"Diplomats need to step in to attract
investment and capital”
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Special Correspondent
On a day that
witnessed the presentation of the country’s annual budget in
Parliament, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao pitched for the
pursuit of a robust economic diplomacy that would be in tune
with India’s stature as “an important bulwark of the global
economy”. “Our diplomats must work to catalyse growth”, said
Ms. Rao, “and as it is often said, the business of today’s
diplomacy is business itself”.
She was speaking
at the Indian Council of World Affairs on the occasion of
the book launch of “Economic Diplomacy: India’s Experience”,
edited by Ambassador Kishan S. Rana and Bipul Chatterjee.
The Foreign
Secretary observed that increased expectations from India
meant that a “constant reinvention of our role” in global
economic affairs was imperative. Ms. Rao highlighted three
areas of priority, namely the protection of India’s
interests at the WTO, addressing the country’s energy
security concerns and ensuring increased market access for
Indian goods abroad.
However, the surge
in economic diplomacy should also correspond to our national
and political interests, she said. Overseas investments
“must respond to local sensitivities” regarding “employment
and environmental aspects”.
Economic diplomacy
also meant looking inward, according to the country’s top
diplomat, who added that the recent slackening of Foreign
Direct Investment into India was a consequence of procedural
delays, issues of land acquisition and concerns regarding
quality of infrastructure.
Appreciating the
efforts of entrepreneurs and India’s diaspora among others
in increasing the country’s share of global trade, Ms. Rao
observed that diplomats and commercial machinery were
collaborating more closely than ever. Earlier, the president
of the Confederation of Indian Industries, Hari Bhartia, had
acknowledged a “deeper engagement with Indian embassies on
support regarding local regulatory environments”. The
increasing visibility of business delegations in high-level
visits of state dignitaries, Mr. Bhartia said, was also an
encouraging sign.
This news can
also be viewed at: http://www.thehindu.com/
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Regional Conference “A Scoping Study on the Impact of
Climate Change and Food Insecurity on Poverty in South Asia”
January 11, 2011, Magnolia, India Habitat Centre,
New Delhi, India
Outcome Mapping for Programme and Project Planning
February 15-17, 2011,
Hotel Jaipur Palace, Jaipur, India
Conference on Reviewing the Global Experience with Economic
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April 18-20, 2011,
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