By IANS
New Delhi : External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday underlined the need for adapting India's foreign policy to the needs of globalisation and called for "taking the SAARC process to implementation phase".
"India's foreign policy must contribute to the process of development by putting in place a conducive external security environment and by utilising every opportunity for economic and commercial cooperation," Mukherjee told a three-day conference of Indian heads of mission in SAARC countries, China, Iran and Myanmar that concluded here.
"The process of globalisation has led to far-reaching changes in international affairs, which require constant examination and flexibility to optimise results," he added.
It is now the time to take the SAARC process ahead to implementation phase, the minister said while alluding to projects such as the South Asian University, the SAARC Food Bank and the SAARC telemedicine network as important initiatives for regional cooperation.
He also exhorted diplomats to analyse political, social, economic and cultural patterns in the region in order to create a "web of cooperative relationships" to realise the "collective vision of an interconnected South Asia where there is a free flow of goods, people and ideas".
The heads of mission also met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discussed with him a host of issues connected with the countries in which they were posted.