Interview: India should exercise leadership within the Quad of democracies
Chris Blackburn is the Communications Director of the Swiss InterStrategy Group based in Zurich, Switzerland. He is the recipient of a “Friend of Bangladesh” award from the Government of Bangladesh for his work on counterterrorism and seeking justice for war crimes committed during the War of Liberation in 1971.
Blackburn was also formally acknowledged by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his work in international relations and security in January 2022. Blackburn is the head of European Outreach at Global Friends of Afghanistan (GFA), a US-based think tank that is working with Afghan figures from around the world.
Blackburn speaks with India Narrative at length about India’s standing in the world and how the country is navigating itself through the global chaos in the region and the wider world.
Excerpts from the interview:
Q: What is your view on the dystopian state of the world - the Covid-19 crisis, Russia-Ukraine war, Taiwan under a constant threat, economies under stress, a possible roll-out of militants from Afghanistan and an environmental crisis. Are we witnessing one of the worst global nightmares in recent decades?
Blackburn: Yes, I think the world is facing extreme crisis.
(But) India is growing and thriving because of innovation and good relations across the world. It is realising its potential on numerous fronts. It’s becoming faster at reacting too. Operation Ganga to help Indian’s students stuck in war-torn Ukraine was perfect and the speed at which India reacted and began mobilising talent to the semiconductor chip shortage was also widely praised. Semicon India 2022 was a major economic and diplomatic success.
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