Raisina Chronicles: A public square for global dialogue and debate

Business Standard

28-04-2025

In their editors' note to Raisina Chronicles: India's Global Public Square, S Jaishankar and Samir Saran write: 'The imperative of dialogue in polarised times is self-evident. And it has gained salience precisely because the promise of globalisation has been visibly broken.' The publication of the book celebrates the tenth anniversary of the Raisina Dialogue, an international conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics that has been convened in Delhi since 2016.
This platform, which brings together heads of state, government officials, policymakers, diplomats and leaders of intergovernmental organisations, along with business leaders, media persons, experts from the development sector and members of civil society, is a collaboration between the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and the Government of India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Therefore, it is fitting that the volume is edited by Rajya Sabha member Mr Jaishankar, who has been India's External Affairs Minister since May 2019, and ORF President
Mr Saran, who is the Curator of the Raisina Dialogue.
The book is valuable for readers interested in international relations and public policy as fields of study and practice. The language used here seems accessible enough for seasoned and early-career professionals, as well as students. Moreover, it is a useful resource for people who watch television shows like Barbara Hall's Madam Secretary, David Guggenheim's Designated Survivor and Deborah Kahn's The Diplomat for the high-octane drama and are curious about how politicians and diplomats build alliances and resolve conflicts in real life.
It is divided into seven sections: (1) Changing Realities: Shifts in the World Order; (2) Shared Visions: Unbreakable Bilateral Ties; (3) New Opportunities: European Future in the Indo-Pacific; (4) Guards of Honour: Forging a More Secure World; (5) Viral World: Outbreaks, Outliers and Out of Control; (6) Unblurred Vision: Development with a Difference; and (7) At the Helm of Power: India, Raisina and the New Way Forward. Each section features reflections by speakers from various countries who have participated in the Raisina Dialogue and have rich insights to offer about key priorities in specific geographies and across the world.
Rosa Balfour (Director, Carnegie Europe) and Zakaria Al Shmaly (Research Analyst, Carnegie Europe) acknowledge the European Union's 'blind spots', particularly its limited engagement with the 'Global South', and the need to understand critiques of its migration and asylum policy that treats white Christian and brown Muslim refugees differently. Kwame Owino (CEO, Institute of Economic Affairs) and Jackline Kagume (constitution, law and economy programme head at the Institute of Economic Affairs, Kenya) point out that Sub-Saharan Africa is 'the least embedded in global economic affairs and commerce' and advocate for 'access to regional and global markets' to ensure prosperity for countries represented by the African Union.
The book addresses subjects such as democracy, climate finance, maritime security, gender equality, soft power, vaccine equity, public-private partnerships, and terrorism. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, for instance, calls terrorism 'a cancer that needs to be faced through wide international cooperation'. With Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announcing his readiness for a neutral investigation into the Pahalgam terror attack, it remains to be seen how this international cooperation pans out, and whether it amounts to more than lip service.
Mohammed Soliman (director, strategic technologies and cyber security program at the Middle East Institute, Washington, DC) compliments 'India's growing voice in world affairs' for making the Raisina Dialogue 'a critical pathway for conflicting parties to utilise'. He writes, 'Not many global capitals have the diplomatic pull to host Israel, Iran, the Palestinians, and the Arab states under one roof to debate the most contentious regional and global issues'.
Amrita Narlikar (president and professor, German Institute for Global and Area Studies) points out that the Raisina Dialogue 'is more inclusive and more diverse' than the Munich Security Conference and the World Economic Forum. What makes it stand out is not only 'its location in a democratic nation in the Global South' but also the decision to 'enable the participation of the interested public' rather than having closed-door meetings.
This congratulatory tone pervades the book. While it reinforces the significance and impact of the Raisina Dialogue for multiple stakeholders, there is hardly any reflection on challenges encountered over the last 10 years and areas of improvement that have been identified either by the organisers or the participants. Introspection and feedback are crucial for growth.
The other contributors to the volume range from United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Rwandan President Paul Kagame to former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen J Harper, Former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director David Petraeus, and Mexican Minister of Economy Marcelo Ebrard. The absence of voices from India's own neighbourhood — Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Myanmar, Afghanistan, China, and the Maldives — is quite conspicuous. Since the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has failed to help members settle disputes, the Raisina Dialogue could serve as a forum to have some of those conversations.