Conference On Purvodaya in Bhubaneswar Calls For Foreign Policy Focus On Multilateral Ties

Bhubaneswar: The international conference on “Purvodaya Perspectives: Reflections on Regional Connectivity”  in Bhubaneswar concluded on Sunday with a call for focus of India’s foreign policy on a comprehensive exploration of bilateral and multilateral ties.

On the concluding day of the two-day conference, eminent participants of various sectors discussed the maritime business, cross-border transportation, and socio-cultural value exchange of eastern India. The proposal and outcomes of the plenary sessions will be accumulated into a volume and submitted to the Central and state governments.

The first plenary session on the day was on “Commerce, Transport & Energy Corridors- Looking at Purvodaya from Outside”. Sashi Shekar Mohanty, Chairman, CII, Odisha State Council; Prof Mahendra P Lama, Centre for South Asian Studies School of International Studies, JNU; Prof Pritam Banerjee, Centre for WTO Studies Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi; K Sreekant, CMD, POWERGRID; Prof Saurav, Centre for South Asian Studies School of International Studies, JNU; Abdul Matlub Ahmad, president, Indo-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce & Industry (IBCCI) and chairman, Nitol-Niloy Group; Badri Prasad Tiwari, Counsellor, Embassy of Nepal and Vivek Singla, president and head of Green Hydrogen Business, ReNew shared their views on the topic.

“Traditional Security Threats & Capacity Building” was the 2^nd plenary session of the evening. The guests were Rear Admiral (Retd) Monty Khanna, Rajan Kumar, Associate Professor, SIS, JNU; Commandant PV Gopal, Indian Coast Guard; Cmde. Sujeet Samaddar, Founder SAMDeS; Shin Maywa, Senior Consultant, NITI AAYOG and Satyajit Mohanty, Joint Secretary, Department of Defence.

The 3^rd plenary session discussed “Cultural Connectivity & Maritime Heritage” Mugdha Sinha, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture; Chandandeep K Grewal, Under Secretary, PP & R, Ministry of External Affairs; Sabyasachi Dutta, Executive Director, Asian Confluence, India East Asia Centre; Prof Kishore Kumar Basa, Chairman, National Monuments Authority and Prof Umakanta Mishra, Ravenshaw University spoke on the traditional commerce of India. 

In the 4^th and the final plenary session, discussion focused on “Soft Drivers of Connectivity: Technology, Digital Innovation, Finance & Skilling”. Smruti Pattanaik, MP-IDSA; Charudutta Panigrahi, author and policy advisor; Devendra Thakar, CEO, Dhamra Port; Col Samrendra Kumar, Managing Director, MitKat Advisory; Partha Sarathi Panda, Business Technology Consultant; Pritam S Purkayastha, Director, Biju Patnaik National Steel Institute took part in the conference.