Create environment for progress, PM tells envoys

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today asked India's top diplomats to aim to create a conducive external environment that would fuel the country's progress.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday asked India's top diplomats to aim to create a conducive external environment that would fuel the country's progress.

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Addressing the heads of Indian missions worldwide gathered here for an annual conference, the prime minister said that Indian foreign policy was mainly aimed at pursuing Indian national interests.

"Indian diplomats are facilitating the creation of an international environment that was conducive to India's progress, development and attainment of its external goals," he said.

He noted that India was living in an inter-dependent world, and required an open trading system.

Manmohan Singh called upon the diplomats to pay more attention to the G-20 group, pointing out that it had become a key forum for discussing and shaping international economic and financial policies.

He also said that India's foreign policy should also be oriented towards East and South East Asia, which were poised for sustained growth rate in the 21st century.

On the neighbourhood, he said that India had “by and large had good relations with neighbours”.

"We were engaging them without looking at reciprocity, in our own enlightened interest," he said.

A total of 119 Indian ambassadors and high commissioners are here to take part in the three-day annual conference which began on Friday.