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 Constructive
cooperation in the immediate neighbourhood would
be one of his key priorities, he told newsmen
after taking over.
Mathai, who succeeds Nirupama Rao, now India's
next ambassador to the US, said continuity would
be the watchword during his tenure and stressed
that building "cooperative and strong relationships
with all the major global players" would
also be amongst his key priorities.
He stressed the need for a holistic foreign policy
that takes care of India's political and strategic
interests, combines the economic and commercial
interests of the country, and also keeps in mind
the cultural image of the country and the way
in which the country portrays itself in the world.
"Constructive cooperation in the immediate
neighbourhood is the main challenge, and I think
that will be one of my priority tasks," he
said. Mathai also spoke about the need for developing
"very very strong relations with the countries
of Africa, Latin America, of Central Asia, of
South East Asia and particularly the Gulf region."
"I think managing all these would be the
major challenge," he said.
Days after the foreign ministers of India and
Pakistan held talks here, Mathai said he would
continue the re-engagement process of restoring
trust between the two neighbours.
It may be recalled that Mathai was called to
New Delhi from Paris, where he was the Ambassador,
to take part in the talks with Pakistan during
Minister of State Hina Rabbani Khar's visit as
well as during the visit of US Secretary of State
Hilalry Clinton in July.
"My mandate is substantive dialogue on all
issues of common concerns," said Mathai,
when asked about the trajectory of the revived
India-Pakistan dialogue process.
"As regards Pakistan, I would like to say
that I have entered this office with a mandate,
which is that we as foreign secretaries are expected
to pave the way for a substantive dialogue with
Pakistan, on all issues," he said.
"...and I look forward to cooperating with
the Pakistan foreign secretary on that and we
have to try and work to restore trust and confidence."
Mathai, who was India's ambassador to France
when he was appointed foreign secretary last month,
will have a two-year term.
A 1974 batch Indian Foreign Service officer,
Mathai was India's ambassador to Israel February
1998 to June 2001, and to Qatar August 2001 to
July 2005. He was joint secretary dealing with
India's relations with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka,
Myanmar and the Maldives from January 1995 to
February 1998. He has also served in the Indian
embassies in Vienna, Colombo, Washington, Tehran
and Brussels.
Mathai takes over as Foreign Secretary at a challenging
time in international relations when the developed
world is still recovering from the global recession
and new equations are emerging in the international
pecking order.
Against this backdrop, Mathai said: "We
are in a world of flux and we have to be innovative
and adapt to the situation as it develops, but
at the same time we have to be clear eyed about
what are our national priorities and interests,
many of which remain permanent."
Significantly, Mathai has taken over as foreign
secretary barely two months before the next session
of the United Nations General Assembly, which
is expected to push forward the process of the
UN Security Council reforms.
Not many know that Mathai played a key role in
crafting the Ganga river waters accord with Bangladesh
in 1996. His skills as a negotiator will come
in handy at a time when India is trying to seal
fresh pacts with Bangladesh as Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh heads to Dhaka Sep 6-7.
(IANS)
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