International Relations/Diplomacy
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Talk by Amb. Arun Kumar Singh

The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organised a talk by Amb. Arun Kumar Singh on “An Assessment of the New US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET)” on February 23, 2023. Dr. Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF, chaired the session and made welcome remarks. The event was attended by Dr. Suma Varughese, Director General MED, CoS&CS (MCC) at DRDO, Dr. N. Ranjana, Director, Directorate of Systems and Technology Analysis (DSTA), DRDO, Lt. Gen. Anil Bhatt, ISpA, Air Marshal Surat Singh, Col. Baljinder Singh, USISPF, Dr. C. Raja Mohan, Lt. Gen R.K. Sawhney, Gp. Cap.

Discussion on India-Japan Relations, G7 Summit and Indo-Pacific Region

The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organised a roundtable discussion on “India-Japan Relations, G7 Summit and Indo-Pacific Region” on 15 May, 2023. Amb. Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa chaired the session and gave the opening remarks. The panel of speakers included Mr. Seiichiro Taguchi, Minister-Political Affairs, Embassy of Japan; Prof. Ashok Kumar Chawla, Advisor, East Asia Division, MEA; Prof. Srabani Roy Choudhury, Professor, Centre for East Asian Studies, JNU; Dr. Satoru Nagao, Fellow, Hudson Institute, Tokyo and; Dr.

Book Review: ‘A Life Well Spent: Four Decades in the Indian Foreign Service’; Amb. Satish Chandra, Roopa Publications, 2023, ISBN: 9357020950, pp. 284, Rs 636

The book by Ambassador Satish Chandra covers four decades he served in the Indian Foreign Service from 1965 to 2005. The book is not simply an account of his personal journey. It provides a glimpse into the making of foreign policy. It also covers India’s trajectory from the mid-60s, when it was recovering from the 1962 war to the post-Pokhran phase when it had emerged as a nuclear weapons state. Mr. Satish Chandra saw many of the defining events of this period from close quarters. He was a Second Secretary in India’s Deputy High Commission in Karachi just before the outbreak of the 1971 war.

VIF Delegation Visit to Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan held a nationwide referendum on constitutional reforms on April 30, 2023. A delegation from Vivekananda international Foundation (VIF) which included Dr Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF and Dr Pravesh Kumar Gupta, Associate Fellow (Central Asia), were invited by the Central Election Commission of the republic of Uzbekistan to monitor the referendum process as an international observer.

Quad-Plus Dialogue

The latest edition of the Quad Plus Dialogue (QPD) at the think tanks level was held virtually on 09 May, 2023. This time Vivekananda International Foundation hosted the dialogue. Apart from VIF, the think tanks from Quad members included the Heritage Foundation, US and the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA). The Institute for National Defense and Security Research (INDSR) from Taiwan also participated as a Quad-Plus partner.

India-Africa Roundtable on Science and Technology

On 15th March 2023, as part of the "Connect Africa" initiative, VIF organised 1st "India-Africa Roundtable (IAR)"on Science and Technology with a focus on collaboration in the field of Science & Technology, particularly in the domain of Trade, Climate Change and Food Security issues in the context of the Agenda 2063 of the African Union Commission (AUC).

Values for Reforming Multilateralism and Creating a New World Order

In the past few years, the international system has increasingly displayed tendencies of being subordinate to narrow national interests. The COVID pandemic revealed the limits of cooperation when countries turned inwards to cope with the deadly virus rather than help each other in dealing with the fallout. Simultaneously, the war in Ukraine has dealt a severe blow to the UN-led system of collective security. Multilateralism in different arenas has witnessed intransigent impasses.

Vimarsh on ‘The Seven Tectonic Forces Undermining India: How to Confront & Defeat Them’

The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organised a panel discussion on 'The Seven Tectonic Forces Undermining India: How to Confront & Defeat Them’ on 3rd March 2023. The panel discussion was aimed to highlight the issue of various forces hindering Indian portrayal at a global level, and what could be ways to counter such forces.

Geopolitical Relevance of the Pacific Islands for India and the Indo-Pacific Region

The Vivekananda International Foundation organised a virtual talk by Ms. Cleo Paskal, Non-Resident Fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), Washington DC on "Geopolitical Relevance of the Pacific Islands for India and the Indo-Pacific Region" on March 15, 2023 (Wednesday). Dr. Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF, chaired the session and made welcome remarks. The talk was followed by Q& A and discussion. Lt. Gen. R.K. Sawhney (Retd.), Vice- Admiral Satish Soni (Retd.), Gp. Cap. Naval Jagota (Retd.), Dr. Udai Bhanu Singh and others participated in the event.

Monthly Compilation of Views of VIF Expert Groups: February 2023

Vivekananda International Foundation was in full flow in the month of February 2023 with ten expert groups meeting. The areas of interest geographically were Africa, West Asia, US, Pakistan, Indo-Pacific, Neighbourhood, Central Asia and three key topics under Strategy and Geo-economics in which developments and perspectives were shared and discussed.

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