EAM Jaishankar calls to move beyond ‘uni-dimensional’ science narrative, urges recognition of India’s contributions

UNITED NATIONS: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has called for moving away from the “uni-dimensional narrative” about mathematics and the sciences to one based on a “democratisation of history” that recognises India’s foundational contributions.

Inaugurating an exhibition on India’s contribution to mathematics here on Monday, he cited the example of the binary system developed in India in the third century, on the foundation of which rest the digital age and the world’s journey into AI.

“These truths will increasingly become apparent as we embark on the journey of AI, where our grasp of the past will profit from the tools of the future”, he said.

“This exhibition is a reminder that mathematics is a universal language, and its spread has served and continues to serve a global good”, he said.

The AI Impact Summit in India in February “sent a strong message that creativity and innovation cannot be limited to a few”, he added.

“It is only by righting the distortions of the past that we can accurately address issues of the future”, he said.

This matters to the UN, he said, “because a diverse and democratic collective cannot be built on a unidimensional narrative”.

“We need to appreciate that democratisation of technology, indeed, democratisation of the world, requires a democratisation of history”, he added.

"Scientific progress has, for far too long, been viewed through a narrow lens, limited in time and in geography”, he said.

But “as geopolitical churn ushers in a political and economic rebalancing, it is inevitably paving the way for a cultural rebalancing too, and that will be done by making space for diverse narratives”, he said.