Heads of Missions meet to discuss strategies to put states on global map

While the envoys said they were energised by their state visits, there were some glaring gaps. Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu were significant omissions

The annual Heads of Missions (HoM) meetings are typically low-key, quiet affairs held in the somewhat sterile environs of Delhi’s Vigyan Bhavan.

India’s 118 –odd HoMs around the world travel back to Delhi where they are addressed by the external affairs minister, the foreign secretary, and sometimes, even the Prime Minister.

Issues of global strategy, geopolitics, and threat perception were discussed, and sometimes external experts were called in to brief.

“Usually, the foreign secretary decides the format,” said former Indian ambassador to Myanmar and Afghanistan Gautam Mukhopadhaya, adding that at some meetings, Indian envoys in some countries were asked to make presentations —