By IANS,
New Delhi: With India’s neighbourhood seething in turmoil and major multilateral summits in the offing, the external affairs ministry has called around 120 Indian envoys later this month for a conclave in New Delhi to brainstorm on key foreign policy challenges.
This will be the first such exercise after the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) returned to power in May.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will address the opening session of the three-day conference that begins Aug 24, official sources said.
The prime minister is expected to focus on building stronger relations with neighbours, sustaining momentum in ties with major powers like the US and Russia, and pitch for a more vigorous economic diplomacy in multilateral fora.
He is also likely to explain to diplomats his reasons for embarking on ‘trust but verify’ policy vis-a-vis Pakistan and address their concerns over his Sharm-el-Sheikh joint statement with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
The July 16 joint statement delinks Pakistan’s actions against terrorism from the composite dialogue process and includes the first reference to Balochistan in a bilateral document that has not gone down well with sections of India’s foreign office.
A host of cabinet ministers, including External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi and Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor are expected to address the envoys.
They will discuss India’s neighbourhood policy, ties with Pakistan that continue to be under stress after the Mumbai terrorist attacks and recent strains in bilateral ties with China, the sources said.
The envoys will also brainstorm on emerging foreign policy and strategic challenges like climate change to fine-tune India’s position for the Copenhagen summit that is expected to find a successor to the Kyoto protocol for fixing new targets for greenhouse gas emissions.
The global economic downturn will also figure prominently in the meeting that will take place a month before the G20 summit in Pittsburgh Sep 24.
With the external affairs ministry focusing on re-organisation and expansion of the Indian foreign office, issues relating to housekeeping will also figure in the conclave.
The last such conclave was held here in December against the backdrop of India’s diplomatic offensive post 26/11 Mumbai carnage.