The Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel statue near Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat is the world’s tallest statue

NEW DELHI: India's foreign policy may have had its genesis in Nehru and his idealism but, as the government works overtime to wrest the legacy of Sardar Patel, it's time now for the foreign service mandarins to pay some serious tribute to the leader hailed often as India's Bismarck. And there’s no better way of doing it perhaps than by diving, literally so, at the feet of the Sardar.

For the first time ever, the foreign ministry's annual Heads of Missions (HoMs) conference, a gathering of all Indian ambassadors and high commissioners meant to strategize on promoting India's interests abroad, is likely to move out of Delhi and instead be held next to Patel's Statue of Unity in Gujarat 's Narmada district.

The conference, perhaps India's most significant exercise in strategic thinking, has been delayed this year because of the Lok Sabha elections and will be held in September.

Official sources here said a "tent city" will be set up near what is the tallest statue in the world for the conference which will be addressed by PM Narendra Modi after its inauguration by foreign minister S Jaishankar.

India's trade issues with the US, relations with China and Russia amid the Trump administration unpredictability, mobilising support for the government's position on terrorism, increasing FDI inflow, consular and diaspora issues are likely to be the key focus areas in this year’s conference.

As dramatic as the change of venue for HoMs conference may appear to many, it's unlikely to come as a surprise to those who have closely followed what both Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah have been saying about Patel and the ``injustice’’ done to him by Nehru.

Only last week, in a Rajya Sabha address, Modi said, "It is a known fact that if Sardar Patel was the first Prime Minister then we would not have faced the problems in Jammu and Kashmir". He went on to urge senior Congress leaders to visit Statue of Unity to pay tribute to Patel. Two days later, in the same House, Shah blamed Nehru for the creation of PoK and said the situation in the state would not have deteriorated to the extent they have now if Nehru had taken Patel into confidence.

This won’t be the first time though that the Statue of Unity will play host to a high-level conference. The annual DGP conference too was held last year at the same venue and was addressed by Modi. But for India's dapper diplomatic set, this is unlike anything they have encountered before. "I have already expanded my reading list to include more of Patel instead of mugging up only on Gandhi and Nehru. The HOMs conference should help us learn more about Patel’s world view," said an Indian ambassador to a central European country on condition of anonymity.

