In April 2022, China and the Solomon Islands signed a bilateral defence pact. The signing of this deal has caused great distress within Australia and the US, drawing sharp reactions from both the countries. The news of possible pact of this kind broke into the media in the month of March and apprehensions were raised at that time as well.
A wealth of literature illustrates China's relationship with Africa in all of its facets. In comparison, there isn't nearly enough research on India's engagement in Africa in its entirety. In that sense, there is hardly any literature that deals specifically with the India-Africa development partnership. Over the years, multiple changes in political leadership have taken place in both India and Africa, particularly in Africa, where the change of government is often by force. However, the partnership remained constant.
… impact of cyber operations is missing ... Russian cyber operations lean towards low-cost disruption efforts that rely on cyber patriots and criminal hackers than their ability to carry out sophisticated degradation campaigns. Cyber is an excellent tool for sub-conventional conflict, where one is trying to hit back at the other party without escalating to a kinetic conflict. Tactical objectives are not only about disrupting services, but also about intimidation, distraction and confusion ...
The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) hosted a meeting with H.E. Marta Ayvazyan, Advisor to the Minister of the Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia. This discussion included Amb Kanwal Sibal, Amb Ashok Sajjanhar, Amb Anil Trigunayat, Lt Gen Sawhney, and Dr. Pravesh Kumar Gupta. The experts from VIF and H.E. Ayvazyan discussed the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and its implications for other countries, particularly Armenia. Apart from that, the India-Armenia relationship was discussed. Armenia is a post-Soviet country and a close partner of the Russian Federation.
Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) hosted Dr. Eldor Aripov, Director, Institute of Strategic and Regional Studies (ISRS), Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Dr. Aripov was accompanied by H.E. Mr. Dilshod Akhatov, Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan to India and Mr. Azamjon Mansurov, First Secretary, Uzbek Embassy to India. The VIF’s panel of speakers included Amb D. P. Srivastava, Amb. Ashok Sajjanhar, Amb Skand R Tayal, Amb. Vinod Kumar, Lt. Gen Ravi Sawhney, Brig. Vinod Anand, and Dr. Pravesh Kumar Gupta. Dr.
The VIF organized a Strategic Discussion on the Review of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict on 25 March 2022 via hybrid-mode, with some participants joining in via web conferencing while the others attended the discussion physically at the VIF. The discussion was moderated by Dr Arvind Gupta who also delivered the opening remarks. Discussants included Amb. Kanwal Sibal, Amb. Arun K. Singh, Akshay Mathur, Amb. P.S. Raghavan, Gp. Capt. Naval Jagota, Brig. Vinod Anand, Dr. GulshanRai, AM Anil Khosla, Adm. Girish Luthra and Lt. Gen. R. K Sawhney.
In the month of March 2022 Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organized six expert group interactions with most of them being hybrid, the interaction of the strategic discussions group on the Ukraine crisis are for the first time being included in the report.All the interactions covered the most current of topics in the world and the region i.e Ukraine and Pakistan’s political scene, with their ramifications to the various countries, their groupings, regions and to India specifically.
Well over fifteen days into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the VIF strategic discussions group convened on 15 March 2022 to review the ongoing developments and to deliberate on the future trajectories of the evolving geopolitical situation. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Arvind Gupta, Director VIF and was attended by Amb. P.S Raghavan, Lt. Gen. Rakesh Sharma, Lt. Gen. Ravi K. Sawhney, Gen. N.C. Vij and Brig. Vinod Anand.
The Vivekananda International Foundation organised a book discussion on "India-Africa Relations: Changing Horizons", on March 23, 2022. The event was chaired by Dr Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF. Author of the book Ambassador Rajiv Kumar Bhatia delivered a talk on the book followed by a discussion of the book by Ms Ruchita Beri, Senior Research Associate, IDSA and Samir Bhattacharya, Research Associate, VIF.
Former High Commissioner to Kenya, South Africa and Lesotho, Ambassador Rajiv Kumar Bhatia, is a Distinguished Fellow of the Foreign Policy Studies Programme at Gateway House. In his new book titled "India-Africa Relations: Changing Horizons", the author contemplates the rise to the prominence of the African continent as a major global actor. He tracks the evolution of the India-Africa relationship in changing geopolitical realities and outlines a series of events that led to this transformation.