On 14 December a delegation from the US Department of State interacted with VIF scholars VIF representatives, Dr Arvind Gupta (Director), Lt Gen R K Sawhney (Retd),Gp Capt Naval Jagota (Retd),Sweta Kumari(Associate Fellow), Anurag Sharma (Snr Research Associate).
The Vivekananda International Foundation organized a trilateral webinar with the Japan Institute of National Fundamentals and the Prospect Foundation on 29 September 2022 on "Emerging Strategic Environment in the Indo-Pacific". After initial remarks by Dr Arvind Gupta, Director VIF, Ms Yoshiko Sakurai, President JINF, and Dr I. Chung, President of Prospect Foundation, presentations were made by Mr Masanori Kondo, Visiting Researcher JINF, Dr Ming Shih Shen, Research Fellow and Director at Institute for National Defense & Security Research, and Amb Ashok Kantha, Distinguished Fellow VIF.
The geostrategic significance of Central Asia is very much important from India’s foreign policy and domestic policy points of view. Central Asia shares a border with China in the East, Caspian in the West, Russia in the North, and Iran and Afghanistan in the south. Its geostrategic location makes it vulnerable to the geopolitical power play. In order to balance major powers, Central Asian republics adopted a multi-vector foreign policy in the post-Soviet period. They welcomed China to balance the Russian and Western influence.
On December 15, 2022, the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organized an interaction with a high level delegation from Iran. The theme of the discussion was 'Interfaith Dialogue in the Historical Perspective, especially from India and Iran Point of View'. Dr Arvind Gupta, Director VIF, delivered the introductory remarks, which were followed by a presentation by Prof. Shrinivasa Varakhedi, Vice-chancellor, Central Sanskrit University, Delhi. Dr. Adil Rasheed, Research Fellow, MP-IDSA also made a presentation. The Iranian delegation headed by Dr.
The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organised an interactive session with a visiting three member delegation headed by the Director General of the Institute of Foreign Policy & Security Studies (IFPSS), Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Dr. Vu Le Thai Hoang on December 20, 2022. Dr. Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF, chaired the session and made welcome remarks.
On 27th October, 2022, Vivekananda International Foundation organized a webinar on India-Nigeria relations with Nigerian Institute of International Studies (NIIA), a premium think tank based in Nigeria. This was the second event under “Connect Africa” Program. The first event took place on September 22, 2022 where H.E. Ambassador Dr Tizita Mulugeta, (Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary) Ethiopian Ambassador to India, addressed at the inaugural Connect Africa event about current situationin Ethiopia and the future of India and Ethiopia relations.
“Let China sleep; when she wakes, she will shake the world.” said Napoleon more than two hundred years ago and quoted by the author in the very first chapter of the book which talked about the rise of China. The author contends that the growth of China will lead to conflict with the USA, an existing superpower, which may result in war. To back his argument the author draws the example from the Peloponnesian War between two Greek states—Sparta, an established power, and Athens, a rising power.
The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organised an interactive session with a visiting delegation from the Korean National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA) on November 24, 2022. The talk focussed on the prospects of Republic of Korea-India relations vis-a-vis the recent developments in the Indo-Pacific region.
On November 11, 2022, the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) had a discussion with a visiting delegation from Iran's Institute of Political and International Studies (IPIS). Dr Arvind Gupta, Director VIF, delivered the introductory remarks, which were followed by a presentation by Amb DB Venkatesh Varma, Distinguished Fellow, VIF. Other VIF experts who participated in this discussion were Amb D P Srivastava, Lt Gen Ravi Sawhney, Amb Pankaj Saran, Amb Sanjay Singh, and Amb Skanbd Tayal, Dr. Mohammad Hassan Sheikholeslami, President of IPIS, lead the Iranian delegation.
In the month of November 2022 Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organized a total of seven expert group meetings, two interactive sessions with Ambassador’s from Indonesia and Germany in which they shared their perspective of our bilateral relationship as well as the prevalent geo-political situation. In addition there was a roundtable discussions with the Korean National Diplomatic Academy.