On Wednesday, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar spoke to the Central Asia Youth Delegation at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan in New Delhi. He emphasised India's positive approach and the strong role of technology in shaping the country's youth.

"Today, we are a very optimistic society. If you ask young people in India, they feel that their life will get better, that in the next five years or next ten years, things will be better for them than they were five years ago or ten years ago. Every generation thinks that it will do better than the previous generation," said Jaishankar in his speech. He compared this positivity with global views, pointing out that this "optimistic" feeling is not the same around the world.

Jaishankar also highlighted how India has embraced technology, especially the enthusiasm of its youth in adopting new advancements. "I mention this because that's not the feeling all over the world. Not all societies are necessarily optimistic. Not all societies think that life will necessarily get better," he said. "The other characteristic is the embrace of technology. Nobody holds their smartphones dearer to their lives than Indians... Today, the way we have embraced technology - from cashless payments to all the services which we get from the government to the way we function even with each other professionally - gives us the possibility," added Jaishankar. Speaking briefly about artificial intelligence (AI), he stated that in order to make the country more AI-friendly, there must be a "certain way of thinking" and a "certain embrace of technology." 

"You spoke about AI today. At the end of the day, AI will require a certain way of thinking, a certain embrace of technology, which will make you AI-friendly," Jaishankar added. On Wednesday, during a conversation with Kyung-wha Kang from the Asia Society, the External Affairs Minister (EAM) discussed India-US trade relations. He mentioned that both countries have open discussions on trade, leading to an agreement between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump to finalise a bilateral trade deal by this fall.