By IANS,
New Delhi : Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao Monday asked 112 Indian ambassadors to “introspect on the art of diplomacy” and adapt diplomatic tools to address emerging global challenges with “future-oriented strategies.”
Welcoming Indian heads of missions to a three-day conference here to debate key foreign policy and strategic challenges facing the country, Rao underlined the need to revamp and upgrade the foreign office in the context of an emerging international order.
Rao focused on key organisational issues like training, capacity building, greater use of technology, inter-agency cooperation, security, media relations, effective communications, the Indian diaspora and consular matters.
Outlining the challenges confronting Indian diplomats, Rao said that the context in which they work today was defined not only by the external dimensions of India’s foreign policy but the country’s domestic needs and aspirations.
The Indian diplomat today needed to introspect on how his or her practice of the art of diplomacy and the tools used for it, must adapt, or change, in response to the challenges in the world and the decentralisation of the international landscape, she said.
Rao, the second Indian woman to head the elite Indian Foreign Service, stressed the need for “future oriented strategies” to address issues such as personnel strength and interaction with academic and research institutions as part of a “retooling’ process.”
Citing note in 1953 by India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru about administrative reforms, Rao sent a clear message across that Indian diplomats needed to adapt to changing global realities or else fail.