“The Indian diplomat today needed to introspect on how his or her practice of the art of diplomacy and the tools used for it, must adapt, or change, in response to the challenges in the world and the decentralisation of the international landscape,” said Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao. She was speaking at the annual conference of the Heads of Missions here.

She said the context in which diplomats work today was defined not only by the external dimensions of the India’s foreign policy, but also by the country’s domestic needs and aspirations. She stressed the need for future oriented strategies when it comes to addressing such issues as personnel strength and interaction with academic and research institutions as part of a ‘retooling’ process.

The conference, which is the second of its kind is held for the first time after the change of guard in the South Block – with S M Krishna replacing Pranab Mukherjee as the External Affairs Minister and Rao taking over as Foreign Secretary after the retirement of Shiv Shankar Menon.

Krishna inaugurated the conclave, which will provide an opportunity for the government to give directions to the envoys on “major foreign policy objectives” in the context of “rapidly changing global environment”.