“The Contemporary Embassy – Paths to Diplomatic Excellence”

Book Discussion on “The Contemporary Embassy – Paths to Diplomatic Excellence” with Ambassador Kishan S. Rana
EVENT DETAILS
DATE		Wednesday, January 28, 2015
TIME		4:00 PM  - 5:30 PM (Registration: 03:30 pm)
LOCATION		WWF Auditorium, 172-B, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi – 110003
SPEAKERS		Ambassador Kishan S. Rana, Former Indian Ambassador to Germany Dr. C. Raja Mohan, Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation (ORF)
CHAIR		Ambassador Eric Gonsalves, Former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs and Ambassador to Belgium and to EEC and Luxembourg
ABOUT THE EVENT Embassies are at the cutting edge of the international system, agencies of the home system that transact with foreign countries. Past few years have witnessed evolution of purpose of diplomacy as set out in the Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations 1961, as a consequence of which the role of embassies has been extended to being that of a promoter, negotiator, communicator, manager, synthesiser, and service provider across the entire gamut of external affairs. This proactive and intensive involvement has lead to perceive embassies as the “CEO’s of multiagency missions reaching out to the entire society and not just the government”. In that context, Ambassador Kishan S. Rana raises the question whether embassies are likely to undergo evolutionary changes adapting to requirements of efficiency and tighter accountability in his book “The Contemporary Embassy – Paths to Diplomatic Excellence”. The book discussion session will have experts on diplomacy reflecting over the main argument of the book on the departure from formulistic rituals of diplomacy and on ways embassies could do better.
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SPEAKERS   AMBASSADOR KISHAN S RANA, Former Indian Ambassador to Germany Ambassador Kishan S. Rana is a career diplomat who joined Indian Foreign Service in 1960. He served as Ambassador/High Commissioner to Algeria, Czechoslovakia, Kenya, Mauritius, and Germany; also consul general in San Francisco and worked in China (1963-65, 1970-72). He also served on staff of PM Indira Gandhi (1981-82). In addition, Ambassador Rana is a Professor Emeritus, DiploFoundation, Malta and Geneva; Honorary Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi; Archives By-Fellow, Churchill College, Cambridge; Public Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Centre, Washington DC; guest faculty, Diplomatic Academy, Vienna; Commonwealth Adviser, Namibia Foreign Ministry, 2000-01. Ambassador Rana authored number of books on diplomacy and international affairs such as Inside Diplomacy (2000); Managing Corporate Culture (co-author, 2000); Bilateral Diplomacy (2002); The 21st Century Ambassador (2004); Asian Diplomacy (2007); Diplomacy of the 21st Century (2011); India’s North-East States, the BCIM Forum and Regional Integration, (co-author, 2012); The Contemporary Embassy (2013). Ambassador Rana is fluent in Chinese and French. He holds a BA (Hons) and a MA in economics, St Stephens College Delhi. DR C RAJA MOHAN, Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation Dr. C Raja Mohan is a Distinguished Fellow at ORF and is leading the Strategic Studies Initiative of the Foundation. He is also a foreign affairs columnist for ‘The Indian Express’, a Visiting Research Professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies, Singapore, and a Non-Resident Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington DC. Earlier he was a Professor of South Asian Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He was the Henry Alfred Kissinger Chair in Foreign Policy and International Relations at the Library of Congress, Washington DC during 2009-10. Dr. Mohan served as the Diplomatic Editor and the Washington Correspondent of ‘The Hindu’ and the Strategic Affairs Editor of ‘The Indian Express’. His area of expertise includes India’s Foreign and Defence policies, Asian Security, Arms Control & Disarmament, and the Impact of Rising Powers on the Global Order.  CHAIR AMBASSADOR ERIC GONSALVES,   Former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs and Ambassador to Belgium and EEC and Luxembourg Ambassador Eric Gonsalves is a career diplomat born on 5 May 1928. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1950 and served in various capacities including Counsellor, London; Deputy Chief of Mission, Washington; Ambassador to Japan and the European Union; Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs (Vice Minister). After retirement he served as Director, India International Centre, Delhi 1986-91, Director, Asian Relations Commemorative Conference 1987, Member, International Observer Group, Sri Lanka Elections 1989-94, Member, Board of Management MAHE (now Manipal University) 1994-2006, President, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi (till April 2008). Currently, he is Member of Governing Body, Centre for Policy Research, Delhi and Convenor Indian Delegation BCIM (Bangladesh China India Myanmar) Forum. Ambassador Gonsalves holds a B.SC (Hons) degree from Madras University.