External Affairs Minister of India’s address to members of Diplomatic Corps at Hyderabad House

Excellencies,

It gives me great pleasure to have this opportunity to meet all of you today.

Your presence today is evidence of the friendship and partnership between India and the international community. Our Government is committed to working with each of your countries for shared peace, prosperity and security.

Excellencies, India has changed significantly since the launch of bold economic reforms to unleash her economic potential. India is today the fourth largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power parity. Despite the global impact of the recent economic crisis, India remains among the fastest growing economies of the world.

Our Government is committed to all-round, inclusive growth. To achieve this, a peaceful extended neighbourhood and a supportive international environment remains our fundamental foreign policy objective. India, as a responsible power, does and will engage actively with the world, while pursuing an independent and non-aligned foreign policy of peace and development, as well as strengthening her strategic autonomy.

As we do so, we will continue to focus on addressing the challenges of technological self-reliance, food and energy security. We will engage more closely with the global community and all our partners to deal with international terrorism which threatens us all.

India has an abiding interest in the stability and prosperity of our neighbours. We also believe that a prosperous and economically vibrant India is an asset and opportunity for our region. In this new term of our Government, we look forward to further strengthening our relationship with the neighbours. Our relations are further strengthened by the bonds of history, cultural affinities and geography. South Asia has always prospered when it has been interconnected. We therefore hope to continue to work towards reestablishing these links and towards greater economic integration. We will make every effort to take the SAARC agenda forward through deeper cooperation in South Asia that focuses on the primary task of reducing poverty and improving the quality of life of the common people. We will also work with our neighbours to ensure that outstanding issues are addressed and the full potential of our region is realized.

We attach great importance to taking forward our political, economic and cultural relations with countries in West Asia and the Gulf region with whom we share historical and cultural ties spanning over two millennia. Today, our cooperation has extended to several contemporary domains that include cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space, including the use of Indian launch vehicles. This vast region, taken broadly, is also home to nearly five million Indian expatriates whose endeavours have had a significant impact on your economies and ours. Our common security concerns also call for mutually beneficial cooperation in the protection of sea lanes of commerce against the scourge of piracy. In this regard, we appreciate the cooperation extended to us by various countries in the region.

India has consistently supported the peaceful resolution of the conflict in West Asia in a manner that would result in a sovereign, independent, viable and united State of Palestine, living within secure and recognized borders, side by side and at peace with Israel.

Our efforts to cultivate stronger bonds with countries of the Latin American and Caribbean region have borne impressive results in recent years, with cross-sectoral dialogue at various levels and a framework of institutionalized mechanisms for mutually beneficial cooperation. We will work towards bringing the region closer to us politically, with even more intensified contact. We are pleased that our trade and economic interaction with the region has been substantially enhanced. There are still enormous opportunities waiting to be explored and utilized.

We wish to further consolidate our relations with our friends in North America, with whom we share many commonalities and complementarities. We look forward to forging a new, higher level of strategic partnership with them.

Given our strong historical and cultural links with them, Russia and Central Asian countries occupy an important place in India’s foreign policy. Cooperation in energy, science and technology, and space has witnessed concrete developments in recent years. We wish to engage more closely with that region by ensuring that our cooperation with Central Asia receives even greater substance and diversification.

The India-Africa Forum Summit held in New Delhi last year has created a new architecture for the India-Africa partnership in the 21st century. The new road map, built on the firm foundations of historical and people-to-people contacts that have existed between India and Africa for centuries, will bring greater substance by unlocking the latent potential in India’s engagement with Africa. Our support to Africa’s economic well-being and to peace and security in the continent will remain unflinching and will be further intensified.

With our friends in Europe, we will pursue with greater vigour the process of qualitative transformation of our engagement that has been achieved in the recent years. Our friendship draws upon our rich cultural and historic heritage.

We have maintained and intensified our engagement with EU, a strategic partner, as well as individual countries in Europe in diverse fields such as defense & security, nuclear and space, trade and investment, energy, climate change, science and technology, culture and education. EU is today our largest trading partner. It is also one of our major sources of investment. We will continue this process of qualitative transformation of our engagement with EU and other European countries with greater vigour. India and the EU are indispensable poles in the emerging multipolar world.

In our strides towards economic progress, Asia in general and East and Southeast Asia in particular, continues to be a natural partner for enabling complementarities. We see cooperation between India and ASEAN, as well as countries in the Asia Pacific, as an important dimension of our diplomacy in the 21st century as reflected in our “Look East” policy, which is built on a strong economic foundation and a cooperative paradigm of converging security interests.

Excellencies, this is our first interaction since I took over as India’s External Affairs Minister a week ago. With this beginning, I hope we will have many more opportunities to meet in the future. I look forward to working closely with you to realize our shared vision of mutually beneficial partnership and common prosperity.

Thank you!

June 8, 2009