Four day heads of missons meeting kicks off today

NEW DELHI: The meeting of India’s heads of missions across the globe, for four days from Thursday, comes at a critical juncture when the world is in flux due to the repercussions of the change of guard in the United States, deepening downturn in Europe and escalating threats from the Islamic State.

The meeting, which will be addressed by the PM and external affairs minister as in previous years, will provide an opportunity to introspect India’s foreign policy initiatives at a time of global uncertainty of the sort that last existed between 1989 and 1991, people aware of the matter said.

They said Modi government has undertaken several foreign policy initiatives during the past three years, from promoting soft power to giving a push to economic diplomacy and this edition of the meeting will take stock of both achievements and challenges.