. A lot of people across the world are proud of their culture, tradition and heritage. I see no reason why we should not be. There are really very few ancient civilizations which have survived to become major modern nation states and we are one of them.”

He further said, “We have a sense of our past which very few countries have… It was our decision to opt for a democratic political model which made the very idea of democracy as a universal political concept. Had we not gone that way, the democratic model, as we know it, would have been regional and narrow… Partnership with the West is also important and that is how we shape the world.”

As part of the IITM Global rollout, IIT Madras has signed a series of memoranda of understanding with leading multinational institutions and partners across key global regions. These include three MoUs in the United States, one in the United Kingdom, three in Germany, three in Dubai, three across the Asia-Pacific region including Singapore and Malaysia, and six under the India-for-Global initiative. The partnerships are focused on joint research, industry and startup collaboration, global talent and knowledge exchange, and translating deep-tech innovation into real-world applications.

V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “IITM Global Research Foundation is a global outreach initiative of IIT Madras aimed at strengthening international collaborations. It follows a four-pronged approach. First, we aim to take our technologies abroad and explore opportunities for technology transfer across different countries. Second, we plan to bring projects from these nations under joint development agreements, enabling our faculty to work on and provide solutions to global challenges. Third, we aim to introduce our start-ups to business opportunities in these countries. Fourth, we aim to attract foreign investments into our start-ups.”

He added, “These four verticals form the core focus of IITM Global. Initially, we are establishing a presence in five locations, including the United States, Dubai, Malaysia and Germany. Based on success, this initiative will be expanded to multiple nations.”