New Delhi, March 6 — The eleventh Raisina Dialogue, India’s flagship forum on geopolitics and geoeconomics, was inaugurated last evening by Prime Minister Narendra Modi alongside Finland’s President Alexander Stubb. The event, hosted by the Observer Research Foundation in partnership with India’s Ministry of External Affairs, brings together global leaders, policymakers and thinkers to discuss contemporary strategic challenges.
Samir Saran, President of ORF, said the Dialogue’s mission remains to “unpack the present to help shape the future,” noting that this year’s theme, Samskara, captures a moment when nations are both asserting identity and recalibrating their conversations. ORF Chairman Sunjoy Joshi added that while many conflicts have roots in longstanding impulses, their amplification through modern technology requires new coalitions, refreshed intellectual effort and forward-looking governance.
In his keynote, President Stubb pointed to complementary strengths between India and Finland, citing Finland’s frequent recognition as one of the world’s happiest countries and India’s reputation for optimism. He argued those attributes should inform the shape of the future global order. Stubb said power dynamics have shifted toward the Global South and urged multilateralism that reflects current realities. He proposed reforms to the UN Security Council — including two permanent seats each for Asia and Africa and one for Latin America — and affirmed that India merits a permanent seat. Stubb also commended Prime Minister Modi’s initiatives to extend the benefits of artificial intelligence to broader populations.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, offering the vote of thanks, praised the Dialogue’s openness, diversity and energy and expressed confidence the forum will continue to explore new capabilities and assumptions.
Day one featured a series of Curtain Raiser sessions with international contributors including Christopher Landau, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Benedetta Berti, Rishi Bal, Sakshi Gupta, Erik Solheim and Amitabh Kant. All open sessions will be streamed live on the Raisina Dialogue Twitter handle @raisinadialogue and on ORF’s YouTube and Facebook channels.
Now in its eleventh edition, the Raisina Dialogue has established itself as India’s leading conference on geopolitics and geo-economics, drawing senior voices from around the world to discuss the strategic questions of our time.
