New frontiers marked out for South Block

That was the mother lode, he indicated, from which all major foreign policy initiatives stemmed. Naturally, then, even as New Delhi sought to deal with a brave new world dominated by one hyperpower, it would seek to ‘‘balance’’ that by strengthening other poles, including the non-aligned movement.

That phrase, in the ‘‘give and take’’ between the Congress and the Left parties, doesn’t show up in the CMP, although Singh’s emphasis on the neighbourhood — Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, etc — along with ‘‘traditional ties with West Asia (which) will be given a fresh thrust’’ find pride of place.

Highly placed sources here said that ‘‘it was no coincidence’’ that the MEA had ‘‘after years and years’’ last week condemned the massacre of Palestinians in Rafah by Israeli defence forces. The sources said the new Congress government had given orders that the incident be roundly condemned.

Singh was also said to be preparing for a major exchange of views with SAARC and ASEAN heads of missions in the city tomorrow, even as he received various ambassadors from the Arab world, including from Oman.

‘‘Closer engagement and relations with the USA’’ has been relegated to the second last paragraph of the CMP. Clearly, the Left parties seem to have had their say, considering the Congress manifesto spoke of engaging the US (in) ‘‘technological, strategic and commercial cooperation’’.

Ties with China, in previous Congress documents as well as in the CMP, find pride of place. While a previous manifesto says India’s relations with China are a ‘‘most important factor which affect Asia’s security and stability,’’ and points out that the Congress will continue and increase the momentum of the initiative that it took between 1988-96, the CMP insists that ‘‘talks on the border issue will be pursued seriously’’.