Straw Tilts Foreign Policy Towards China and India

Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, is to set out a new direction for British foreign policy today that will shift the balance towards the growing economies of China and India.

Mr Straw will be speaking at a "leadership conference" in London of 200 British ambassadors, high commissioners, governors and other Foreign Office staff brought back from their posts worldwide. As well as his speech, a 60-page government white paper is to be published on the future of diplomacy.

In the last white paper two years ago, only two paragraphs were devoted to China and India. Since then, there has been growing recognition that China is almost certain to be one of the dominant economic forces of the 21st century and a challenge to the US's superpower status. India too is emerging as a powerhouse and being courted by the US as a possible counterweight to China.

The white paper, An Active Diplomacy for a Changing World, comes only weeks after Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, announced a redeployment of diplomatic staff away from Europe to China and India and to Muslim countries in the Middle East and Asia where hostility towards the US has grown. A similar shift in priorities is taking place in Britain.

The Foreign Office has frequently been sidelined by Downing Street since Tony Blair took office particularly in the run-up to the Iraq war. As well as the 200 overseas representatives, the London gathering will be attended by 150 London-based Foreign Office staff. Diplomats will have the opportunity throughout the day-long event to challenge Mr Straw and his ministerial colleagues, Sir Michael Jay, the most senior diplomat, and Sir Gus O'Donnell, the cabinet secretary.

The event is closed to the media, other than Mr Straw's opening speech. The white paper will stress a need for British diplomats to pay more attention to issues such as climate change and diminishing energy supplies.

It will also emphasise a need for better consular services after criticism by expatriates and holidaymakers in the wake of the Asian tsunami and other catastrophes.