New Delhi, Aug 25 - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday told India's envoys that the challenge ahead lay in creating a liberal and interdependent world order where India would have room to grow and prosper. If New Delhi, he added, wished to fulfil its aspiration of a place on the international high table it needed to be seen as being more constructive rather than obstructive on issues of global concern like climate change and trade talks.

The prime minister spoke 'from his heart' for about 40 minutes to 112 ambassadors and heads of missions as well as top officials of the external affairs ministry on the second day of the three-day conclave at the Vigyan Bhavan, according to sources privy to the closed-door session who spoke on condition of strict anonymity. The sessions were not open to the media and only a gist of his speech was put out by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

Expounding his vision about India and its place in the world, Manmohan Singh stated that India could not 'pursue prosperity in isolation' in South Asia and should ensure that its neighbours 'develop a stake in India's stability and prosperity'.

'We should strive to engage our neighbours constructively and resolve differences through peaceful means and negotiations,' he said, a day after External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said meaningful talks with Pakistan would only be possible after Islamabad ended cross-border terrorism.

The prime minister spoke extempore, did not consult any notes and, according to an aide, gave a brilliant exposition of the nation's key challenges - fighting poverty, disease and ignorance - and the role of foreign policy in mitigating them.

He said India needed to get back to its GDP growth of 8-9 percent as soon as possible and Indian diplomacy should act with greater self-assurance in a complicated but inter-dependent world, keeping in mind the 'integral link of India's foreign policy with domestic policies, particularly economic policy'.