Raisina Dialogue

Minister of External Affairs, Ms Sushma Swaraj during Raisina 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.

PM Modi during Raisina 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; U.K.’s Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs, Boris Johnson; the Diplomatic Adviser to the President of France, Jacques Audibert; Commander of U.S. Naval Forces, Europe and Africa, Admiral Michelle Howard; 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]

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 discussion 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
Narendra Modi	Prime Minister of India	India
Sushma Swaraj	Foreign Minister of India	India
S Jaishankar	Foreign Secretary (India)	India
Sunjoy Joshi	Chairman, Observer Research Foundation	India
Benjamin Netanyahu	Prime Minister of Israel	Israel
Konstantin Kosachev	Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council	Russia
Hans Dahlgren	State Secretary for International and EU Affairs to Prime Minister	Sweden
David Malone	Rector, United Nations University	Canada
Jayant Sinha	Ministry of Civil Aviation (India)	India
Gabriela Ramos	OECD Chief of Staff and Sherpa to the G20	Mexico
Joseph Lubin	Founder, ConsenSys	Canada United States
Stavros N. Yiannouka	CEO, World Innovation Summit for Education	Qatar
Peter Swire	Professor of Law and Ethics, Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology	United States
Alexander Gabuev	Senior Fellow and the Chair of the Russia in the Asia- Pacific Program, Carnegie Moscow Center	Russia
Thomas Gomart	Director, IFRI	France
Heather Hurlburt	Director, New Models of Policy Change, New America	United States
Houda Cherif	President, Connecting Group Tunisia	Tunisia
Lucy Shule	Lecturer and Director of Studies, National Defence College	Tanzania
General Bipin Rawat	Chief of Army Staff, India	India
General Chris Deverell	Joint Forces Commander, U.K.	United Kingdom
Husain Haqqani	Senior Fellow and Director for South and Central Asia, Hudson Institute	United States
Vyacheslav Nikonov	Member of the State Duma, Russia	Russia
M.J. Akbar	Minister of State External Affairs, India	India
Zalmay Khalilzad	Former Ambassador of United States to the United Nations	United States
Smriti Irani	Minister for Textiles and Information and Broadcasting, India	India
Wendy Ruth Sherman	Senior Counselor, Albright Stonebridge Group	United States
Pascale Fung	Professor, Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology	Hong Kong
Suresh Prabhu	Minister of Commerce and Industry, India	India
Kenneth Juster	U.S. Ambassador to India	United States
Rajiv Lall	CEO, IDFC Bank	India
Nisha Biswal	President, US-India Business Council	United States
Saad Mohseni	Chairman and CEO, Moby Group	Afghanistan  Australia
Rory Medcalf	Head, National Security College, Australian National University	Australia
Christopher Pyne	Minister for Defence Industry, Australia	Australia
Maliki Osman	Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs, Singapore	Singapore
Ram Madhav	National General Secretary, BJP and Director, India Foundation	India
Nadia Schadlow	Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Strategy, U.S. National Security Council	United States
Raja Mohan	Director, Carnegie India	India
Stephen Harper	Former Prime Minister, Canada	Canada
James Carafano	Vice President, Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, The Heritage Foundation	United States
Ina Lepel	Director-General on Asia and the Pacific, Federal Foreign Office, Germany	Germany
Shashi Tharoor	Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, India	India
Marek Magierowski	Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Poland	Poland
Charles Powell	Director, Elcano Royal Institute	United Kingdom  Spain
Carl Bildt	Former Prime Minister, Sweden	Sweden
Geoffrey Van Orden	Member of the European Parliament for the East of England	England
Hardeep Singh Puri	Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs, India	India
Daniel Andrews	Premier of Victoria, Australia	Australia
Kentaro Sonoura	Advisor to the Prime Minister (National Security), Japan	Japan
Harsh Pant	Distinguished Fellow and Head, Strategic Studies Programme, Observer Research Foundation	India
Sanjeev Sanyal	Principal Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, India	India
Cleo Paskal	Associate Fellow in the Energy, Environment and Resources Department, Chatham House	Canada
Tanvi Madan	Director, India Project, Brookings Institution	India  United States
Asle Toje	Director of Research, Nobel Peace Prize Research and Information, The Norwegian Nobel Institute	Norway
Vijay Keshav Gokhale	Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, India	India
István Mikola	Minister of State for Security Policy and International Cooperation, Hungary	Hungary
Michael Fullilove	Executive Director, Lowy Institute	Australia
General V. K. Singh	Minister of State for External Affairs, India	India
Hamid Karzai	Former President, Afghanistan	Afghanistan
Yalda Hakim	Host, BBC World News	Australia
Ryamizard Ryacudu	Minister of Defence, Indonesia	Indonesia
Vasantha Senanayake	State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka
Shankar Das Bairagi	Foreign Secretary, Nepal	Nepal
Preeti Saran	Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, India	India
Baijayant Panda	Member of Parliament, India	India
Amitabh Kant	CEO, NITI Aayog	India
Vijay Shekhar Sharma	Founder and Head, Paytm	India
Admiral Sunil Lanba	Chief of Naval Staff, India	India
Admiral Harry Harris	Commander, U.S. Pacific Command	United States
Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano	Chief of Staff, Joint Staff, Japan	Japan
Vice Admiral Tim Barret	Chief of Navy, Australia	Australia
Yul Sohn	Director, East Asia Institute	South Korea
Neelam Deo	Director, Gateway House	India
Rohinton P. Medhora	President, Centre for International Governance Innovation	Canada
Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali	Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh	Bangladesh
Maurice Gourdault-Montagne	Career diplomat	France
General (Retd.) David H. Petraeus	U.S. Army, Retired	United States
Swapan Dasgupta	Member of Parliament, India	India
Tim Hitchens	Chief Executive, Commonwealth Summit Unit	United Kingdom
Premdut Koonjoo	Minister of Ocean Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping, Republic of Mauritius	Mauritius

The fourth edition of The Raisina Dialogue was held at the Taj Diplomatic Enclave in New Delhi, India from January 08–10, 2019.

The theme for the 2019 conference was "New Geometrics | Fluid Partnerships | Uncertain Outcomes". The theme represents a logical progression from the previous edition, which focused on Managing Disruptions and Transitions. In her remarks, then External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj writes, "As the world seeks solutions to the constantly changing political, economic, and strategic landscape, “A World Reorder” is indeed an appropriate and timely theme. I hope the discussions will foster frank deliberations on the geopolitical reordering that is underway and point us towards creative and innovative solutions".

This conference was organised in partnership with Ministry of External Affairs.[7]

The fifth edition of The Raisina Dialogue was held in New Delhi, India from January 14-16. The theme for the 2020 Conference was “Navigating the Alpha Centurys”.[8] Australian Foreign minister Marise Payne gave the keynote address.[9]

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.

• Gateway of India Dialogue

• Official website