Union Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley will open the two-day India Global Forum meeting, beginning in Delhi on November 9, with his keynote address tomorrow.
The India Global Forum is organised by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) and the Observer Research Foundation (ORF).
Jaitley will be followed by Minister for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman who will address the second plenary session "The New Global Economic Order - Multilateral Institutions and the New Regionalism".
Other star speakers on the first day include Suresh Prabhu, Prime Minister Modi's G-20 Sherpa, Yasutoshi Nishimura, Senior Vice Minister, Cabinet Office, Japan, Dino Patti Djalal, Deputy Foreign Minister, Indonesia, Saumitra Chaudhuri, former Member, Planning Commission of India and Amitabh Kant, Secretary, Industrial Policy and Promotion, India.
On the second day, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Airtel Ltd, will address the forum in the session titled "The Soft Power of Indian Enterprise".
Earlier in the day, former Finance Minister of Chile and Sheikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, Political and Economic Advisor to the Crown Prince's Court, Bahrain, will speak at the session on "The Geo-Economics of Commodities".
Given the wide range of countries represented at the conference, the India Global Forum will offer a broad global perspective on how India's resurgence under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi is viewed around the world.
"The India Global Forum will focus on India's strategy for economic revival, its view of multilateral economic institutions and multilateral economic negotiations, the challenge of energy and cyber security, regional security and the business opportunities being provided by India's new defence manufacturing policy," says Sanjaya Baru, Director for Geo-economics and Strategy, IISS.
Sunjoy Joshi, Director, ORF, says "India is undergoing multiple transformations and these will significantly reshape its economic and strategic engagements in the region and beyond. Economics, for India is its key foreign policy proposition and this forum seeks to unpack some of the crucial debates".
A special feature of the Forum will be a session devoted to "The Soft Power of Indian Enterprise", featuring business leaders Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Mittal.
Meeting against the backdrop of the recent elections in Maharashtra and Haryana, and in the context of Prime Minister Modi's renewed call for good governance, the Forum offers an important opportunity for an assessment of India's renewed economic resurgence and its implications for India's role in the world.
While proceedings at the plenary sessions are on record and open to media, the special sessions will follow the Chatham House rules. Participation at the Forum is by invitation only.
