Indian foreign policy seeks to advance country's interest in multi-polar world, contribute to global good: Jaishnkar

The Indian foreign policy seeks to advance the country's interest in a multi-polar world while at the same time aims to contribute to the global good, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the Raisina Dialogue 2020, Jaishankar said that the dimensions of the conference reflect what the Indian foreign policy seeks to achieve today, "a focus on key challenges, broad engagement with many parties, and managing, if not leveraging global contradictions."

"Advancing our interest in a multi-polar world and contributing to global good is what it is all about," he said.

The minister said that the Raisina Dialogue allows a broad spectrum of debates to be conducted "among equally diverse" participants who "range from policymakers and executors to thinkers and activists. The diversity addresses all yardsticks, whether of geography, demography, ideology, gender or interest."

"This platform brings together representatives and individuals who you may not commonly find at the same location at the same time. The exchange of perspectives that this allows could possibly grow into something more with the passage of time," said Jaishankar.

"These characteristics are exactly what Indian foreign policy today seeks to achieve," he added.

Raisina Dialogue, which is jointly organised by the Ministry of External Affairs and the Observer Research Foundation, seeks to contribute to global efforts to discover solutions, identify opportunities and provide stability to a century that has witnessed an eventful two decades.

The three-day conclave will bring together 700 international participants of which 40 per cent of the speakers will be women, emphasising India's commitment to gender equality.

Foreign Ministers from 12 countries - Russia, Iran, Australia, Maldives, South Africa, Estonia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Latvia, Uzbekistan and the European Union - are taking part in the conference. National Security Adviser (NSA) of Afghanistan, the Deputy NSA of the United States will also be among key participants.