A Round-Table discussion on the forthcoming ‘India-Africa Forum Summit’ scheduled in New Delhi from 26-29 October 2015 was held at the VIF on 12 Oct 2015. The gathering was briefed by a panel of 3 experts on Africa, Ambassador R. Rajagopalan, Ambassador H.H.S. Viswanathan and Ambassador V.B. Soni. The salient points that were made / emerged were:
The VIF hosted a focused Round Table discussion on India- Russia Relations- the way Forward on August 27, 2015 to look at ways to reenergize India’s relations with Russia at a time when Russia is isolated internationally and is drawing increasingly into China’s fold. The need for such a discussion was felt as Indo-Russian relations have traditionally been marked by genuine warmth and trust resulting in close economic and security cooperation between the two countries since India’s independence.
1. A five member delegation led by the VIF Director Gen N C Vij visited China from 15 to 22 Sep, 2015 at the invitation of the China Institute for International Studies (CIIS). The delegation comprised :- Gen NC Vij Lt Gen Ravi Sawhney Amb TCA Rangachari Vice Adm Anup Singh Mr Madhav Sharma, CII representative from Shanghai
The VIF on Aug 6th 2015 invited H.E. Yucheng, China’s Ambassador to India, for an interaction on India-China relationship. Amb Satish Chandra, Lt Gen Ravi Sawhney, Amb Rajagopalan, Lt Gen JS Bajwa, among others, interacted with him on a broad range of bilateral issues, while General NC Vij, Director, VIF, moderated the discussions.
A glance at the history of the last few centuries, since at least the seventeenth, indicates that the opening decades of all centuries are times of upheaval. New forces frequently emerge, new ideologies, or technologies. These take time to play themselves out. Without being deterministic about such historical cycles, it seems hard to escape the conclusion that we are witnessing one more turn, and that it will be a while before stability will return.
Nicolas Hulot, Special Envoy of the French President on the Protection of the Planet, accompanied by Laurence Tubiana, France’s Special Representative on Climate Change, visited the VIF on July 27th 2015 for an interaction on issues that are likely to dominate the agenda of the 21st session of the Conference of Parties (COP21), a UN sponsored international conference on climate change taking place in France from November 30 to December 11, 2015.
On 24 March 2015, Ambassador Mark Sofer, Deputy Director General for Asia & Pacific Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israel, accompanied by the present Ambassador Daniel Carmon, visited the VIF for a talk on Israel’s approach to India, followed by an interactive session.
Mr. Stewart Beck, former High Commissioner of Canada to India and currently President of the Vancouver based Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada, visited the VIF on 25 May 2015 for a round table discussion on the future course of India-Canada relations. In his welcome remarks, Director VIF, Gen.
The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) hosted Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach KCB CBE ADC, UK’s Vice Chief of the Defence Staff on April 21st, 2015 for an interaction on issues relating to India’s security and defence.
The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) in collaboration with the Atlantic Council, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and U.S Embassy in New Delhi organised a two-day international conference titled, “India-US 2015: Partnering for Peace and Prosperity” on March 16-17, 2015. The conference brought together a number of distinguished speakers who deliberated on the emerging contours of the Indo-US bilateral relations. The conference began with a welcome address by General N C Vij, Director, VIF. General Vij shared his optimism for strong Indo-US bilateral ties in the near future.