India’s flagship ‘Raisina Dialogue’ raises bar; PM Modi cites it as vibrant forum to discuss global, strategic issues

New Delhi, January 15: Kick starting India's flagship global conference on geopolitics and geo-economics, Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi raising the bar as leaders from across the country attended the event. Attending the inaugural session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Raisina Dialogue gives an opportunity to meet the leaders who are great friends of India and also that it has emerged as a vibrant forum for discussing important global and strategic issues over the years.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that Raisina Dialogue has emerged as a vibrant forum for discussing important global and strategic issues over the years. PM Modi said, he also had the opportunity to meet leaders who are great friends of India, in a tweet.

Speaking at the event, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, Indian foreign policy seeks to achieve a focus on key challenges, a broad engagement with many parties and managing, if not leveraging, global contradictions. He said, advancing the interests in a multi-polar world and contributing to global good is what it is all about.

Former Prime Minister of New Zealand Helen Clark, former President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, former Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper, former Prime Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister of Denmark Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former Prime Minister of Bhutan Tshering Tobgay and former Prime Minister of South Korea Han Seung-soo also attended the session. The seven former Heads of State or Government shared their views on important challenges facing the world.

During the inaugural session, Former Danish Prime Minister and former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said, he would like to see a global alliance of democracies to stand up to oppressive rulers and regimes and India could play an important role in such a coalition. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who was scheduled to deliver the inaugural address at the Raisina Dialogue but had to call off his four-day visit due to devastating bush-fires in several parts of his country, sent a video message for the dialogue. Morrison said, India is and will remain the strategic lynchpin in the Indo-Pacific. He said, the term Indo-Pacific reflects the recognition that India's power and purpose will be vitally important to the region and to resolving and supporting shared security challenges. He added that India has taken on an increasingly active role in the Indian Ocean.

Discussing the challenge of climate change, former New Zealand Premier Helen Clark said, achieving zero carbon is important to combat climate change, but it is important to get national consensus on achieving this target. Former Prime Minister of Cananda Stephen Harper hailed Prime Minister Modi's leadership, saying India will be a country that is self-defined. He said, India is not going to be a bastion of Western liberals and under the current Government identity is coming back in a big way.

The fifth edition of the prestigious event is being jointly organized by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Observer Research Foundation. The three-day conference will see participation of 12 Foreign Ministers, including from Russia, Iran, Australia, Maldives, South Africa, Denmark, Uzbekistan and the EU.