India to launch diplomatic blitzkrieg against Pak

Coming weeks after the Mumbai attacks, terror will be on top of the so-called Heads of Missions Conference agenda. Speakers include Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, external affairs minister and host Pranab Mukherjee, defence minister A.K. Antony, home minister P. Chidambaram, commerce minister Kamal Nath and deputy chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, all expected to initiate debates on other roles India must also play worldwide.

Also, on the menu are apparently unpretentious box lunches and a sparse fare of unlimited tea, coffee and biscuits at the Foreign Service Institute where the diplomats will huddle. Other agenda items include energy diplomacy, the Indian diaspora, role of both culture and agriculture—and India’s image abroad.The third day has been reserved for “organizational” matters, a sort of navel-gazing day when sparks could fly if candour prevails. That’s when foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon will discuss some new ideas which have already caused some dissension within the ministry, including one about bringing in outside experts to replenish limited in-house talent.Despite good intentions, however, no position papers have been prepared on the three main topics for discussion: security, economic diplomacy and organizational matters, and ministry officials admit little, if any, brainstorming has happened in the run-up to the confab.

The regional heads of mission meetings conducted by Mukherjee as he travelled to various parts of the globe over the last year or so were believed to be “enough of a headstart for this conference”, says one diplomat who didn’t want to be identified, while several others that Mint spoke to said the ministry had not solicited any ideas in advance from them on the agenda issues.