Today, internet is making our life easy and comfortable whether we need to buy something, do any bookings, wants to get instant information or to get news. Different social sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. help us to stay updated as well as connected to the society. According to reports, Twitter generates about 175 million new tweets every day. However, sites like Facebook had about 845 million active users every month.
10 Lines Essay on E-Diplomacy
1) Making use of the internet for various diplomatic activities is termed as E-Diplomacy.
2) In India, E-Diplomacy became official when MEA posted its first tweet in 2010.
3) E-Diplomacy is carried out using ICT (Internet and Communication Technology).
4) The US State Department was the first ministry to have its E-Diplomacy unit.
5) E-Diplomacy saves time and money.
6) E-Diplomacy is a fast way to carry out diplomatic activities.
7) Narendra Modi (Prime Minister) has done various digital diplomacies.
8) Privacy can be harmed in digital diplomacy.
9) Various multilateral and bilateral diplomacy was held during Covid pandemic.
10) Through E-Diplomacy, diplomatic activities can be done virtually.
Long Essay on E-Diplomacy in English
Here, I’m presenting an essay on E-Diplomacy justifying the future and importance of E-Diplomacy in India in simple words so that you can understand all the aspects of this topic easily and very quickly.
800 Words Long Essay – What is the Future/ Importance of E-Diplomacy in India
Introduction
Diplomacy is the act of managing, negotiation and establishing different policies between the nations. Officials like Foreign Ministers or Embassies are responsible for carrying out the job of diplomacy. Although, the diplomatic activities require skills. Some work of diplomats can be carried out secretly. Now we have E-Diplomacy which is known by many other names. However, the modern diplomacy technique possesses some advantages as well as risks.
What is E-Diplomacy
E-Diplomacy or electronic diplomacy is a modern way to handle the process of diplomacy with the help of Internet. E-Diplomacy refers to the use of digital technology for enhancing the traditional process of diplomacy. The Internet and Communication Technology (ICT) is used in this process.
In simple words, we can say that carrying out various diplomatic activities like handling international relations, international policy making and conversation with other countries as well as general public digitally is termed as E-Diplomacy or Electronic Diplomacy.
History of E-Diplomacy
E-Diplomacy is a new term which can be seen as a subset of E-Governance. The US State Department was the first foreign ministry to adopt its own E-Diplomacy unit. In 2002, the US State Department had established a task force (TF) of about 80 members.
On 5 February 1994, the first e-mail exchange took place between two Government head, Carl Bildt and Clinton. After that various social site has been established. LinkedIn in 2003, Facebook in 2004, YouTube in 2005, Twitter in 2006, etc.
According to a survey of Twiplomacy in 2020, about 98 percent member states of United Nation assign their diplomatic presence in the Twitter (a social site).
Advantages of E-Diplomacy/ Why is E-Diplomacy Important
The Digital Diplomacy promises various advantages over the Traditional Diplomacy system. Some of them are listed below:
- Saves time: As one need not to go anywhere therefore the travelling time is removed. Therefore, we can say that E-Diplomacy saves the time of diplomats to a great extent.
- Saves money: The authorities spend huge amount of funds to attend various diplomatic activities. But now everything can be done using internet. Hence, E-Diplomacy saves money.
- Savior during pandemic: At the time of Covid-19 pandemic, Digital Diplomacy helps diplomats to communicate without moving physically. Thus, acts as a savior.
- Fast and easy: The use of internet and technology makes E-Diplomacy faster than the traditional diplomacy practices.
- Wide access: Through various social site platforms, wide range of population can hear and respond to the policies made by the authorities.
Disadvantages/ Risk and Impact of E-Diplomacy
Although it has many advantages, E-Diplomacy also has some disadvantages too:
- Security: E-Diplomacy can face various security problems as the data on the network is not considered safe. Data leak is the major concern from the security point of view.
- Hacking: As we know that digital platforms are prone to various cyber-crimes. Therefore, hacking can be another threat for digital diplomacy.
- Reduce productivity: The electronic diplomacy or E-Diplomacy are considered less productive than the traditional Diplomacy.
- Difficulty in Negotiation: Face to face negotiation is much better than those happen virtually. The positivity during the conversation is reduced while meeting virtually.
- Anonymity: The main problem with the social sites is fraudulent activities. Sometimes fraud can harm people by using their identity for illegal motives.
- Promoting conflicts: Many political issues can raise conflicts in the social sites.
E-Diplomacy in India
The digital diplomacy in India became official in 2010 when the Ministry of External Affair (MEA) posted its first tweet.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had participated in various multilateral diplomacies during the Covid-19 pandemic. He had been part of various virtual summits like the SAARC leader summit on March 15 via video conferencing.
The Non-Aligned Movement virtual summit in May. Another summit G20 was held using video link on 26 March. On September 2018, India-Bangladesh had carried out various projects through video conferencing.
The first India-Australia bilateral virtual summit was held on 4 June 2020, which deals with many projects including military interoperability and to jointly tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.
Future of E-Diplomacy
Due to the emerging importance of digitalization in the world, E-Diplomacy can play a major role in shaping the future of the nation. Earlier most of the diplomatic decisions are made inside the closed doors. Digital Diplomacy is the central part of the public diplomacy which targets mass online audience.
Social media is a platform which allows young diplomats to represent their views globally in the form of blogs, posts or tweets. They are free to express their views and opinions in front of general public. About 82 Foreign ministers have their twitter account with more than million followers.
Therefore, we can say that Digital Diplomacy promises a prominent future in the socio-economic development of the country.
Conclusion
The concept of E-diplomacy is not that much famous like any other digital platforms like E-commerce. However, many countries are adopting this newer concept. There is a huge presence of Government and its officials on the different social media platforms. During the outbreak of Covid pandemic, the Digital Diplomacy came into action. It helps other countries to communicate and take decisions together without travelling long distance.
FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions
Ans. A good diplomat must have the skills to communicate, negotiate, and represent their views clearly.
Ans. SAARC, G20, Non-Aligned, etc are some virtual summits that took place in India involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Ans. With an average of about 20.9 million followers on diplomatic account, United State is considered as the most influenced country by Digital Diplomacy.
Ans. The diplomatic representatives are often referred to as Ambassador. An ambassador is considered as the high-ranking diplomats or Government official who is responsible for carrying out various diplomatic activities.