The President expressed this view to the delegates to the fifth Annual Heads of Indian Mission Abroad Conference when they called on him at Rashtrapati Bhavan (Presidential Palace) here on Wednesday.

He said the theme of the Conference - “India’s place in the changing world order” is extremely relevant. “Our foreign policy must be an extension of our national policy. There are certain basic fundamentals in our foreign policy that we have inherited from our core civilization values and our freedom movement. They must continue to guide us in our relations with our neighbours,” he said.

President’s message is relevant in the current context as India is emerging as an economic power and hence there is a need to have trade, political and security diplomacy with different countries. Apart from this the country’s foreign policy is being increasingly influenced by the sentiments being expressed by the states. India is unable to sign Teesta water sharing agreement with Bangladesh due to the stiff opposition of the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The Government is unable to decide whether the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will participate in the Commonwealth Summit in Colombo as the Dravidian parties and the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalilithaa want Dr Singh boycott the Summit meeting as a protest against Sri Lanka’s violation of human rights in 2009 massacre of Tamil population and tardy process of resettlement rehabilitation of displaced persons.

Indian foreign policy, therefore, faces the difficult task of balancing domestic sentiments and its interests abroad.

However the Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma while addressing the conference of Indian diplomats made it clear and said : “India is open to consolidate its economic partnership with international partners.”

The President said “India has been always committed to global peace but is conscious of the fact that efforts for the same should begin from our neighbourhood. We can change friends but not neighbours. Change is the only constant and India’s foreign policy must adapt to changing scenarios in the world.”

President Mukherjee also mentioned terrorism as a major challenge. India was the first country to recognize at a high personal cost the threat that terrorism posed and to warn the world about it. Many countries in the Indian sub-continent have been victims of terrorism. It has witnessed the largest number of political assassinations of its leaders. This challenge of terrorism needs to be addressed through greater collective efforts. No country can insulate itself from this menace.

The President said India deserves to have her rightful place in the comity of nations and called on the Heads of Missions to work towards this goal.