External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday said that foreign policy and diplomacy, though related to each other, are different. "Foreign policy and diplomacy, though related, are not the same. Foreign policy means what a government should do, while diplomacy means how it should be done. The foreign policy of India has always remained the same – how to be on good relations with our neighbours," Swaraj told a press conference here.
"However, the present National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is the first government that has started working on diplomacy as soon as it came to power," she added. Elucidating on her point, Swaraj said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited the heads of state of all eight of our neighbouring countries to be present for his swearing-in ceremony. However, important though it was to invite them, it was even more important for them to accept the invitation and come. And thus, on the very first day, we held bilateral talks."
Swaraj also talked about the 'Look East' policy that the present government has taken. "One important element of our foreign policy is 'Look East', which was first taken up by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. With that in mind, as the External Affairs Minister, I have visited to Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam, while Prime Minister Modi has visited Japan and Vice President Ansari has visited China," said Swaraj.
"At the same time, delegates from China and Singapore have visited, while the Australian Prime Minister also recently visited India," she added. Speaking of the importance of the Gulf countries, Swaraj said, "Over 70 lakh Indians work in the Gulf and 60 percent of our energy sources come from there, thus it is an important part of the world for us. Keeping that in mind, dignitaries from Oman have visited India, while I recently met the King of Bahrain, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa." Swaraj, who will be leaving for Afghanistan later this week, had earlier visited Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
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