Vivekananda International Foundation | Seeking Harmony in Diversity

Visit by a US Congressional Delegation

A five-member bipartisan US Congressional delegation, led by Ed Royce Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, visited the VIF on 10 March 2015 for an interaction with faculty members and other strategic experts on the dynamics of evolving Indo-US partnership, driven largely by the growing needs of containing terrorist threats in the region, US rebalancing in Asia, and India’s quest for self-reliance in defence production, among others.

March 13, 2015 Event Report

Seminar on India-Europe Relations

VIF, in collaboration with the Institute for Transnational Studies (ITS), Germany, held a seminar titled ‘Contemporary India-Europe Relations: Prospects and Issues’ on 16 February 2015.

February 24, 2015 Event Report

Seminar on Indo-US Relations: The Way Forward

VIF and the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, jointly organised a seminar ‘India-US Relations: the Way Forward’ on 05 February 2015. The seminar was a take off from the Quad-plus dialogue held recently in Bali, Indonesia, where security experts from the two institutions participated along with representatives from Japan, Australia, Indonesia and Philippines.

February 12, 2015 Event Report

The Quad Plus: Towards a Shared Strategic Vision for the Indo-Pacific Edited by Walter Lohman, Lt General Ravi K Sawhney, Andrew Davies & Ippeita Nishida

Lt General R K Sawhney, PVSM, AVSM, Centre Head & Senior Fellow, National Security and Strategic Studies & Internal Security Studies, VIF

Hardcover: 160 pages Publisher: Wisdom Tree (10 February 2015) Language: English ISBN-10: 8183283950 ISBN-13: 978-8183283953 Online Available at amazon.com

February 10, 2015 Books/Book Review

Quad plus Dialogue

A VIF team led by its Director, General N. C. Vij, accompanied by Lt General Ravi Sawhney and Ambassador Sanjay Singh participated in the Quad-Plus dialogue held at Denpesar, Bali, Indonesia from February 1 to 3, 2015. Other participants were from the Heritage Foundation, USA, Tokyo Foundation (Japan), the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), Australia, The Habibie Centre, Indonesia and the Albert Rosario Institute, Philippines.

February 09, 2015 Event Report

Seminar on Indo-Israeli Perspective on Regional and Global Security

VIF, in collaboration with the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs, held a joint seminar ‘Indo-Israeli Perspectives on Regional and Global Security’ on 20 Jan 2015. The conference highlighted perspectives of the two countries across a wide spectrum of issues, including situation in the Af-Pak region and West Asia, threats of global terrorism, and security and defence cooperation between India and Israel. The Israeli delegation comprised an impressive array of security experts - Amb Dore Gold, President Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs, Col.

January 27, 2015 Event Report

Interaction with KIDA, a South Korean Think Tank

Dr Cho Nam Hoon, Director, Korean Institute for Defence Analyses (KIDA), leading a three-member delegation, visited VIF on 17 Dec 2014 for an interaction on issues bearing strategic relevance to both India and South Korea. The delegation interacted extensively with members of VIF faculty across a wide spectrum of issues, inter alia, economic and defence cooperation between the two countries, the emerging power balance in Asia-pacific, and South Korea’s strategic compulsions.

December 18, 2014 Event Report

Interaction on India-Japan Relations

A four-member delegation from Japan Institute of International Affairs, led by Ambassador Yoshiji Nogami, visited VIF on 08 December 2014 for an interaction on India-Japan relations. The interaction broadly encompassed three strategic aspects: strengthening of bilateral relations between Japan and India, domestic development agenda and policies under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and regional architecture in the Asia-Pacific. The responses to views were given by Amb. Rajiv Sikri, Amb. Aftab Seth, and Amb. PP Shukla, following which there was a Q&A session.

December 11, 2014 Event Report

Interaction with a Chinese Delegation

A five-member delegation from China Institute of International Strategic Studies (CIISS), led by Maj Gen (Retd) Zhu Da, Vice Chairman, and comprising Maj Gen (Retd) Zhang Jianguo, Senior Advisor, Mr Li Jie, Executive Secretary General, Senior Col (Retd) Lin Yu, Senior Research Fellow, and Mr He Botao, Assistant Research Fellow as members of the delegation, interacted with the VIF faculty on 02 Dec 2014.

December 05, 2014 Event Report

French Defence Minister at VIF

At the invitation of the Vivekananda International Foundation, the French Defence Minister, Mr. Jean-Yves Le Drian, delivered a talk on 1 December 2014. Welcoming the Guest, VIF Director Gen (Retd) N C Vij briefed the visiting delegation about the current state of affairs between the two countries in the field of defence; nuclear cooperation, counterterrorism and space cooperation. The importance of France as one of India’s most important source for arms import was acknowledged by the director apart from highlighting the ongoing defence and security cooperation between the two countries.

December 05, 2014 Event Report