Raisina Dialogue 2024: Packed House, Global Challenges And Rising India

Day Two of the 9th Raisina Dialogue in Delhi saw saw crowds even at the early morning breakfast sessions, and by 9 am, the massive Taj Hotel complex was bursting at the seams. Apart from delegates, comprising large teams of military and senior politicians and officials from over a 100 nations, notably France and Australia, there were also suave hustlers and snake oil salesmen, quietly peddling bespoke designer clothes, tourist packages, get-rich quick schemes, even immortality.

But that didn’t take away from the serious. Pride of place was reserved for the visiting Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who didn’t disappoint. With his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar looking on he said: “Today, India is a great power on the world stage and an important ally in pursuit of peace and security—a rising force at the heart of G20 and a leading player in the fight against climate change.”

Arguing that India was a crucial ally in the pursuit of global peace and security, the Greek leader said strengthening the partnership between Europe and India should be the cornerstone of Europe’s foreign policy. He described the proposed India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) as a “peace project,” and given Greece’s position as the end point of the Corridor, he said, “We are your natural doorstep to Europe and beyond.”

The proposed corridor will comprise road, rail and maritime networks as well as power lines, a hydrogen pipeline and a high-speed data cable across two corridors. While the East Corridor will connect India to the Arabian Gulf, the Northern corridor will connect the Gulf to Europe.

At the dinner session titled “Looking Back, Looking Ahead: The Long Decade,” a strong message from foreign secretary Vinay Kwatra.

“We are not even halfway through and we have witnessed a once in a century pandemic, re-emergence of conflict in Europe and the Middle East, aggressive intent and destabilizing actions in the Indo-Pacific, belligerent activity on the Red Sea, rising food, fertilizer and supply chain insecurities, often a consequence of conflict and aggression, weaponization of investments, technology and financial flows, stalled globalization, and a strong sense in the Global South that it had been let to fend for itself. And just when the world needs it the most, multilateral systems, particularly the UN system, only offer us discord and dysfunction.

“But that need not be our frame of reference,” he urged, calling for a “construct rooted in optimism for our future, based on democratic values, respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations….”

Others who spoke at the session included Dr James Beacham, a physicist at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, who talked about the mysteries of the universe—dark matter, dark energy and black holes, and how these could be solved through collaboration. “Curiosity, awe and wonder are remarkably strong human characteristics. Never been a better time to be a scientist or just a curious human being,” he said.