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On Monday (March 17), Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Raisina Dialogue, a conference focused on geopolitics and geoeconomics, in Delhi. This event coincided with another gathering of intelligence heads hosted by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, which included the intelligence chiefs from at least three of the Five Eyes nations: the United States, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. In this context, let’s learn about the Raisina Dialogue and Five Eyes Alliance.
1. The Raisina Dialogue is an annual conference focused on geopolitics and geoeconomics. It aims to address some of the most pressing issues facing the world today. The conference is held in New Delhi and attracts participants from various sectors, including politics, business, media, and civil society.
2. According to the website of Raisina Dialogue, “the Dialogue is structured as a multi-stakeholder, cross-sectoral discussion, involving heads of state, cabinet ministers and local government officials, who are joined by thought leaders from the private sector, media and academia.”
3. The dialogue is organized by the Observer Research Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.
4. The 10th edition of the Raisina Dialogue will be held from 17-19 March, 2025. The theme of the 2025 edition is “Kālachakra – People, Peace and Planet”, according to a press release by the Ministry of External Affairs.
5. Over the course of three days, decision-makers and thought leaders of the world will engage each other across conversations in various formats, over six thematic pillars: (i) Politics Interrupted: Shifting Sands and Rising Tides; (ii) Resolving the Green Trilemma: Who, Where, & How; (iii) Digital Planet: Agents, Agencies and Absences; (iv) Militant Mercantilism: Trade, Supply Chains & the Exchange Rate Addiction; (v) The Tiger’s Tale: Rewriting Development with a New Plan; and (vi) Investing in Peace: Drivers, Institutions, & Leadership,” the press release added.
6. The 10th Raisina Dialogue will feature representatives from about 125 countries. This includes ministers, former heads of state and government, military commanders, industry leaders, technology experts, academics, journalists, scholars in strategic affairs, and specialists from prominent think tanks, as well as youth participants.
1. The recent gathering in New Delhi on Sunday (March 16) signalled strong cooperation on security issues, with US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, UK National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell, and New Zealand’s intelligence chief Andrew Hampton joining intelligence leaders from various countries.
2. The conference, organised by the National Security Council Secretariat, was hosted by India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, R&AW chief Ravi Sinha, and Intelligence Bureau director Tapan Deka. This important meeting included key representatives from at least three of the Five Eyes partners highlighting the close security and intelligence collaboration between New Delhi and its allies.
3. India has hosted this conference since 2022, when the intelligence chiefs began meeting informally on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue.
1. “Five Eyes” refers to an intelligence-sharing alliance of the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. It was formed during World War II.
2. According to the Canadian government’s website, “These partner countries share a broad range of intelligence with one another in one of the world’s most unified multilateral arrangements. The Five Eyes agreement stands out from other arrangements because the parties are diverse societies, governed by rule of law and robust human rights and are bonded by a common language. These characteristics aid the partners in sharing information to protect their shared national interests.”
| Anglosphere |
| The Anglosphere refers to the English-speaking countries that were once part of the British Empire, sharing common traditions in politics, law, and culture. |
3. The history of the ‘Five Eyes’ alliance dates back to an intelligence-sharing agreement signed between Washington and London. In 1943, the Britain-USA (BRUSA) agreement laid the groundwork for what would later become the UK-USA (UKUSA) agreement, following UK computer scientist Alan Turing’s visit to Washington and several bilateral visits between officials of both countries.
4. BRUSA was signed between the US War Department and the UK’s intelligence and security agency Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS). Following this, the UKUSA was signed in 1946. Canada joined it in 1949, and New Zealand and Australia did so in 1956, forming the alliance. The agreement was not officially acknowledged, though its existence was known about from the 1980s. But in 2010, the UKUSA agreement files were released.
(1) Consider the following countries:
1. United States
2. Australia
3. Canada
4. India
5. United Kingdom
How many of the above countries are part of Five Eyes Alliance?
(a) Only two
(b) Only three
(c) Only four
(d) All five
(2) Consider the following statements:
1. The Raisina Dialogue is a biennial conference focused on geopolitics and geoeconomics.
2. The theme of the 2025 edition of Raisina dialogue is Kālachakra – People, Peace and Planet.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
| Answer Key |
| 1. (c) 2. (b) |
(Sources: http://www.mea.gov.in, What is the Five Eyes Alliance, which helped ‘lead’ Canada PM Trudeau to claims on Nijjar’s death?, Moving on security, Gabbard and others from Five Eyes join intel tsars in Delhi, C Raja Mohan writes: Five Eyes fracture and the Trump disruption in Western intelligence)
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