During the Raisina Dialogue between 14 and 16 January 2020 where foreign ministers, members of parliament, journalists and civil society leaders from all over the world met, New Delhi became the dialogue capital of the world for three days. Exchange of views and perspectives of international high-level speakers took place at various panels, speeches and discussions, both in the foreground and background.
The strengthening of multilateralism was the special focus of the debates and speeches of the international forum. Among the topics discussed were India's role in the international context, democracy movements worldwide and the impact of new technologies on states, while intensifying the focus on the question of the EU's positioning on the world stage.
These topics were also taken up by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in his keynote speech on a multilateral world, calling for a stronger "Eurasian partnership". He expressed his hope to see an intensive link from "Lisbon to Jakarta", Lavrov continued. With regard to the South Pacific region, he feared an increasing rapprochement with the West and a turning away from Russia. The Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar also spoke positively about further partnerships with the European Union. He admitted that both India and the states in the European Union have not yet realized the potential of mutual partnership. European-Indian relations would play an important role in his agenda. Jaishankar's appearance at the Raisina Dialogue clearly shows that India is not striving for a foreign policy of isolation and aims to be a global player on the international stage.
But how can a partnership of India and the European Union work if it is not really clear about what it entails?
The High Representative of the European Union Josep Borell tried to find an answer to this question in his speech: "Politics means that everyone can have their own policy and at the same can have a common understanding." "Like Europe, it is precisely about doing together what we can no longer do alone," the Spaniard explained. But Borell also admitted critically that "we still don't know exactly what kind of role we want to play," but that it was important to play a more active role from now on, to strengthen bilateral relations and act as mediators in conflict regions. It was precisely this topic that was the focus of what was probably the most intense panel at the conference. The European panel with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, former Foreign Minister of Estonia and Member of the European Parliament Marina Kaljurand, Executive Board Member of the Körber Foundation Hans Thomas Paulsen, Founder of the Centre for "Russia Europe Asia Studies" Theresa Fallon and Chairman of the "European Union Military Committee" Claudio Graziano showed that there are many different opinions and a certain dissatisfaction within the European Union. "What have we as the European Union really achieved internationally? We have dealt with ourselves far too much" criticized the Hungarian Foreign Minister. Looking ahead, however, everyone agreed: The European Union must stick together and play a more important role on the international political stage. The general tenor of the speakers, was that they looked forward to building a more intensive partnership with India in particular, in the coming years.
After three days, 165 speakers and extraordinary discussions on a range of global issues, the Raisina Dialogue gives its participants from around the world more than just information, new contacts and three interesting days. In times of conflict, the Raisina Dialogue already has the most important message in its name: dialogue, dialogue and more dialogues.