Raisina Dialogue
The Raisina Dialogue is a multilateral conference held annually in New Delhi. 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 state, 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 that is home to the Government of India, as well as the Presidential Palace of India, Rashtrapati Bhavan.[2]
Raisina Dialogue 2016
The first Raisina Dialogue was held from March 1–3, 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.
Following the inaugural conference, the news media lauded the event as “packing a global punch in Delhi”.[3] The conference report can be found online.
Raisina Dialogue 2017
In 2017, The Dialogue was held from January 17–19. 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; the U.K.’s Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs, Boris Johnson; the Diplomatic Adviser to the President of France, Jacques Audibert; the Commander of U.S. Naval Forces, Europe and Africa, Admiral Michelle Howard; the 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.[4]
Raisina Dialogue 2018
The third edition of The Raisina Dialogue was held at the Taj Diplomatic Enclave in New Delhi, India from January 16–18, 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 discussions on the role of institutions, the possibility of collective action and successful responses to these modern developments.[5]
Raisina Dialogue 2018 was attended by following scholars and officials:[6]
| Name | Designation | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Netanyahu | Prime Minister of Israel |  |
| Narendra Modi | Prime Minister of India |  |
| Sushma Swaraj | Foreign Minister of India | |
| S Jaishankar | Foreign Secretary (India) | |
| Konstantin Kosachev | Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council |  |
| Hans Dahlgren | State Secretary for International and EU Affairs to Prime Minister |  |
| Jayant Sinha | Ministry of Civil Aviation (India) | |
| Gabriela Ramos | OECD Chief of Staff and Sherpa to the G20 |  |
| Yao Zhang | Founder & CEO, Roboterra |   |
| Peter Swire | Professor of Law and Ethics, Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology | |
| Thomas Gomart | Director, IFRI |  |
| Heather Hurlburt | Director, New Models of Policy Change, New America | |
| Houda Cherif | President, Connecting Group Tunisia |  |
| Bi-Khim Hsiao | Senior Adviser, The Prospect Foundation |  |
| Li Li | Deputy Director, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Oceania Institute, CICIR | |
| Lucy Shule | Lecturer and Director of Studies, National Defence College |  |
| General Bipin Rawat | Chief of Army Staff, India | |
| General Chris Deverell | Joint Forces Commander, U.K. |  |
| Husain Haqqani | Senior Fellow and Director for South and Central Asia, Hudson Institute | |
| Vyacheslav Nikonov | Member of the State Duma, Russia | |
| M.J. Akbar | Minister of State External Affairs, India | |
| Zalmay Khalilzad | Former Ambassador of the United States to the United Nations | |
| Smriti Irani | Minister for Textiles and Information and Broadcasting, India | |
| Wendy Ruth Sherman | Senior Counselor, Albright Stonebridge Group | |
| Pascale Fung | Professor, Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology |  |
| Suresh Prabhu | Minister of Commerce and Industry, India | |
| Kenneth Juster | U.S. Ambassador to India | |
| Esther Ndichu | Vice President of Public Affairs, UPS (Indian Subcontinent, Middle East and Africa) |  |
| Saad Mohseni | Chairman and CEO, Moby Group |   |
| Christopher Pyne | Minister for Defence Industry, Australia | |
| Maliki Osman | Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs, Singapore |  |
| Stephen Harper | Former Prime Minister, Canada |  |
| Igor Morgulov | Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russia | |
| Ina Lepel | Director-General on Asia and the Pacific, Federal Foreign Office, Germany |  |
| Shashi Tharoor | Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, India | |
| Marek Magierowski | Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Poland |  |
| Carl Bildt | Former Prime Minister, Sweden | |
| Geoffrey Van Orden | Member of the European Parliament for the East of England |  |
| Hardeep Singh Puri | Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs, India | |
| Daniel Andrews | Premier of Victoria, Australia | |
| Nisha Desai Biswal | President, US-India Business Council | |
| Kentaro Sonoura | Advisor to the Prime Minister (National Security), Japan |  |
| Tsutomu Kikuchi | Professor, Aoyama Gakuin University | |
| Ram Madhav | National General Secretary, BJP | |
| Shen Dingli | Professor, Fudan University | |
| Seyed Kazem Sajjadpour | Deputy Foreign Minister, Iran |  |
| István Mikola | Minister of State for Security Policy and International Cooperation, Hungary |  |
| General V. K. Singh | Minister of State for External Affairs, India | |
| Hamid Karzai | Former President, Afghanistan | |
| Yalda Hakim | Host, BBC World News | |
| Ryamizard Ryacudu | Minister of Defence, Indonesia |  |
| Vasantha Senanayake | State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka |  |
| Shankar Das Bairagi | Foreign Secretary, Nepal |  |
| Baijayant Panda | Member of Parliament, India | |
| Amitabh Kant | CEO, NITI Aayog | |
| Vijay Shekhar Sharma | Founder and Head, Paytm | |
| Admiral Sunil Lanba | Chief of Naval Staff, India | |
| Admiral Harry Harris | Commander, U.S. Pacific Command | |
| Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano | Chief of Staff, Joint Staff, Japan | |
| Vice Admiral Tim Barret | Chief of Navy, Australia | |
| Yul Sohn | Director, East Asia Institute |  |
| Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali | Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh |  |
| General (Retd.) David H. Petraeus | U.S. Army, Retired | |
| Swapan Dasgupta | Member of Parliament, India | |
| Premdut Koonjoo | Minister of Ocean Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping, Republic of Mauritius |  |
Publications
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.