200 diplomats from 100 countries attend seminar celebrating India’s democratic traditions
New Delhi, Mar 29 (FN Agency) Around 200 diplomats from 100 countries on Tuesday attended a seminar here on ‘Seven Decades of the Constitution of India’ that provided an insight into India’s rich democratic traditions. The seminar was organised by the Ministry of External Affairs on the occasion of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav (75 years of Independence of India), in coordination with the Parliamentary Research & Training Institute for Democracies (PRIDE) in the Parliament Library Building. It was also organised in the context of India’s Presidency of the Asian African Legal Consultative Organisation (AALCO). Today’s seminar covered the following themes: (i) Seven decades of the Indian Constitution; (ii) Indian Constitution and Human Rights (iii) Indian Constitution and Internationalism, an official statement said. Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi inaugurated the Seminar, while Uma Sekhar, AS (L&T) welcomed and introduced the speakers.
Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and former Chief Justice of India; Justice Arun Mishra, Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission and former Supreme Court Judge; and Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, Chairperson of National Green Tribunal and former Supreme Court judge were the distinguished speakers at the Seminar.MoS Lekhi, in tweets, said: “Pleased to organize a Seminar- “Seven Decades of Constitution of India” for the Diplomats Corps in collaboration with PRIDE as part of our Presidency of AALCO & on the occasion of 75th year of Indian Independence.It provided an insight into India’s rich democratic traditions. “The 3 sessions chaired by Former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi Ji, Justice Arun Mishra Ji & Justice Adarsh Goel Ji provided deep knowledge about the key articles of the Indian Constitution that protect Human Rights & promote Internationalism. “Attended by over 200 diplomats from 100 countries, the seminar was followed by a tour of our Temple of Democracy.
During the tour the diplomats learnt more about our freedom struggle, pivotal role of minorities in nation-building & our deep commitment towards democratic principles,” she tweeted. AALCO is an inter-governmental organization, headquartered in New Delhi, having 47 member states from Asia and Africa. It serves as an advisory body to member states on matters on international law. Over the years AALCO has been able to forge close links with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and International Law Commission (ILC).To have an interactive experience on the freedom struggle of India and making of its Constitution, as a part of the seminar, a visit to Parliament of India was arranged for the participants. In a first, over 200 diplomats attending the Seminar also toured the Parliament of India. The Seminar provided an insight into our Constitution which is amongst the world’s longest written Constitution and has guided India’s nation building process for over seven decades, the statement said.