How diplomats are perceived, and what they are? Ex-foreign secretary Nirupama Rao explains it during a UNESCO talk

“We as diplomats like to see ourselves as change makers and pace setters in the corridors of government and in the ecosphere of statecraft. Of course, as the skeptics might say, conditions apply”, said former foreigner secretary of India Nirupama Rao during a recent talk in UNESCO. Rao at the begging of her speech on the subject titled “Diplomacy in the age of social media”, said how diplomacy is a fine art, an heir to…

A bureaucrat must not be “an expert in setting up roadblocks”; Full text of what John Kerry said on Indian bureaucracy

John Kerry

Red Tapism of Indian bureaucracy has always been criticized by people across fields, but here is what US secretary of state John Kerry had to say about Indian bureaucracy on Wednesday. “Anybody’s bureaucracy has to become more streamlined and effective. It has to become a partner in making decision, not an expert in setting up roadblocks”, Kerry said while speaking at a town hall in IIT-Delhi on Wednesday arguing how bureaucrats had to partner entrepreneurs in ensuring India's growth even faster. Kerry argues that Indian entrepreneurs “must need the freedom to pursue new ideas, the ability to start up new businesses without a lot of red tape…”. BoI here presents an excerpt of Kerry’s 40-minute-long speech, particularly the portion where he talked about bureaucracy: