On the 3rd February the Indian Finance Minister Shri P. Chidambaram made a keynote speech to launch the FPC's India and Globalisation programme.

Mr. Chidambaram joined the Congress party in 1967 and has held various party positions since then.

He served as a Union Deputy Minister and later Minister of State in the Ministries of Commerce, Personnel and Home Affairs during 1985-89 and was also Rajiv Gandhi's emissary to the Tamil Nadu leadership on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue.

In the government of Narasimha Rao, he served as the Minister of State, Commerce with independent charge. He served as the Minister of Finance in the United Front government from 1996 to 1998, where he was instrumental in following the economic reforms initiated by Dr. Manmohan Singh. Mr. Chidambaram is a lawyer by profession and has practiced in the Supreme Court and various High Courts in India.

During the event, the Finance Minister also launched The Foreign Policy Centre's new publication India's Emergence as a New Global Leader; an essay collection featuring four prominent intellectual scholars on India; Sunil Khilnani, Parag Khanna, Prasenjit Basu and Brahma Chellaney.

Click below to read the event report

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