Vivekananda International Foundation | Seeking Harmony in Diversity

Interaction with a visiting Japanese Economic and Cultural Exchanges Delegation

Members of the VIF faculty on 01 February 2016 held a wide ranging interaction with a fifteen-member visiting delegation from Japan, led by Mr. Kenichi Watanabe, Chairman of FEC Japan India and Cultural Economic Exchange Committee and comprising of a few eminent industrialists and businessmen leaders. Mr. Arvind Virmani, a former Chief Advisor (Dev. Policy) to the Indian Planning Commission and subsequently Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India during the UPA’s regime, Mr.

February 04, 2016 Event Report

Case for a Regional Maritime Security Construct for the Indo Pacific

Commodore Gopal Suri

The Indian Ocean has been the hub of major economic activity and global realpolitik since the end of the Second World War. It has assumed greater importance since the penultimate decade of the last century and will continue to remain so in the 21st century. The development and progress witnessed in South East Asia, China and India during this period has further extended this geographical construct to the western reaches of the Pacific leading to what some call the great strategic arc of the Indo-Pacific.

January 29, 2016 Paper

Interaction with Prof Alexander Lukin, Director of the Center for East Asian and Shanghai Cooperation Organization Studies

Members of the VIF faculty, on 18 January 2016, interacted with Prof Alexander Lukin, Head, Department of International Relations, National Research University Higher School of Economics and Director, Center for East Asian and Shanghai Cooperation Organization Studies, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University), MFA of Russia.

January 21, 2016 Event Report

Interaction with Prof. Yu Longyu, Director, Centre for Indian Studies, Shenzhen University, China

On 12 January 2016, the VIF held an informal interaction with Prof. Yu Longyu, Director of Centre for Indian Studies, Shenzhen University, China, focusing on the role intellectuals, especially writers and teachers, potentially can play in improving ties between China and India. While the interaction lay centered around literary communications between China and India, invariably it got intermingled with issues of conflict and cooperation.

January 18, 2016 Event Report

Interaction with an Australian Delegation

Leading a six-member delegation, Mr. Ric Wells, a senior career diplomat with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia, visited the VIF on 18 Dec 2015 for an interaction with members of the VIF faculty. Discussions were held across a range of subjects including, the implications of the rise of regional countries, more specifically China and India among a host of others, the relative decline of the US, and the concomitant shift in the global power balance, among others.

January 04, 2016 Event Report

Interaction with Goran Persson, Ex-Prime Minister of Sweden

On 11 Dec 2015, the VIF hosted ex-Prime Minister of Sweden Mr. Goran Persson for an interaction on regional economic prospects, climate change, terrorism and Europe’s relations with Russia, among other issues. The interaction kicked off with General NC Vij, Director, VIF, speaking about the positive aspects of India-Sweden bilateral relationship. He praised eloquently the Swedish defence industry, especially the Bofors guns, and hoped Sweden would capitalize on the ‘Make in India’ offer to give a further boost to the bilateral relationship.

January 04, 2016 Event Report

Interaction with H.E. Martin Ney, Germany’s Ambassador to India

On 19 November 2015, H.E. Martin Ney, Germany’s Ambassador to India, held an interaction with members of the VIF faculty on a broad range of issues, including, among others, the shifting strands in the present world order, the challenge of ISIS-borne terrorism across Europe, Russia’s pro-active foreign policy, especially its intensifying involvement in the Syrian conflict, and the issues of mutual strategic interests between Germany and India.

November 26, 2015 Event Report

VIF Delegation in Washington DC

A delegation from the VIF comprising Director, General NC Vij, Lt. Gen. Ravi Sawhney. Ambassador Kanwal Sibal and Dr. Harinder Sekhon visited Washington DC from November 3 to November 6, 2015. The VIF team was invited by the Atlantic Council and the Heritage Foundation for return conferences with which the VIF has MoU s and ongoing collaborations respectively on US-India bilateral relations and the Quad plus Dialogue.

November 20, 2015 Event Report

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization: An Assessment

Prof Nirmala Joshi

The recent summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a watershed one in more than one respect. In the 15 years of its existence as a regional grouping, the SCO is on the verge of a new phase in its evolution. A phase that is complex and complicated.

November 14, 2015 Monograph

Sixth Xiangshan Forum

1. The Xiangshan, or Fragrant Hills, conference was held from 16 to 18 October 2015 at China National Convention Center in Beijing. Lt Gen Ravi Sawhney was invited from the Vivekananda International Foundation to attend this conference. His observations/comments are given in the succeeding paragraphs.

October 26, 2015 Event Report