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New Delhi: Amid the
global economic downturn, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday
said the Indian economy and society are resilient enough to
overcome the "present adversities", and pitched for a proactive
foreign policy to shape "a favourable external environment" for
India to deal with economic and security challenges.
"Our economy, our polity and our society are resilient enough to
overcome the present adversities. India's future growth and
development depends substantially on a favourable external
environment," Manmohan Singh said on the opening day of the fourth
conference of Indian heads of mission here which is being attended
by 117 Indian envoys.
He stressed that for foreign policy to effectively serve domestic
growth needs, it is imperative that efforts are equally geared
toward finding economic opportunities in trade and financial
flows.
The foreign policy, he stressed, should also help in the search
for privileged access to critical or rare natural resources -
which could be sources of energy or other minerals vital for
modern industries.
Stressing that the imperatives of India's foreign policy have not
changed despite the changing international landscape, Manmohan
Singh said: "Security against external threats, economic
prosperity and sharing in global public goods remain the central
impulses."
"A dynamic environment, however, demands constant fine-tuning of
the instruments of policy. We must also not remain content with
making the best of a difficult external environment, but instead
attempt to actively shape a favourable external environment for
India," he said.
The envoys later called on President Pranab Mukherkee who stressed
that despite current economic difficulties, "the growth story of
India is still unfolding and there was no need for any
despondency".
Stressing that "there is absolutely no need to press any panic
button," Mukherjee stressed that many of India's strategic
partners such as Europe and the US are presently in a situation of
deep economic crisis and asked them to advise the government on
the changes that policy makers should anticipate in these
countries.
Inaugurating the conference, External Affairs Minister S.M.
Krishna echoed the same message, saying that an important
objective continues to be creation of an external enabling
environment for country's transformation through inclusive growth.
Describing "India-China relations as one of the most important
bilateral relationships in the 21st century," Krishna said while
India is "reasonably satisfied" with the progress in the second
round of the resumed dialogue with Pakistan, the path ahead will
not be easy.
"We are reasonably satisfied at the progress achieved in the last
round of the resumed dialogue, given the complexities of the
issues that we face, in our relations with Pakistan," Krishna told
the envoys.
The conference seeks to discuss an entire gamut of foreign policy
issues that include UN reforms, counter-terrorism, nuclear
proliferation, India's relations with neighbouring countries, the
situation in West Asia, India-China relations and India-Pakistan
relations.
Projecting India as an "engine of progress" for neighbouring
countries, the prime minister also stressed that India has worked
towards "establishing friendly and cooperative ties with our
neighbours" and emphasised the idea of establishing greater
connectivity in South Asia to promote the movement of goods,
services, investment and technology.
The envoys' conference is part of the government's strategy to
make Indian diplomacy more people-centric and to refurbish it to
handle a host of contemporary challenges that enables India to
play a proactive role in the international arena and realise its
aspiration for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.
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