Middle East delegates to speak at India's flagship global conference

Several high profile delegates from the Middle East and Africa are among 700 international participants from over 100 countries attending Raisina Dialogue - India’s flagship global conference on geopolitics and geo-economics, which opens in Delhi on Tuesday.

This year’s edition of Raisina Dialogue assumes added significance as it is being held in the backdrop of nationwide protests in India against a new controversial citizenship act and the ongoing tension in the Middle East.

Ebtesam Al Ketbi, President, Emirates Policy Centre, and Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi, Chairman, World Council for Muslim Communities, are among the dignitaries from UAE who will be addressing the 3-day conference.

Kebti will be a keynote speaker at a panel session which will deliberate on whether states that operate in the Arabian Sea, the East Indian Ocean and East Africa possess the appetite for integration and explore the region’s potential as a new hub for development and growth, while Al Nuaimi will be speaking at a session on “Geopolitics and God: Identity and Religion in the Digital Age”.

The inaugural session of the conference, jointly organised by India’s ministry of external affairs (MEA) and the Observer Research Foundation, a think-tank backed by Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Group, will be attended by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seven former heads of state and government.

This year’s conference – which will be the 5th edition – will be attended by foreign ministers of 12 countries including Russia, Iran, Australia, Maldives, South Africa, Estonia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Latvia, Uzbekistan and EU, besides the Indian foreign minister S Jaishankar, a statement by MEA said.

The heads of over 30 international think-tanks will also moderate or present their view points across different sessions at this year’s conference, offering an opportunity for exchange of diverse view-points from around the world.

The NSA (National Security Advisor) of Afghanistan, the Deputy NSA of the United States and several ministers of state from EU, including from Germany will also present their ideas at the conference.

This year’s Delhi conference will see deliberations over 80 sessions around 5 thematic pillars – the nationalist impulses challenging global institutions and collective action, the debate on the global trading architecture and the role of technologies in determining political, economic and military power.

The global development agenda and the state-individual relationship in the age of digital communities and cyberspace are the other themes selected for this year’s conference.