The theme of the conference was ‘Global Strategy and Foreign Policy Priorities in India-Russia Relations’, wherein various positives and road blocks in bilateral and multilateral were discussed. The discussion also focused on US, China, South Asia and Pakistan, besides the multi-lateral organisations, like the UN, SCO and BRICS.
The interaction was devoted to the issues having bearing on India-South Korea bilateral relations and the regional order. The Indian side explained its position and apprehensions towards China’s Belt and Road Initiative violating India’s sovereignty, the scope of participation in the US’ Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy and India’s Act East Policy. The South Korean delegation spoke on India-South Korean relations, the Korean Unification Process and South Korea's 'New Southern Policy'.
The brainstorming session was devoted to Indo-US bilateral relations, developments in the South China Sea and Indo-Pacific, stabilising South Asia, and US-China relations. In bilateral domain, strengthening US-India defence cooperation, and issues of CAATSA, H1B1 and hurdles in trade and economic relations were discussed.
The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) hosted a delegation from China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), Beijing. The delegation consisted of researchers from various institutes of CICIR. The following were the participants from CICIR:- Dr. Fu Mengzi, Vice President, CICIR Dr. Hu Shisheng, Director of Institute of South Asian Studies, CICIR Mr. Xu Xiaotian, Director of the Institute of Maritime Studies, CICIR Dr. Guo Chunmei, Senior Researcher of Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, CICIR
… India-Taiwan relations are no more under the radar and have the potential to grow further … Governments of India and Taiwan aim to facilitate Taiwanese investments … economic engagement and people-to-people contact remain the basis of the relations … The New Southbound Policy is a pragmatic policy that will help Taiwan not to be isolated and maintain its relevance …
The Central Asian Region gained wider recognition in International Relations after the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991. The emergence of five independent nation-states in the heartland of Eurasia was, in fact, a matter of curiosity for the world community. At the same time, there were apprehensions about political stability, territorial integrity and economic viability of the Central Asian Republics (CARs) of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. In 1990s, considerable empirical research was conducted on the politics, history and society of the CARs.
Development of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor is a fulcrum of the One Belt One Road Initiative through which China seeks to realise the ‘Chinese Dream’ to be a global power and a regional hegemon. The Corridor connects China’s Western Xinjiang with Pakistan’s Makran Coast, traversing through one of the most challenging geographic as well as human terrain that would require extra-ordinary engineering resources to execute, massive amounts to fund and extreme political acumen to manage the untameable societal fissures. That indeed is a tall and complex order.
(A Track 1.5 dialogue hosted by think tanks from Australia, India, Japan, and the U.S., and Quad-Plus Partner France) Participants: Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), Japan Institute for International Affairs (JIIA), The Heritage Foundation, the Vivekenanda International Foundation (VIF) and the French Institute of International Relations (FIIR). Lt Gen RK Sawhney (Retd), Vice Adm Anil Chopra (Retd) and Amb Anil Wadhwa (Retd) represented the VIF in the Quad Plus Dialogue. Points of Consensus/General Agreement
The Quad Plus think tanks dialogue was held in Sydney from 20-21 Feb, 2019. Participants were the hosts Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), along with Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), India, Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), and the Heritage Foundation, USA. Additional invitees were Institute of International Relations (IFRI), France, and Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU). Topics covered during the panel discussions were as follows:- Indo pacific concept, rules and how to assert these;