NEW DELHI, Feb 28, 2023 (BSS) - The 8th edition of Raisina Dialogue, a flagship conference of India on geopolitics and geo-strategy, begins in New Delhi on March 2 (Thursday). 

Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in collaboration with Observer Research Foundation (ORF), an independent global think tank, is organizing the dialogue, which is expected to witness participation of representatives from over 100 countries across the globe.

The participants include ministers, former heads of state and governments, military commanders, technology leaders, academia, journalists, scholars on strategic affairs, experts from leading think tanks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Dialogue on March 2 while President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic Ms. Giorgia Meloni will join the inaugural session as the Chief Guest, a MEA statement said here today.

Bangladesh State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam is expected to join the conference, which will be held under the theme of "Provocation, Uncertainty, Turbulence: Lighthouse in the Tempest?".

Over the course of three days, more than 250 decision makers and thought leaders of the World would engage each other across 100 conversations of various formats, and deliberate over five thematic pillars.

Over 2,500 participants would be joining the Dialogue in-person and the proceedings would reach millions across various digital platforms, the statement said.

During the past eight years, the Raisina Dialogue has consistently grown in stature and profile to establish itself as one of the leading global conferences on international affairs, it added.