On 04 December 2015, the VIF invited Hari Bansh Jha, Professor of Economics, Nepal’s Tribhuvan’s University for an interaction on the current political uprising in Nepal and its implications, especially for India. Prof. Jha presented an insightful analysis of how systemically over the years the government of Nepal through a series of discriminatory measures has marginaslised the Madeshi population (people settled in the Terai region of Nepal), a problem of growing magnitude that has also strained India-Nepal bilateral relations to some extent in recent months.

The Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan H.E. Hekmat Karzai, as part of his recent visit to India, held a broad ranging interaction with members of the VIF faculty on 19 November 2015.

Even as Bangladesh continues to face the worst political turmoil in its history, a Round Table Discussion was held at the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) on April 7th, 2015 to discuss the current political situation in Bangladesh. The interaction, a bilateral exercise between the VIF and the Bangladesh Institute for Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS), encapsulated the broad spectrum of political and security challenges confronting Bangladesh today and their implications for the bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh.

A trilateral conference on the theme of “China, India, UK and Afghanistan- A partnership for Stability” was organized at the VIF premises from 02 to 05 March 2015. The main objective of the deliberations was to find ways and means of cooperation amongst the regional powers in order to bring peace, stability and prosperity to Afghanistan. The Royal United Services Institute, UK delegation was led by Prof. Malcolm Chalmers and included Mr. Raffaello Pantucci and Edward Schwark and Ms Emily Winterbotham. The Chinese delegation was represented by Senior Colonel (Retd) Bai Zonglin, Dr.