NEW DELHI: A greater focus on the immediate neighbourhood predicated on connectivity with Bimstec rather than Saarc as the focus area, and using foreign policy to facilitate new markets were some of the priorities spelled out by new foreign minister S Jaishankar at a function here on Thursday.In his first public remarks after he became the surprise choice for the MEA portfolio , Jaishankar defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to Bimstec leaders for his swearing-in, saying that while there were certain problems with Saarc, the former grouping of countries had energy.“Most South Asian countries understand that resisting connectivity is holding them back. Saarc has certain problems... even if you put terrorism aside, there are connectivity issues. Bimstec has an energy, we want to progress with that,” he said, without naming Pakistan. India, he said, would continue to focus on platforms that work.Pakistan’s continued use of terrorism against India has ruled out a meeting of Saarc leaders and stalemated the South Asian bloc for some time now. With Pakistan due to host the summit since 2016 and India unwilling to attend, Saarc has been close to defunct. The meeting of Saarc nations was put off after the terrorist attack on the Indian Army camp at Uri.The Indian subcontinent is among the least connected regions of the world, Jaishankar said. “A lot of attention was given in the last five years to this to make it more connected and I am very confident that it will be among our top priorities for the next five years,” he added.Jaishankar assured he would give the highest priority to his predecessor Sushma Swaraj ’s biggest project — bringing the MEA to the assistance of Indians in distress no matter where they were with a tweet. He said he had picked up the baton from his first day on the job, carrying forward Swaraj’s Twitter outreach legacy . “We have an obligation to look after our people better,” he said, adding that as foreign secretary in 2015, he had worked with Swaraj to put the system in place.Foreign policy, he said, had played a big role in the recent elections. “India’s standing in the world has gone up and this matters to Indians. The elections were a vote of confidence in this government’s ability to manage national security, an essential part of foreign policy.”A large part of India’s economy has been externalised and there was a need for India’s foreign policy and diplomatic machinery to help Indian companies gain better access to overseas markets, he added.Therefore, greater importance must be given to the difficult task of breaking down silos in government, making sure departments and ministries are more integrated, he said. “There is a need for greater integration between government departments to create a stronger focus on economic issues being faced by Indian companies, especially in the overseas markets,” he added.The world, he said, was changing fast, particularly with the rise of China and India. Globalisation was under stress and nationalism was on the rise, often validated electorally, as in India. Distinguishing between the nationalism of Europe and Asia, he said it was born of insecurity in Europe but out of confidence in Asian countries. “Navigating the world, therefore, is a much more complex exercise,” he added.