Position India in a leading role globally: Modi to Indian ambassadors

February 07, 2015 04:31 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 05:18 pm IST - NEW DELHI

Indian ambassadors and high commissioners posted worldwide will be expected to double up efforts on drawing investment to promote the government’s key initiatives including “Make in India,” “Digital India” and infrastructure development.

Addressing more than 110 “Heads of Missions” from around the world at their annual conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told them to “use the current global environment to position India in a leading role” and to “adapt to global changes.”

Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj said that the Prime Minister has shown a special interest in issues that served as the focus for the conference, with the theme “Diplomacy with Development”.

These included the development agenda of the government as well helping Indians worldwide on consular issues, preparing for the international Yoga day in June this year, ‘Swachch Bharat’ and the clean ganga initiatives. The HoMs had been instructed to understand the new policies and identify areas of opportunity in the countries they were posted.

She told Ambassadors to step up efforts to speak to their host governments, as well as local businessmen for investment to facilitate the initiatives. Ms. Swaraj assured the ambassadors that if Indian laws or bilateral agreements needed to be amended to push ahead with these initiatives, then the government would work on those.

Diplomats represent a glorious heritage: Modi

In his opening remarks, Mr. Modi called the ambassadors “vibrant representatives” of a glorious heritage. He laid emphasis on the fight against climate change, saying India “must lead that fight”. In the past month, both the US President Obama and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius have visited Delhi with enlisting India’s support for the global climate change conference in Paris in November 2015. While India has not yet committed to the protocol, it is in negotiations with several countries, including the BRICS.

Mr. Modi emphasised that “a love for nature, or prakriti-prem is part of Indian culture”, something he had addressed in his media conference with President Obama as well.

Speaking broadly about the threat of terror, Mr. Modi said “India has a great responsibility to help the world counter new threats to global peace”. Heads of Missions have been discussing the issues including the push from many countries for India to join the “global coalition” against ISIS.

Before his address, his first at the Ministry of External Affair’s headquareters in the Jawahar Lal Nehru Bhawan, the Prime Minister dedicated a memorial sculpture for “government officers and personnel who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty while serving abroad”.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.