In his interaction with the VIF faculty on March 26, Ambassador of France to India H E Francois Richier began by identifying the similarities between India and France – above all, the commitment to maintaining strategic autonomy. This did not mean isolation, for no nation could afford to function entirely on its own in this day and age. But it did mean that where their vital interests were involved, they would act with or without external support.

Vivekananda International Foundation hosted an interaction with His Excellency Mr. João Cravinho, Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of the European Union to India on 13 March 2014, under its ongoing series of interactions with Ambassadors based in India. The closed-door interaction was chaired by Ambassador P P Shukla, Joint Director VIF, and included veteran Indian diplomats and former chiefs of Armed Services and Intelligence agencies of the country as participants.

Scholars and strategic analysts from VIF, RUSI U.K., China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, China Institute for International Studies, China Academy of Social Sciences and other Chinese think tanks and Afghan experts came together for a two day workshop at Doha, Qatar from 26 to 27 February 2014 to deliberate on likely post- 2014 Afghanistan environment and measures that should be taken to work towards peace, stability and prosperity.

Introduction Events that are taking place in Asia-Pacific are a sub set of what is happening in Asia in particular and at the global level in general. While there has been an on-going shift of economic power to Asia, it is also quite apparent that most of the conflict spots of the world are in Asia. Rapid rise of People’s Republic of China (PRC) and its fast tracked militarisation has created not only its own geostrategic dynamics in the Asia-Pacific but also has caused reverberations at the global level.