Venue: Auditorium, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi

Concept Note

In the post-Cold War period, India is increasingly moving away from its previous non-aligned stance. China’s rise and India’s own economic growth and increased ambitions are all factors behind this changing outlook. Since taking up office in 2014, the current Modi government has showed that India is now willing to build more comprehensive relations with the great powers, which again may impact on the regional dynamic.

The conference, India and the Great Powers, will examine India’s relations with the great powers, emphasising particularly the US, China, Russia and Japan, and analysing change and continuity under the current government. Today’s complex Sino-Indian relationship, combining economic co-operation with strategic rivalry, may be seen as an underlying factor in all of these, with the potential for wide-ranging effects.

What are China’s strategic interests in Central and South Asia? How does India respond to China’s economic growth and increasing footprint in India’s neighborhood, both along its continental and maritime frontiers? How is China’s increased regional and global presence affecting India’s relations with great powers such as the US, Russia and Japan? Are we witnessing increased great power co-operation or great power rivalry in Eurasia and the Indo-Pacific theatre? The conference, India and the Great Powers, aims to produce new insights on India’s relations with the great powers, in light of the ongoing processes of change.

Programme

09:00 Registration

09:30 to 10:30AM: Inaugural Session

Welcome Remarks by Jayant Prasad
Keynote Address by Foreign Secretary Dr S. Jaishankar [Watch Video]
Q&A
Concluding Remarks by Jo Inge Bekkevold

10:30 to 11:00 AM: High Tea

11:00 AM to 13:30 PM: Session 2: India and China’s Rise

Chair: S Kalyanraman
Opening Remarks
India and the Emerging Sino-Iranian Partnership by John Garver
China’s strategic interests in India’s neighbourhood by Jo Inge Bekkevold
Current Challenges in India-China Relations by Ashok Kantha
India’s security policy and the China factor by Sunniva Engh
Panel Discussion and Q&A
Concluding Remarks

13:25 to 14:30 Lunch

14:30 to 16:00 PM: Session 3: India and the USA

Chair: Sunniva Engh
Opening Remarks
India and the US: Beyond Non-Alignment by Harsh Pant
India and US policy in South Asia by C. Raja Mohan
India, the United States and the Indo-Pacific Theatre by Jayant Prasad
Panel discussion and Q&A
Concluding Remarks

16:15-16:35 PM: Tea & Coffee break

16:35 to 18:05 PM: Session 4: India, Russia and Japan

Chair: Deputy National Security Advisor, Dr. Arvind Gupta
Opening Remarks
The India-Russia relationship in the 21st century by P.S. Raghavan
India, Central Asia & the Shanghai Co-operation Organization by P. Stobdan
India’s Japan policy: Drivers and Consequences by Rohan Mukherjee
Panel discussion and Q&A
Concluding Remarks

18:20 to 18:30 PM: Final remarks by Jo Inge Bekkevold and Jayant Prasad

Tea/Coffee

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