Vivekananda International Foundation | Seeking Harmony in Diversity

COVID-19

EU Budget and Special Economic Package to Fight COVID-19

The EU adopted a Euro 1.074 trillion dollar budget for a seven-year budget cycle from 1921-27 last month. This was combined with a Euro 750 billion package to assist the Member States to recover from the impact of COVID-19 on their economies.1 While...

August 6 , 2020

Has a Cold War Started between U.S. and China?

China-U.S. relations are deteriorating at a rapid pace and some scholars have wondered whether we are witnessing the beginnings of Cold War 2 between the two biggest economies? On 21st July 2020, the U.S. State Department ordered that Chinese...

August 4 , 2020

J & K- Less War, More Peace: An Assessment of the Year after the Decisions of 5 August 2019

On 5 Aug 2019 India stunned the world, and perhaps itself, with decisions regarding the constitutional exclusivity attached to the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). These were related to abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A of the...

August 3 , 2020

The India EU Summit: Belied Expectations

The 15th India EU Summit was held on 15 July 2020 in virtual mode. The process of Summits was instituted in 2000 and 12 Summits took place annually till 2012. The 13th took 4 years to materialize, in2016, where Italy held back the EU interaction...

July 31 , 2020

ASEAN Response to Covid-19 Pandemic: An Assessment

ASEAN countries being next to mainland China were the first ones to come in contact with the Coronavirus. In fact, the first confirmed case outside China was detected in Thailand on 13 January who was a Chinese woman traveller from Wuhan and it was...

July 30 , 2020

Possibility of Developing Regional Value Chain in South Asia

On 24 July 2020, the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) hosted an online discussion on “Possibility of Developing Regional Value Chain in South Asia”. The panel included, Dr Sreeradha Datta, Mr Bipul Chatterjee, Mr Pratim Bose, Mr Analraj...

July 28 , 2020

Monthly Compilation of Views of VIF Expert Groups: June-July 2020

As COVID-19 continues to mount heavy casualties worldwide, China’s aggressiveness on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and expansionism in the South China Sea has led India to look for viable strategic solutions to counter China. The Vivekananda...

July 26 , 2020

The EU -USA- China Contradiction: the Friends Turned Foes and Vice Versa

The European Union (EU) is today facing a major contradiction. Its traditional ally, the USA has in several ways turned its back on Europe and is entering into trade and defence related quarrels. China which is the EU’s ‘systemic rival’ is on the...

July 20 , 2020

Developments in West Asia

The Vivekananda International Foundation organised a virtual interactive session on the subject, “Developments in West Asia” on 13 July 2020. Dr Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF delivered his opening remarks and introduced the central topics, i.e....

July 18 , 2020

‘Unknown Pneumonia’: Another Chinese Propaganda in Kazakhstan?

Introduction Kazakhstan has again become the victim of China’s sensationalist and maligned propaganda at the time when it is grappling with the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country. On July 9, Chinese Embassy in Kazakhstan issued a...

July 16 , 2020