Page 4 - A Gender-Sensitive Indian Foreign Policy- Why? and How?

Indian Council
of World Affairs

BACKGROUND

Within the academic study of IR and in the practice of international
relations and diplomacy, gender issues have gained significant visibility
in contemporary politics. To deliberate on the future debates on gender in
international relations and diplomacy, and how India should position itself
in changing times, the Indian Council of World Affairs organised a Webinar
on “A Gender-Sensitive Indian Foreign Policy – Why? and How?” on 11 March
2021 to mark the occasion of the International Women’s Day.

A Gender-Sensitive Foreign Policy would have to apply a gendered lens to
the entire spectrum of foreign policy issues ranging from peace and security,
sustainable development to humanitarian assistance and human rights.
Apart from the critical issue of raising the qualitative and quantitative
representation of women in the Indian diplomatic corps at the decision
making levels and at the negotiating tables, a Gender Sensitive Indian
Foreign Policy would have to engage itself with larger questions such as how
to make India’s development partnership – the programme o assist other
developing countries through development projects and capacity building
–gender-sensitive. It would need to dwell on making India’s humanitarian
aid and disaster relief delivery to also focus on women. What programmes
and policy frameworks can be pursued to alleviate the condition of Indian
woman abroad – be it an IT professional in the US or a care-giver in the Gulf,
an accompanying spouse or an abandoned Indian woman abroad? The Panel
also proposed to look at the global Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda
anchored in the UN and assess as to what extent India has aligned with the
global normative frameworks designed to address the gendered dimensions
of peace and security issues. What are the positives in India’s approach, what
are the gaps, and what is the way forward? In exploring answers to these
questions, the panel also proposed to look at why India should be pursuing
a gender-sensitive foreign policy and what are the moral and philosophical
underpinnings of such an outlook.

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Indian Council of World Affairs An ICWA Conversation