India has an extraordinarily rich heritage going back centuries. The Indian National Congress will take further steps to protect, preserve and promote this heritage and ensure that its value is fully appreciated, especially by the younger generation particularly. A statutory National Heritage Sites Commission will be made fully operational. This will be an important instrument to strengthen the foundations of our pluralistic culture and inheritances.

The Indian National Congress has always upheld India’s supreme national interests and has often braved criticism and opposition both at home and abroad in defending the country’s interests. At the same time, the Indian National Congress has always believed that it is India’s historic destiny to be engaged and connected with the rest of the world and, in particular, with the countries of Asia.

The foreign policy followed in the past five years has yielded handsome results: the foremost example is the agreements on civil nuclear cooperation signed with the USA, Russia, France and Kazakhstan.

India’s well-thought out foreign policy and its patient but forceful diplomacy has obliged Pakistan to admit that its citizens were responsible for carrying out the dastardly attacks in Mumbai in November 2008. The Indian National Congress has striven for an enduring peace and for close economic relations with Pakistan. The Indian National Congress has also encouraged extensive people-to-people contacts between the two countries, particularly amongst the younger generation.