Modi to inaugurate conclave with over 100 heads of mission

The Narendra Modi government, which has stressed a lot on foreign policy since it came to power eight months ago, would be taking this to another level during a four-day conclave with over 100 Indian heads of missions where the theme would be "what diplomacy can do for India".

"Diplomacy for Development" is the theme of the conclave beginning Saturday during which a lot of emphasis would be paid to the inputs that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sought from the mission heads, external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said at a briefing here Thursday. Modi would inaugurate the session on Feb 7.

He said the Feb 7-10 conclave would be preceded by a day of internal consultations on Friday, which would be headed by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Akbaruddin said the conclave would be different from previous such sessions, in that the focus would be on "what diplomacy can do for India".

"The focus is on what diplomacy can bring to bear on India's development," he said.

The Feb 6 session would focus on "internal consultations" and on "internal issues", which would be helmed by Sushma Swaraj.

He said that a lot of effort has been paid on receiving feedback from the mission heads and from outside on the working of the embassies.

"The prime minister has requested for inputs on the functioning of the embassies and on how people perceive them. The inputs are to be taken on board," he said.

A detailed session would be held "on what the missions are doing on the perceptions that missions have provided".

The responses provided are among the new elements of the conclave, he added.

The role of the different Indian states and their cooperation with the ministry of external affairs on various issues is another new factor.

Giving an example of the engagement with the states, he said that 11 Indian nurses hailing from Kerala have been evacuated from Iraq and Sushma Swaraj contacted the Kerala chief minister to convey the news, he said.

Previous such conclaves have stressed on how international issues are shaping up and how they impact India and what India can do, he said.