VIRTUAL DIPLOMACY IN PANDEMIC TIMES

Diplomacy is the profession, activity, or skill of managing international relations, typically by a country’s representatives abroad. It is the art of dealing with people in a sensitive and tactful way.

- DR. VEENA RAVIKUMAR*

Diplomacy is also a subset of international relations that is focused on the process of conducting negotiations between representatives of different nations, or in some cases, corporations from different countries.

Research and analytical skills are needed to help evaluate complex problems and synthesize data ranging from communications and environment issues etc. to counter-terrorism.

National security and economy intrinsic to any nation’s foreign policy have been questioned during the pandemic. In the year 2020, the world has changed. Globalisation has been challenged.

Diplomacy which at its conventional best was learning to navigate issues by meeting actual people, sitting in actual meetings, in this scenario had to suddenly stop and change the route.

The upside to virtual diplomacy became masked faces which could mask their emotions and thoughts and buy time over virtual calls to respond. Travel time and cost were cut down, but tough negotiations became even tougher. For example, India – China Galwan crisis may have been slightly easier to resolve had it been physical diplomacy, so it is thought.