PM to open Raisina Dialogue on Jan 17; over 250 foreign delegates to attend

Video message from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will also be played before Inaugural Panel

More than 250 delegates from 65 countries will participate in India's flagship geo-political conference, to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, that will deliberate on strategic issues including new challenges and cyber security.

Following the successful organisation of Raisina Dialogue in March last year, the Ministry of External Affairs, in partnership with Observer Research Foundation, is organising the 2nd Edition of 'Raisina Dialogue' with the theme 'The New Normal: Multilateralism with Multi-Polarity' here from January 17-19, MEA announced today.

Modi will address the opening session of the Dialogue, which is "India's flagship geo-political conference to be held annually and within a short span has emerged as a much-awaited global conference in the international calendar," a release from the ministry said.

The Dialogue will feature an Inaugural Panel with the participation of Minister of State for External Affairs of India M J Akbar, Nepalese Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and Gowher Rizvi, International Affairs Advisor to Prime Minister of Bangladesh, it said.

A video message from the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres will also be played before the Inaugural Panel during the conference which will also have a number of ministerial addresses on January 18-19.

"While the first edition involved about 40 countries with 120 foreign participants, the 2nd edition is expected to feature participation from about 65 countries and more than 250 foreign participants.

"Many of them will participate in a number of panels, including some concurrent ones, organised across a range of sub-themes and include political leaders, diplomats, senior Generals and Admirals, strategic experts and thinkers," MEA added.

The Theme Address would be given by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar.

Senior Ministers will also be addressing the gathering and interacting with the participants, the ministry said, adding a major highlight of the event would be a one-to-one conversation on the concluding day between Akbar and Karzai.

Boris Johnson, UK's Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs; Sri Lanka's Minister for Regional Development Sarath Fonseka; former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper; Jacques Audibert, Diplomatic Advisor to the French President; Parliamentary Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Shunsuke Takei; and Harry B Harris Jr, Commander, Pacific Command, and Admiral Michelle Howard, Commander, US Naval Forces, Europe and Africa are among those who will participate in the Dialogue.