PM Modi to inaugurate Raisina Dialogue 2026 today; Finnish President Alexander Stubb to be chief guest

The three-day event, scheduled from March 5-7, will bring together global leaders, policymakers, and experts to deliberate on key international challenges. The President of Finland, Alexander Stubb, will attend the inaugural session as the Chief Guest and deliver the keynote address.

Organised with participation from governments, think tanks, and strategic communities worldwide, the dialogue will see representatives from 110 countries, including ministers, former heads of state and government, members of parliament, military commanders, business leaders, technology experts, academics, journalists, and scholars.

The theme for this year's edition is "Samskara -- Assertion, Accommodation, Advancement."

Over three days, discussions will be held across six thematic pillars: Contested Frontiers: Power, Polarity, and Periphery; Repairing the Commons: New Groups, New Guardians, New Avenues; White Whale: The Pursuit of Agenda 2030; The Eleventh Hour: Climate, Conflict, and the Cost of Delay; Tomorrowland: Towards a Tech-topia; and Trade in the Time of Tariffs: Recovery, Resilience, Reinvention.

Around 2,700 participants are expected to attend the dialogue in person, while the proceedings will be streamed globally and viewed by millions on digital platforms.

Organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in partnership with India's Ministry of External Affairs, the three-day conference from March 5 to 7 is examining how technological disruption, strategic competition and economic security are reshaping global politics.

Many of the dignitaries that have arrived for this Dialogue are the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism of Malta, Ian Borg; Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade of Bhutan, Lyonpo D N Dhungyel, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration & International Trade of Mauritius, Dhananjay Ramful and Minister for Foreign Affairs & Diaspora of Seychelles, Barry Faure.

Theone other dignitary that will join, according to the MEA, is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism of Sri Lanka, Vijitha Herath.

This year's discussions centre on the tension between traditional alliances and what analysts describe as a "technopolar" world, where influence is increasingly determined by control over artificial intelligence, semiconductor supply chains and digital infrastructure.

The dialogue will conclude with discussions on India's long-term development roadmap, including the vision of "Viksit Bharat 2047," which aims to transform the country into a developed economy by the centenary of its independence.

Now in its eleventh edition, the Raisina Dialogue has become one of the world's leading strategic forums, often compared with the Munich Security Conference for its role in shaping global policy debates. (ANI)