The Hon’ble Minister of External Affairs, Dr S. Jaishankar presented the fourth Ramnath Goenka Lecture on Thursday, November 14 at New Delhi.
The Ramnath Goenka Lecture series was launched by The Express Group to mark 25 years of the passing away of Ramnath Goenka, founder of The Indian Express. The lectures, in the spirit of Ramnathji and the newspaper, aim to deepen understanding of change and inspire debate on issues of vital contemporary interest.
The Lecture aims to create a public space for ideas and debates that raise questions, respect conflicting answers and celebrate the gray in a discourse that too often marks the black and the white.
Speaking at the Fourth Ramnath Goenka Memorial Lecture, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday laid down the balance sheet of India’s foreign policy of the last seven decades. Addressing the topic “Beyond the Delhi Dogma: Indian Foreign Policy in a Changing World” he explained each phase of the foreign policy ranging from conflict with China in 1962 to the “bold moves” in dealing with Pakistan.
Talking about the India’s diplomatic agenda, he said that India needs to follow an approach of working with multiple partners on different agendas. ” Obviously, they would each have their importance and priority. But Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas is today as relevant in foreign policy. It is the nations who have an optimal mix of capabilities, relationships and positioning who can aspire to occupy the multiple poles of the emerging international order. And it is the confidence of being able to forge ahead in this looser architecture that can inspire us to emerge as a leading power in the future.” he said.
Post the lecture, Minister Jaishankar was in conversation with Dr C. Raja Mohan, Contributing Editor, The Indian Express; and Director, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO9gA5LwMkE
The lecture was held at the The Grand, New Delhi & was attended by Minister of State (External Affairs) V Muraleedharan, RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, former Foreign Secretary and PM’s special envoy Shyam Saran, and former Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal apart from several ambassadors and diplomats from more than 30 countries, and other notable personalities like Dr Naresh Trehan, Rajiv Luthra, Sanjaya Baru, to name a few.