IFS trainee officers call on President Ram Nath Kovind

President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday addressed officer trainees of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and urged them as diplomats to bring "strategic thinking" into the centre and help anchor the interests of the country.

Officer trainees of the Indian Foreign Service, 2018 batch as well as two officer trainees from the Royal Bhutan Foreign Service, called on the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday at Rashtrapati Bhavan here.

Addressing the officer trainees, the President said, "India's role and influence in the international arena is expanding. Geopolitics and geo-economics are drawing Asia to the centre of global power relations. And in this matrix, India has an important role to play - as a driver of global growth and as an influential voice in global governance."

"International community has greater appreciation of India and its global standing now. Nations are looking to us for solutions to global challenges - be it climate change, cybersecurity, humanitarian disasters or combating extremism and terrorism. These open unprecedented opportunities but also pose new challenges for our diplomacy," the President added.

In such a scenario, as a country and as diplomats we must bring "strategic thinking" at the center of our working more than ever before. "Thinking into the future and looking at the world holistically will help us anchor our interests better," Kovind said.