A Parliamentary committee on external affairs has urged the Ministry of External Affairs to prepare and publish a comprehensive foreign policy document outlining India’s medium-term objectives and global strategy.

The Ministry of External Affairs must, on a priority basis, formulate a comprehensive formal document articulating the country’s foreign policy objectives and goals in the medium term and make it publicly available, a Parliamentary committee on external affairs has suggested.

“The committee are of the considered view that the absence of a formal, publicly available foreign policy document is a significant gap for a country of India’s global stature, ambitions, and expanding international engagement,” per the recommendations of the ‘Twelfth report of the committee on External Affairs (2025-26) on demands for grants (2026-27)’ of the MEA presented in Parliament on Tuesday.

Global peers already publish strategy papers

The committee noted that 36 countries, ranging from major powers like the US, UK, Germany, Japan, and Russia to smaller nations such as Estonia, New Zealand, Slovenia, and Bhutan, already publish formal foreign policy or national security strategy documents. These publications consolidate international objectives, priorities, and strategic approaches into a single, accessible volume.

The MEA does issue its annual report, which is comprehensive and valuable as a record of the previous year’s diplomatic activities, but it is inherently a retrospective document, it said. “It is not a forward-looking strategic document that articulates where India seeks to go in the world, what its priorities are, and how it intends to pursue them over the medium to long term,” the report stated.

Committee seeks clarity on delay

Since the MEA has acknowledged that there are no obstacles to preparing such a document, the committee would like to understand why it has not been prepared to date, particularly given India’s growing global profile and its active engagement across bilateral, regional, and multilateral platforms.

Call for timeline and strategic roadmap

“The committee, therefore, strongly recommend that the Ministry…take up on priority the preparation of a formal Indian foreign policy document - a publicly available, medium-term strategic document that clearly articulates India’s foreign policy objectives, regional and global priorities, key bilateral and multilateral engagements, and the guiding principles of India’s approach to the world,” it said.

It also asked the MEA to define a timeline for completing this exercise.

Published on March 17, 2026