You are here
Events
| Title | Date | Author | Time | Event | Body | Research Area | Topics | File attachments | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Talk by Talmiz Ahmad on "Political Islam in West Asia: Recent History and Prospects" | July 27, 2016 | 1530 hrs | Other |
In view of the current developments in the West Asian region, IDSA is organising a talk by Talmiz Ahmad, former Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (2000-2003; 2010-2011); Oman (2003-04), and the UAE (2007-2010), on "Political Islam in West Asia: Recent History and Prospects" on Wednesday, July 27, 2016 at 3:30 PM. The venue will be Second Floor (Seminar Hall I), IDSA. Director General, IDSA, Shri Jayant Prasad will chair the talk. |
Eurasia & West Asia | ||||
| Transfer of Defence Technology – Understanding the Nuances for Optimal Benefits in the Indian Context | July 15, 2016 | Kevin A. Desouza | 1030 to 1300 hrs | Fellows' Seminar |
Venue: Seminar Hall 1, IDSA |
Defence Economics & Industry | |||
| Talk by Talmiz Ahmad on "Political Islam and Global Jihad: Prospects for Reform in West Asia" | June 27, 2016 | 1500 hrs | Other |
Venue: Second Floor (Seminar Hall I), IDSA In view of the current developments in the West Asian region, IDSA is organising a talk by Talmiz Ahmad, former Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (2000-2003; 2010-2011); Oman (2003-04), and the UAE (2007-2010), on "Political Islam and Global Jihad: Prospects for Reform in West Asia" on Monday,June 27, 2016 at 3 PM. |
Eurasia & West Asia | ||||
| 1st West Asia Conference - Geopolitical Shifts in West Asia: Trends and Implications | September 10, 2014 to September 11, 2014 | Conference | Eurasia & West Asia | West Asia | |||||
| India's Foreign Policy Options in the Asia-Pacific: A Critical Evaluation | June 10, 2016 | S. Kalyanaraman | Fellows' Seminar |
 The IDSA Fellows Seminar by Dr S. Kalyanaraman, Research Fellow, IDSA, on the topic "India’s Foreign Policy Options in the Asia-Pacific: A Critical Evaluation” was held on Friday, June 10, 2016. It was chaired by Sudhir T Devare, India’s former Ambassador in North Korea, Visiting Fellow and former Director General of the Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi. To discuss the paper, two external and two internal discussants participated in the seminar: Prof Sujit Dutta, the Mahatma Gandhi Chair at the Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi and whose expertise is in Chinese Politics, Foreign and Security Policies, India-China Relations, International Affairs in East Asia, India’s Strategic Thought, International Relations; and Rajesh Rajagopalan, Professor in International Politics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, whose areas of research are international relations theory, military doctrines and nuclear weapons and disarmament; Dr. Uttam Sinha, Research Fellow at IDSA; and Cdr. Aman Saberwal, Research Fellow at IDSA. In his presentation, Dr. Kalyanaraman began by highlighting how the Asia-Pacific region is gaining greater salience in both the economic and political spheres, how China is emerging as a central player in this unfolding dynamic, and what impact these developments have for India’s security and role in the region. It is against this backdrop that he critically evaluated four policy options that have been prescribed for India. These are: Multi-Alignment: Proponents argue that multi-alignment not only enables India to advance its core developmental priorities through greater economic integration at the regional and global levels but also helps preserve its strategic autonomy by avoiding too great a dependence on any one major power. Contrary to these assertions and aspirations, however, multi-alignment is unlikely to prove practicable in an Asia-Pacific that is tending towards fragmentation into rival economic and security groupings led by America and China, respectively. Practising multi-alignment would be impracticable because, during periods of intensified great power rivalry, alliances are likely to be rigid and the interactions between rival great powers zero sum and conflictual in nature, thus rendering membership in multiple groupings impossible and the contradictions involved in pursuing such a policy unmanageable. Nonalignment: A modified version of nonalignment, Nonalignment 2.0, between China and America is the second policy prescription that has been identified. Advocates contend that nonalignment would help India derive economic, military and technological benefits from multiple sources as well as enable it to play the role of “a unique bridge” between different countries and groupings. But this idea of replicating the policy adopted during the Cold War to the unfolding circumstances overlooks the fact that the Soviet Union did not pose a threat to India whereas China does. Further, external balancing in the form of an alliance is necessary given limited domestic economic and military capacities and the growing power asymmetry vis-à-vis China. Bandwagoning with China: The third prescription is the establishment of a closer economic relationship and forging of a new political equilibrium with China. While India would indeed gain from a closer economic relationship with China in terms of furthering its domestic economic transformation, it is highly unlikely that enhanced economic cooperation would either cause an amelioration of rivalry or move the two countries towards a mutually acceptable political accommodation. Aligning with America: Alignment with America is the fourth policy choice. Advocates view an alignment with America as necessary to protect India’s core values of democracy, pluralism and secularism from an authoritarian China aligned with jihad-exporting Pakistan. Further, an alliance with America is also necessary, even natural, given the vast and growing power asymmetry between India and China, which gulf can be bridged only through external balancing given the lack of “political will and executive capability” to rapidly build up national power through internal balancing. There is no denying the importance of, and even necessity for, an alliance with America to counter China’s growing power and consequent ability to reshape the Asian and international order. But two main objections have been articulated by critics to such a policy course. First, it would prematurely antagonise China and impel that country into adopting overtly hostile policies towards India. The second objection is that an alliance with America would transform India into a junior partner and lead to its enmeshment in various American military misadventures. Concluding his presentation, Dr. Kalyanaraman pointed out that China’s rise to great power status poses major challenges for India’s foreign and security policies. Given that India will not be able to arrive at a mutual political accommodation with China, and given that dealing with China requires external balancing because of limited internal capacities, the optimal policy option for India is to forge an alliance with the United States. The presentation was followed by comments by the discussants. Prof. Sujit Dutta: Prof. Dutta began by noting that the paper has raised many interesting ideas which were central to the foreign policy discourse in India. The paper is based on the ‘Offensive Realist’ theory of international relations. The principal argument revolves around the thought that “India needs an alignment with United States to deal with the emerging challenges from China”, and this has been well articulated. Nehruvian foreign policy has often been criticized thus: it did not look into the realities of power politics clearly and therefore India suffered. The paper has gone to the opposite of the Nehruvian paradigm, i.e., it has dealt with power politics in terms of military alignments which poses problems in many ways. India’s political elite are not very happy with power politics in the international domain although they are happy to practice power politics in the domestic domain. So, it is very difficult for a consensus based foreign policy on the assumption that power politics should drive India’s foreign policy. Second, liberal institutionalism and liberal interdependence which are the fundamentals of the liberal peace are also important. China is a trade dependent country. It can ill afford to undermine interdependence. China’s economy is declining and it should understand that India today is a good market. Third, China’s power has been magnified. China spends on defence much more than India but China’s security paradigm is much more problematic than India’s. India’s defence expenditure should rise for sure but it need not to be same as China’s. Further, we must not underestimate the overwhelming power of the United States. China is in no position to catch up with the United States anytime soon. We must not overstate China’s power. India’s economy is rising and it will reach up to China’s level soon. So we should analyse what India’s foreign policy is and what changes it requires within the framework of an independent foreign policy. It cannot be done in isolation with other countries but it can be done in cooperation with other countries due to globalization. We need a proactive foreign policy. In this multi-polar world, balance of power is required so that no single country dominates the others. By getting engaged with the United States in terms of alliance rather than strategic partnership, we will constrain ourselves. The United States has many flaws in its policies, like Pakistan policy, Vietnam policy in the past, etc. It is important to have relations with all the great powers. India-China relations today are far less acrimonious than at the time when we had no trade relations. Prof Rajesh Rajagopalan: China has a great impact on other nations in every term, whether economic or defence. China is larger than all of its key competitors in Asia. China has already surpassed that threshold where it can be balanced by a combination of regional countries. If you have an imbalance of power, there must be a balance created irrespective of the policies of other countries. The US can anchor the regional countries to create a balance against China. There is a difference between alignment and alliance, which can be shown by the alignment of China-Pakistan during the cold war, even when Pakistan had an alliance with the US. They had collaboration on a number of different levels. It is always necessary to point out that difference between alignment and alliance. Alignments have their own problems. One of the problems of American alignment is not just the capacity of the US but its willingness to align, and this is one of the key problems that India and all other countries face. India has been gradually moving away from nonalignment for the past 30 years. According to various surveys, the US has public support in India. Inter-dependence has not prevented China from dealing aggressively with countries in South-East Asia and East Asia. China is a dominant power irrespective of its aggressive behaviour. India doesn’t have the power to internally balance China. An alignment is about meeting specific threats. India-US partnership should be looked at from this perspective. Uttam Sinha: He pointed to five trends in the changing geopolitics of the Asia-pacific:
Aman Saberwal:
Intervening from the floor, Director General Jayant Prasad said that there should be emphasis on both internal and external balancing, as well as an independent foreign policy even while being aligned. But alignment bordering on some kind of alliance system with the US could be dangerous for India. In his concluding remarks, Amb. Sudhir Devare noted that:
Prepared by Urvashi Rathore, Research Intern, IDSA |
Military Affairs | ||||
| 8th South Asia Conference: The Role of Media in Promoting Regional Understanding in South Asia | October 28, 2014 to October 29, 2015 | Conference | South Asia | South Asia Conference | |||||
| 17th Asian Security Conference: Asian Security: Comprehending the Indian Approach | February 11, 2015 to February 13, 2015 | Conference | undefined | Asian Security Conference | |||||
| Roundtable on “Partnering with Africa” | May 19, 2016 | 1530 hours | Round Table |
India and Africa have shared a close relationship that has hinged on the common struggle against colonialism, apartheid, poverty, disease, illiteracy and hunger. This relationship has gained a new momentum in the recent years. Greater economic engagement has been crucial to boosting ties between Africa and India. The third India-Africa Forum Summit, held in New Delhi last year, reinforced India's interest in partnering with countries of the African continent in diverse fields. As a partner in its development, India celebrates Africa's achievements. So, on the occasion of Africa Day, observed every year on May 25 to commemorate the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (now known as the African Union), the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA) in collaboration with the African Studies Association of India (ASA) is organising a roundtable on the theme “Partnering with Africa” on Thursday, May 19, 2016 at 1530 hours, in Seminar Hall 1 (Second Floor). Shri Birender Singh Yadav, Joint Secretary, West Africa, Ministry of External Affairs will deliver the special address and Shri Jayant Prasad, Director General, IDSA will moderate the discussion. |
Africa, Latin America, Caribbean & UN | ||||
| Talk by Peter Hofbauer on Very light weight diesel engines | May 06, 2016 | 1500 hrs | Other |
The Strategic Technologies Centre of IDSA is organising a Round Table discussion by Dr Peter Hofbauer, an Austrian born engineer and inventor now living in US. The discussion will be held on Friday, May 6, 2016 at 3 PM in the Boardroom # 104, First Floor. |
North America & Strategic Technologies | ||||
| Monograph launch titled "Turmoil in West Asia: The Sectarian Divide Shapes Regional Competitions" | April 19, 2016 | 1200 hrs | Other |
Venue: Room no 005 (Ground Floor), IDSA ProgrammeLaunch of the monograph Shri Jayant Prasand, Director General, IDSA Remarks by the author, Amb. Talmiz Ahmad - The Sectarian Divide in West Asian Politics: An Historical Perspective Amb. Sanjay Singh - Sectarianism in Iran's regional politics Dr. Mahtab Alam Rizvi, IDSA Scholar - The Saudi-Iran Divide: Can it be Bridged? Amb. Ranjit Gupta - Shaping an Indian Role for a Cooperative Security Framework in West Asia |
Eurasia & West Asia |