Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will travel to Delhi next week as the chief guest for the Ministry of External Affairs’ (MEA) annual Raisina Dialogue. While the final schedule for the Raisina Dialogue, to be held from February 21-23, is yet to be announced, Mr. Mitsotakis will be one of several international dignitaries arriving for the conference organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), and is expected to include several Foreign Ministers and Deputy Foreign Ministers from European countries, including Latvia, Romania, Estonia, Serbia, and the Netherlands, and neighbouring countries like Nepal, Vietnam, as well as other Ministers from other parts of the world.
The Raisina Dialogue coincides this year with the G-20 Foreign Minister’s Meeting hosted by Brazil on February 21-22, and while External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will stay in Delhi to host the conference, most G-20 Foreign Ministers are expected to be in Rio de Janeiro.
According to sources, Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Irina Borovets is also expected to speak at the event. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who was due to attend the conference and hold ICET technology talks in Delhi, is unable to travel to India due to “domestic and international” considerations, sources said, indicating both the Biden administration’s campaign commitments, U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin’s recent hospitalisation, and also ongoing developments in the Israel-Gaza conflict as well as Ukraine. Senior State Department official and former Ambassador to India Richard Verma is making a visit to India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and he and U.S. Admiral John Aquilino, Commander of its Indo-Pacific Command, are expected to address the conference instead.
