With a view to evolve the future roadmap towards building comprehensive national capabilities in design and manufacturing in the Electronic Sector, the VIF, in collaboration with the DRDO, CII and the American Chamber of Commerce in India (AmCham India), organised an important seminar ‘Design and Make in India - Electronics Sector’ on 3 & 4 Jun 2015.
Vimarsha - VIF’s monthly series of talks on issues of contemporary strategic relevance - was held on 13 May 2015 with then Governor of Arunachal Pradesh His Excellency Lt Gen (retd) Nirbhay Sharma sharing his perspective on the development of the Northeast in the light of India’s ‘Act East’ policy. Lt Gen S K Sinha, former Governor Assam and J&K, chaired the session, while several prominent experts among the audience interacted with the speaker.
With the ‘Make in India’ drive of the government promising to change the entire industrial landscape in the country, the VIF organised it monthly talk ‘vimarsha’ on the ‘Role of Technology in the Manufacture of Defence Equipment’ on 23 April 2015, delivered by Vice Admiral Puri, former Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, who is presently associated with the Foundation as a Distinguished Fellow.
Noted columnist and author of ‘Chasing the Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State’, Tarek Fatah, delivered an insightful talk on ‘The Rise of Islamism: A Direct Consequence of the Creation of Pakistan’, on March 25, 2015 under the Vimarsha lecture series at VIF. A gusty speaker, known widely across the Muslim world for his secular, progressive and liberal views, Tarek Fatah, gave a brilliant exposition on the evolution of political Islam in the sub-continent, attributing much of the radicalisation going on across the world to the creation of Pakistan.
VIF, together with All India Kashmiri Samaj (AIKS), organised a day-long conference ‘Revisiting the displaced Kashmiri Pandits issue’ on 13 February 2015. ‘J&K: the fractured electorate mandate and its implications,’ and ‘Creation of a legitimate political space for displaced Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir’ were the two prominent themes of the seminar. The conference was attended and addressed by a large panel of eminent Kashmir observers and security experts, many among them owing their ancestry to Kashmir.
Hon’ble Shekhar Dutt, former Governor of Chhattisgarh, gave a talk on ‘Naxalite Movement in Chhattisgarh & the Challenges of Governance’ under the Vimarsha lecture series, held on 21 January 2015 at the VIF. Ahead of his talk, Shri Dutt also released a book ‘The India Pakistan War of 1971 - A History', edited by Shri S N Prasad & Shri U P Thapliyal. A project of the Ministry of Defence (GoI), the book provides a detailed account of the 1971 war and is based on official records, personal interviews and reminiscences of the veterans etc.
On Nov 20th, 2014, VIF organised a talk by General (Retd) SK Sinha, former Governor, Assam and J&K on ‘Article 370 and Resolution of Kashmir Problem’ under its Vimarsha series of public discourse. With Shri Vijai Kapoor, former Governor, Delhi in the Chair, General (Retd) NC Vij, Director VIF, set the ball rolling elucidating the nature of festering controversy around Article 370 of the Constitution granting special autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir.
A youth delegation from Ladakh visited VIF on October 9, 2014. Addressing the delegates, Lt Gen (Retd) R K Sawhney, Distinguished Fellow, VIF, urged them to preserve their rich heritage and culture. Citing his experience in Lhasa, Tibet, Lt Gen Sawhney said while tourism was important for revenue generation, “it should be developed sensibly”. He also exhorted the youth to become environment friendly entrepreneurs and lauded Buddhism for promoting peace, tolerance and understanding.
On 12 September 2014, General Shankar Roychowdhury, PVSM, ADC (Retd), former Chief of the Army Staff and Member of Parliament released the book ‘Decoding India’s Defence procurement: An Analysis of Defence Procurement Procedure 2013’ edited by Gen NC Vij. The edited volume is based on the proceedings of a seminar organized by the VIF wherein renowned military and civilian experts expressed their views on a wide variety of issues connected with defence procurement. The preface of the book has been written by Mr. Ajit Doval, the erstwhile Director of VIF and now the national security Advisor.
The VIF held a Round Table Discussion on 18 Sep 2014 to examine the national perspective of cyber security in terms of social, economic, political and military dimensions.