Observing that nations cannot live in isolation and interaction and cooperation are a dire necessity, Vice President Hamid Ansari Saturday lauded the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government's foreign policy."Nations cannot live in isolation and interaction and cooperation is a dire necessity. The new government has taken wise steps and is continuing the process of engaging with the world," Ansari said during an event here on emerging trends and challenges in India.Talking about terrorism and its impact on India, Ansari said the main motive of terrorism was to create panic and "so long as the people don't panic, I do not think that terror will have its effect".Earlier in the day addressing an international seminar on "Europe and Emerging Asia" organised by the University of Calcutta, Ansari harped on Asia's growing political influence in global affairs.
Observing that Europe's problems of economic slowdown and financial paralysis give rise to the view that the continent's future is dim, Ansari asserted that Asia's political influence in regional and global affairs would increase and it would regain the dominant economic position it held before the industrial revolution."Some believe that the 21st could be the Asian Century. The relationship between the two continents will have to be one of an equal partnership for global peace, security and prosperity. Asia needs technology and specialised skills, Europe needs markets, workforce and investments," said Ansari."Europe is already deepening its strategic partnerships with China, India and Japan and seeking to develop new partnership and free trade agreements with South Korea and with other south-east Asian countries besides intensifying its cooperation with regional groupings in Asia. In these, development cooperation is high on the European agenda," added Ansari.