Round The World

New Delhi, 21 March 2025

Raisina Dialogue 2025

 Prioritising Peace

By Dr. DK Giri

(Prof. NIIS Group of Institutions, Odisha) 

The Raisina Dialogue is an annual event providing a platform for multiple global stakeholders in world affairs. The dialogue is dedicated to geopolitics and geo-economics. The deliberations this year from 17 to 19 March was the 10th edition of the Dialogue. 

It goes without saying that dialogue is the most preferred way to move things forward in life between people and countries. In International community, the dialogue is called diplomacy as they go together in mutual interactions. There is an expression in Indian local wisdom, used almost as aphorism that “dialogues can resolve a lot of contentious issues, also dialogues if not conducted well can disrupt things”. The latest spat between Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and American President and Vice President is an example of the latter part of the Indian local axiomatic expression. 

However, such dialogues, institutionalised by several countries contribute to the conduct of global affairs. The IISS Sangri la dialogue is another such event taking place in Singapore. It is devoted to security issues. 

The working assumption is that such dialogues enrich the global wisdom and lead to more effective policy making.  So, we hope.  The downside of dialogues, if they are not put into action, is that they turn such events into talking shops. Even the United Nations is derisively called a talking shop for want of meaningful action on the ground. 

That said, this year’s dialogue was so nicely conceptualised and named. It was called “Kalachakra: People, Peace and Planet.” Again, the word has tremendous meaning. Kalachakra in Indian spiritual tradition means the cycle of time. In Buddhist understanding, the Kalachakra tantra is a kind of pedagogy which means the cycle of time involving the external environment, the Universe, and the cycle of developing and disintegrating. The choice of the title has been so apt to capture the essence of our times. The subtext is even more intellectually captivating, “people, peace and planet”. The priority put on these three categories is appropriate to the time. People should be at the centre of planning or policy making, peace is a crying need of the time and saving or maintaining the planet is urgent. 

However, the six pillars that constructed the dialogue were coined a tad idiomatically. In such dialogues that ought to lead to influencing actions in terms of fresh initiatives or course correction, the words and phrases should be comprehendible. The six thematic sessions or pillars were: politics interrupted: shifting sands and rising tides. Second, Resolving the Green Trilemma: who, where and how. Third, Digital Planet: Agents, Agencies and Absences, a good alliteration of words, but Absences do not fit in, Agents and Agencies are analogues. Fourth, Militant Mercantilism: Trade, Supply Chain and Exchange Rate Addiction. The last phrase in the subtext presupposes bias. The academic dialogues could be free from a priori judgements. Fifth, The Tiger’s Tail: Rewriting Development with a New Plan. Again, the idiom Tiger's Tail is a bit baffling. Catching the tiger by its tail is so risky and tough. So, is rewriting development? It is a bit pessimistic. Sixth, Investing in Peace: Drivers, Institutions and Leadership. I will reluctantly let it pass. The need for peace cannot be overstated. 

The Sixty Session to my mind was the crux of the whole dialogue. If an Indian platform was pushing the peace process in the world, it is authentic and credible. Although some of us were critical of New Delhi's fence- sitting posture, it has stood her in good stead at this moment. New Delhi maintained neutrality during the Ukraine war. Prime Minister Modi could book two capitals -- Kiev and Moscow within a gap of two weeks. That was highly commendable. 

Donald Trump has endorsed such a position. He is bent upon bringing the war to an end without calling out Russia, and a bit of chiding to Zelenskyy for war mongering. The point is war must end. After the war, negotiations could continue for resettlement of territories and resolution of security concerns etc. Many world leaders were patting Zelenskyy’s back for standing up to “Goliath”. But at what cost? There was no end in sight of the bloodshed. 

In fact, the Ukraine war was the biggest challenge to the wisdom of the world leaders. Europe was at a loss. Biden was baffled. China was calculating. New Delhi was fretting. So, all these have to end. Hopefully, Raisina Dialogue will contribute to the peace process. 

The only concern is that New Delhi should not be neutral to the peace making. Modi should rally with Donald Trump and extend a hand. Trump may be odd in his articulations, but his intentions are apparent. 

The Raisina Dialogue is well attended. About 125 countries participated. The Prime Minister of New Zealand was the keynote speaker and the Chief Guest. The event also featured Tulsi Gabbard, the United States Director of National Intelligence, alongside multiple other American intelligence officials. Juraj Blanar, Foreign Minister of Slovakia, Enrique A. Manalo, Foreign Minister of the Philippines, E.P. Chet Greene & Foreign Minister of Antigua and Barbuda also attended the event. 

Other Dignitaries including Abdulla Khaleel, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, Abla Abdel Latif, Executive Director and Director of Research, The Egyptian Centre for Economic Studies,  Abraham Denmark, Director, Asia Program, The Asia Group, Adrian Haack, Director, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Alok Verma, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Topsoe India Pvt. Ltd., Ana Miguel dos Santos, Former Member, Deputy to the European Parliament, Andrew Hawley, Managing Director, Ghost Partners, Anthony Barsamian, Board of Trustees, Hutchings Barsamian, Mandelcorn, LLP, Arati Davis, Lead, Business Co-Development, Leadership Group for Industry Transition, Arya Sofia Meranto, Senior Policy Advisor, Munich Security Conference also participated in the event. These individuals were engaged in discussions and debates on various topics, including geopolitics, geo-economics, climate change, and international relations. 

All these make the Dialogue worthwhile for many. The only rider is that it should lead to a change of mindset, strategy shift and policy adjustment. At the end of the day, the world needs peace, ironically at any cost.---INFA 

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)