Welcome to the India Today Conclave. The high-profile annual event, presented by South Asia’s most influential weekly magazine India Today, has over the past six years become a forum for great minds to come together and is now one of the most sought after international engagements.

A unique concept that was conceived to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the country’s leading publication and launched in 2002, the India Today Conclave has been an enriching journey right from the start. Indeed, the wealth of knowledge generated at the forums by some of the world’s most distinguished leaders makes the India Today Conclave a premium repository of ideas that focuses on the urgency of the present, the lessons of the past and the changes demanded by the future.

At no time in history perhaps has the paradox of development been as pronounced as it is today. While technological advances in communication and otherwise are taking us to new frontiers of progress, the reckless degeneration of the environment, in every sense of the word, is making the world a more dangerous place to live in. Accordingly, key policy makers, thinkers and captains of the industry and business will dwell on Leadership For The 21 st Century at the India Today Conclave 2008, essaying answers to the pressing questions before us.

The issues that have been debated and documented in the past have been equally significant. In 2003, for instance, speakers like President of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, former US President William Jefferson Clinton, Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and futurist Alvin Toffler exchanged their views on India Tomorrow 2003: Giant Or Pygmy , and in the process explored the immense potential of India in relation to its performance in geopolitics and diplomacy, global access for business, market performance and governance.

The following year, Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf, US Secretary of State Collin Powell, historian Paul Kennedy and many others, addressed the India Today Conclave 2004 and spoke on how best we could go about Building An Indian Century. Among the other speakers were former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Reliance MD Mukesh Ambani.

The years 2005 and 2006 also saw a convergence of key decision-makers and opinion-makers.

From US Senator Hillary Clinton and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai to Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Nobel Laureate V.S. Naipaul and spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravisankar, a diverse spectrum of minds argued in Conclave 2005 about the stereotype images India was clouded with and how the Perception Versus Reality could be altered.

The 2006 Conclave titled Bridging The Divide generated a mix of ideas from former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, economist Hernando de Soto and others. They enlightened the world and presented a pertinent body of opinion proving that it is indeed a global village that we live in today.

In the year 2007, India Today Conclave looked at the Challenges For The Brave New World and offered some solutions.

Looking back, the India Today Conclave has been an attempt to draw attention to matters that matter and arrive at truths that can emerge only from a free and varied exchange of ideas. When the forum began in 2002, US Vice-President Al Gore and India's Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani among others discussed Opportunities And Threats – the geopolitical and strategic implications of the turmoil for South Asia in the wake of the global war on terrorism.

Today, six years later, as multiple problems arise besides the war on terrorism, the India Today Conclave addresses the subject of Leadership For The 21 st Century and hopes its efforts at bringing the best minds together to discuss, debate and offer solutions to issues that plague the world will make a difference.