The Raisina Dialogue is a multilateral conference held annually in New Delhi, India. Since its inception in 2016, the conference has emerged as India's flagship conference on geopolitics and geo-economics. The conference is hosted by the Observer Research Foundation, an independent think tank, in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs of India.
The conference is structured as a multi-stakeholder, cross-sectoral discussion, involving a variety of global policymakers including heads of states, cabinet ministers and local government officials. In addition, the Dialogue also welcomes major private sector executives, as well as members of the media and academia. It is designed on the lines of Singapore's Shangri-La Dialogue.[1]
The name "Raisina Dialogue" comes from Raisina Hill, an elevation in New Delhi, seat of the Government of India, as well as the Presidential Palace of India, Rashtrapati Bhavan.[2]
Raisina Dialogue 2024
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The ninth edition of Raisina Dialogue was held in New Delhi from 21 February to 23 February 2024. The theme for 2024 was “Chaturanga: Conflict, Contest, Cooperate, Create”.[3] Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis was the chief guest.[4] The conference saw the participation of foreign ministers from the Nordic-Baltic Eight group of countries, which was the first high-level delegation of this group outside Europe.
Raisina Dialogue 2023
[edit]
The eighth edition of Raisina Dialogue was held from 2 March to 4 March 2023. It focused on four pillars - Neo Insurgence, Amoral Mosiac, Chaotic Codes, Pernicious Passports, and Grey Rhinos.[5][6] Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni was the chief guest among several other speakers and guests.[6][7]
Raisina Dialogue 2022
[edit]
The seventh edition of The Raisina Dialogue was held in-person in New Delhi from 25 April to 27 April 2022.[8] The theme for 2022 is "Terra Nova: Impassioned, Impatient, and Imperilled".[8]
European Commission's president Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister Modi are the chief guests.[9] Other key speakers[10] include:
List of Speakers in 2022
Name
Designation
Country
Carl Bildt
Former Prime Minister, Sweden; Co-chair, European Council on Foreign Relations
Sweden
Stephen Harper
Former Prime Minister of Canada
Canada
Abdulla Shahid
President of United Nations General Assembly
United Nations
Admiral R. Hari Kumar
Chief of Indian Navy
India
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin
Chief of the Defence Staff, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Aminath Shauna
Minister of Environment, Climate Change and Technology, Maldives
Maldives
Amitabh Kant
CEO, NITI Aayog, India
India
Andrew Shearer
Director General, Office of National Intelligence, Australia
Australia
Anniken Huitfeldt
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway
Norway
Anthony Abbott
Former Prime Minister, Australia
Australia
Ararat Mirzoyan
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Armenia
Armenia
Anže logar
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Slovenia
Slovenia
Biswo Nath Poudel
Vice Chairperson, National Planning Commission, Nepal
Nepal
Cecile Fruman
Director, Regional Integration and Engagement, South Asia, World Bank
World Bank
Gabrielius Landsbergis
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lithuania
Lithuania
General Angus Campbell
Chief of the Defence Force, Australia
Australia
General Koji Yamazaki
Chief of Staff, Joint Staff, Japan Self-Defense Forces
Japan
General Manoj M Naravane
Chief of the Army Staff, India
India
Geoffrey Onyeama
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria
Nigeria
Hugh Hilton Todd
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Guyana
Guyana
João Gomes Cravinho
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Portugal
Portugal
Lisa Singh
Director and CEO, Australia India Institute, Australia
Australia
Lt. Gen. (Dr) Rajesh Pant (Retd)
National Cyber Security Coordinator, Prime Minister's Office, India
India
Mathias Cormann
Secretary-General, OECD
OECD
Mohamed Nasheed
Speaker of the Parliament; Former President, Maldives
Maldives
Narek Mkrtchyan
Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Armenia
Armenia
Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy
Minister of State for International Cooperation, United Arab Emirates
UAE
Richard J. Randriamandrato
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Madagascar
Madagascar
S. Jaishankar
Minister of External Affairs, India
India
Tadashi Maeda
Governor, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Japan
Japan
Teodoro L. Locsin Jr.
Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Philippines
Philippines
Vinay Mohan Kwatra
Foreign Secretary (Designate), India
India
Wopke Hoekstra
Deputy Prime Minister; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands
Netherlands
Zbigniew Rau
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Poland
Poland
Raisina Dialogue 2021
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The sixth edition of The Raisina Dialogue was held in virtual mode from 13 to 16 April 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The theme for 2021 was "ViralWorld: Outbreaks, Outliers and Out of Control".[11][12] Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen, Rwandan president Paul Kagame were the chief-guests along with prime minister Modi at the inaugural session.[12]
Raisina Dialogue 2020
[edit]
PM Modi with global leaders at inaugural session of Raisina Dialogue 2020 (14 January 2020)
The fifth edition of The Raisina Dialogue was held in New Delhi, India from 14 to 16 January. The theme for the 2020 Conference was "Navigating the Alpha Centurys".[13] Australian Foreign minister Marise Payne gave the keynote address.[14]
Raisina Dialogue 2019
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The fourth edition of The Raisina Dialogue was held at the Taj Diplomatic Enclave in New Delhi, India from 8–10 January 2019.
The theme for the conference was "New Geometrics | Fluid Partnerships | Uncertain Outcomes". The theme represents a logical progression from the previous edition, which focused on Managing Disruptions and Transitions. In her remarks, then External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj writes, "As the world seeks solutions to the constantly changing political, economic, and strategic landscape, “A World Reorder” is indeed an appropriate and timely theme. I hope the discussions will foster frank deliberations on the geopolitical reordering that is underway and point us towards creative and innovative solutions".
This conference was organised in partnership with Ministry of External Affairs.[15]
Ministerial Level Participation in Raisina 2019[16]
Name
Designation
Country
Narendra Modi
Prime Minister of India
India
Carl Bildt
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sweden
Sweden
Josep Borrell
Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation
Spain
Mohammad Javad Zarif
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Iran
Reginah Mhaule
Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
South Africa
V.K. Singh
Minister of State for External Affairs
India
Marise Payne
Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Australia
Omar Al Olama
Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence
UAE
Pradeep Kumar Gyawali
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Nepal
Sergei Ryabkov
Deputy Foreign Minister
Russia
Smriti Irani
Minister of Textiles
India
Sushma Swaraj
Minister of External Affairs
India
Raisina Dialogue 2018
[edit]
The third edition of The Raisina Dialogue was held at the Taj Diplomatic Enclave in New Delhi, India from 16 to 18 January 2018.
The theme for the 2018 Conference is "Managing Disruptive Transitions: Ideas, Institutions and Idioms". This theme is designed to explore the shifting dynamics within the global order; where old relationships need new directions, emerging partnerships face unprecedented constraints and the notions of power and sovereignty are challenged. The Dialogue will foster discussion on the role of institutions, the possibility of collective action and successful responses to these modern developments.[17]
Raisina Dialogue 2018 was attended by following scholars and officials:[18]
Participants and Speakers in 2018
Name
Designation
Country
Narendra Modi
Prime Minister of India
India
Sushma Swaraj
Foreign Minister of India
India
S Jaishankar
Foreign Secretary (India)
India
Sunjoy Joshi
Chairman, Observer Research Foundation
India
Konstantin Kosachev
Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council
Russia
Hans Dahlgren
State Secretary for International and EU Affairs to Prime Minister
Sweden
David Malone
Rector, United Nations University
Canada
Jayant Sinha
Ministry of Civil Aviation (India)
India
Gabriela Ramos
OECD Chief of Staff and Sherpa to the G20
Mexico
Joseph Lubin
Founder, ConsenSys
CanadaUnited States
Stavros N. Yiannouka
CEO, World Innovation Summit for Education
Qatar
Peter Swire
Professor of Law and Ethics, Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology
United States
Alexander Gabuev
Senior Fellow and the Chair of the Russia in the Asia- Pacific Program, Carnegie Moscow Center
Russia
Thomas Gomart
Director, IFRI
France
Heather Hurlburt
Director, New Models of Policy Change, New America
United States
Houda Cherif
President, Connecting Group Tunisia
Tunisia
Lucy Shule
Lecturer and Director of Studies, National Defence College
Tanzania
General Bipin Rawat
Chief of Army Staff, India
India
General Chris Deverell
Joint Forces Commander, U.K.
United Kingdom
Husain Haqqani
Senior Fellow and Director for South and Central Asia, Hudson Institute
United States
Vyacheslav Nikonov
Member of the State Duma, Russia
Russia
M.J. Akbar
Minister of State External Affairs, India
India
Zalmay Khalilzad
Former Ambassador of United States to the United Nations
United States
Smriti Irani
Minister for Textiles and Information and Broadcasting, India
India
Wendy Ruth Sherman
Senior Counselor, Albright Stonebridge Group
United States
Pascale Fung
Professor, Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Hong Kong
Suresh Prabhu
Minister of Commerce and Industry, India
India
Kenneth Juster
U.S. Ambassador to India
United States
Rajiv Lall
CEO, IDFC Bank
India
Nisha Biswal
President, US-India Business Council
United States
Saad Mohseni
Chairman and CEO, Moby Group
Afghanistan Australia
Rory Medcalf
Head, National Security College, Australian National University
Australia
Christopher Pyne
Minister for Defence Industry, Australia
Australia
Maliki Osman
Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs, Singapore
Singapore
Ram Madhav
National General Secretary, BJP and Director, India Foundation
India
Nadia Schadlow
Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Strategy, U.S. National Security Council
United States
Raja Mohan
Director, Carnegie India
India
Stephen Harper
Former Prime Minister, Canada
Canada
James Carafano
Vice President, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, The Heritage Foundation
United States
Ina Lepel
Director-General on Asia and the Pacific, Federal Foreign Office, Germany
Germany
Shashi Tharoor
Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, India
India
Marek Magierowski
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Poland
Poland
Charles Powell
Director, Elcano Royal Institute
United Kingdom Spain
Carl Bildt
Former Prime Minister, Sweden
Sweden
Geoffrey Van Orden
Member of the European Parliament for the East of England
England
Hardeep Singh Puri
Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs, India
India
Daniel Andrews
Premier of Victoria, Australia
Australia
Kentaro Sonoura
Advisor to the Prime Minister (National Security), Japan
Japan
Harsh Pant
Distinguished Fellow and Head, Strategic Studies Programme, Observer Research Foundation
India
Sanjeev Sanyal
Principal Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, India
India
Cleo Paskal
Associate Fellow in the Energy, Environment and Resources Department, Chatham House
Canada
Tanvi Madan
Director, India Project, Brookings Institution
India United States
Asle Toje
Director of Research, Nobel Peace Prize Research and Information, The Norwegian Nobel Institute
Norway
Vijay Keshav Gokhale
Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, India
India
István Mikola
Minister of State for Security Policy and International Cooperation, Hungary
Hungary
Michael Fullilove
Executive Director, Lowy Institute
Australia
General V. K. Singh
Minister of State for External Affairs, India
India
Hamid Karzai
Former President, Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Yalda Hakim
Host, BBC World News
Australia
Ryamizard Ryacudu
Minister of Defence, Indonesia
Indonesia
Vasantha Senanayake
State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Shankar Das Bairagi
Foreign Secretary, Nepal
Nepal
Preeti Saran
Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, India
India
Baijayant Panda
Member of Parliament, India
India
Amitabh Kant
CEO, NITI Aayog
India
Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Founder and Head, Paytm
India
Admiral Sunil Lanba
Chief of Naval Staff, India
India
Admiral Harry Harris
Commander, U.S. Pacific Command
United States
Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano
Chief of Staff, Joint Staff, Japan
Japan
Vice Admiral Tim Barret
Chief of Navy, Australia
Australia
Yul Sohn
Director, East Asia Institute
South Korea
Neelam Deo
Director, Gateway House
India
Rohinton P. Medhora
President, Centre for International Governance Innovation
Canada
Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Maurice Gourdault-Montagne
Career diplomat
France
General (Retd.) David H. Petraeus
U.S. Army, Retired
United States
Swapan Dasgupta
Member of Parliament, India
India
Tim Hitchens
Chief Executive, Commonwealth Summit Unit
United Kingdom
Premdut Koonjoo
Minister of Ocean Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping, Republic of Mauritius
Mauritius
Raisina Dialogue 2017
[edit]
PM Modi during Raisina 2017
In 2017, The Dialogue was held from 17 to 19 January. Held on a larger scale, the conference welcomed over 120 speakers from 65 countries and upwards of 800 participants. Attendees discussed the theme, "The New Normal: Multilateralism with Multipolarity".
The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, inaugurated the 2017 edition of the Raisina Dialogue. Other eminent speakers included the former President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai; the former Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper; Nepal’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prakash Sharan Mahat; U.K.’s Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs, Boris Johnson; the Diplomatic Adviser to the President of France, Jacques Audibert; Commander of U.S. Naval Forces, Europe and Africa, Admiral Michelle Howard; Commander of U.S. Pacific Command, Admiral Harry Harris, Jr.; and the Indian Chief of the Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat. The conference report can be found online.[19]
Raisina Dialogue 2016
[edit]
Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj during Raisina 2016
The first Raisina Dialogue was held from 1–3 March 2016. Over 100 speakers from over 35 countries attended to speak on the theme, "Asia: Regional and Global Connectivity". The focus of the 2016 conference was on Asia’s physical, economic, human and digital connectivity. Panels and discussions explored opportunities and challenges for the region to manage its common spaces, as well as the global partnerships needed to develop common pathways in this century.[citation needed]Following the inaugural conference, the news media lauded the event as "packing a global punch in Delhi".[20]
Publications
[edit]
Each year, The Raisina Dialogue publishes a series of publications in order to ensure a continual dialogue of conference themes and highlights. Among these publications are The Raisina Files, which contain a set of commentaries authored by high-profile speakers and delegates.
Additionally, ORF publishes a Defence Primer and several policy reports to supplement the conversations held at each conference.