Observer Research Foundation organised a lecture by Shivshankar Menon, Foreign Secretary, Government of India, on "Indian Foreign Policy: The Challenges Ahead" on Tuesday April 10, at the ORF Delhi campus.
Observer Research Foundation organised a lecture by Shivshankar Menon, Foreign Secretary, Government of India, on “India’s Foreign Policy: The Challenges Ahead” on Tuesday April 10, at the ORF Delhi campus.
Mr. Shivshankar Menon spoke on a range of India’s foreign policy issues. He said that India gives the highest priority to the immediate neighbourhood. He pointed out that there is a positive opportunity in the neighbourhood and India needs to take advantage of the opportunity. He also said India has been redefining the nature of its relationship with the neighbouring countries. This can be seen in India’s building mutual stakes in the region and also non-insistence on reciprocity in trade. He further said that all the neighbouring countries are undergoing internal changes and India has been constructively engaged in establishing peace and stability in the neighbourhood.
Mr. Menon said that South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) provides an opportunity for India to work with its neighbours. Furthermore, he said India needs to show flexibility to work in multilateral arrangements with its neighbours as such approach would allay fears among its smaller neighbours, given the asymmetrical relationship.
Mr. Menon also said that India is strengthening its relations with all the major powers. Citing India’s relations with the US, he said that relationship between the two countries has been a successful one, which he describes as a “transformed relationship”. He also pointed out that India has a special relationship with Russia and the two countries strategic partnership would be strengthened. With China, Mr. Menon said the two countries trade relation has been growing over the years and he believes that the two countries can rise together.
He also stressed the need for India to involve on issues related to food, energy, water and climate change both at the regional and international forums as these issues will have impacts on the country’s future and would need foreign policy to handle them.
Mr. Menon also pointed out that India is yet to have a “language of strategic discourse” of its own. He, therefore, stressed upon the need to develop a “new strategic vocabulary” and a new strategic culture that reflects the country’s needs and realities.
The lecture was followed by a discussion where Mr. Menon answered all the questions candidly which was highly appreciated.
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