3rd All India Conference of East Asian Studies (AICEAS)
Dissonances in the World Order: Implications for Indo-Pacific & East Asia

Keynote Address by Prof. Kan Kimura, Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, Kobe University

Followed by Thematic discussions and a Special Panel by eminent academicians, policy experts and researchers on contemporary issues in East Asian Studies, international politics, regional security, technology, economics and the environment.

The conference will examine the evolving geopolitical, economic and strategic landscape of East Asia and the Indo-Pacific, with a particular focus on Japan's role in shaping a free, open and rules-based regional order. Discussions will explore regional security, economic resilience, technology, climate and multilateral cooperation.

This conference is in continuation to the 31st July’26 programme.

For the detailed programme, please visit our website

(Collaboration: Institute of Chinese Studies and Japan Foundation)

Rang Mela

Solo exhibition by Anup Shrivastava, contemporary artist from Dhar, Madhya Pradesh. He has held numerous solo exhibitions across India and participated in national and international exhibitions.

Rang Mela celebrates the vibrant colours, cultural traditions and festive spirit of the tribal communities of the Malwa and Nimar regions. Inspired by the Bhagoria festival, the exhibition captures the energy of tribal fairs, folk traditions and everyday life.

The exhibition will be inaugurated on Tuesday 1st September’26 at 18:00 hrs

The exhibition will remain open daily from 11:00 to 19:00 hrs
 

1940s–1960s: The 13th Dalai Lama's ‘Declaration’ in Tsepon Shakabpa's Tibet: A Political History

Speaker: Dr. Scott Relyea, Associate Professor of East Asian History and Assistant Chair, Department of History, Appalachian State University

Chair: Prof. Kaveri Gill, Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Centre of Excellence for Himalayan Studies, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence.

In 1967, Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa published Tibet: A Political History, the first book to focus on the political history of Tibet, based on research begun in the early 1950s. This lecture examines the intellectual, political and geopolitical contexts—from India and the United States to the United Nations and Yale University—that shaped this decision and influenced the framing of Tibet's political history during the era of decolonisation.

(Collaboration: Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS)
 

Woman| Life| Freedom

In Conversation: Swara Bhaskar, acclaimed actor and advocate for gender justice, civil liberties and democratic rights with Sujata Prasad, author, curator, founder, Ahad Anhad and works across heritage education and the arts and Oroon Das, designer, curator and theatre artist.

This is the 22nd Conversation in this Series
(Collaboration: Ahad Anhad)

INDIAN ARCHAEOLOGY

Buddhist Monasteries in Rock Art Sites of Central India

Speaker: Dr Shyam Sharan Gupta, rock art expert and former Superintending Archaeologist of Archaeological Survey of India (Bhopal).

Chair: K. N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC

Moderator: Pratap Bhanu Singh Sengar, former Director (Monuments) Archaeological Survey of India

The session will examine the transformation of prehistoric rock shelters in the Vindhyan plateau of Central India into Buddhist hill monasteries during the early centuries of Buddhism. Drawing on recent archaeological surveys and research, it will examine how these shelters were adapted for monastic life, the architectural and the religious features associated with them.

BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP

Migrants and other poems: A Collection of Reflective Poetry on Loss, Migration, and Displacement
By Prasenjit Mukherjee. (Penguin Random House, 2026)

Discussants: Parimal K. Brahma, Poet, and Writer; Ashok Lavasa, Former Election Commissioner of India; Amb. T C A Raghavan, Former High Commissioner to Pakistan; Dr. Meeran Chadha Borwankar, Writer & Former Police Commissioner, Pune; Dr. Prasenjit Mukherjee, Author of the book

(Collaboration: Poetry Society of India) 
 

Architecture and Art – Processes, Products and Perceptions
Speaker: Rajesh Luthra, Principal of Development Consortium – Architecture & Urban Design, Visiting Professor at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi
Moderator, Mr Partho Dutta, Professor in the School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU 
The talk would be a fascinating foray through what are often blurred lines between art and architecture as read via a reading of movements and individuals over time. It intends to explore the processes behind the canvas and the constructed even as it attempts an understanding of societal perceptions and responses. This, while contrasting within realms that may be seen as symbiotic or alternately, parasitic.
 

China’s Grand Strategy: India’s Long-Term Response in an Asymmetric Strategic Environment

Chair: C. Uday Bhaskar, distinguished strategic and security affairs expert, former Indian Navy officer, and currently Director, Society for Policy Studies (SPS).

Speakers: Rear Admiral K. Raja Menon (Retd.), former Indian Navy. Author and Expert on Maritime and Nuclear Strategy, and on defining Emerging Geostrategic Scenarios; Amb. Ashok Kantha, former Indian Ambassador to China and former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India; and Prof. Srikanth Kondapalli, Professor of China Studies, Centre for East Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Dean, School of International Studies.

The discussion examines the concept of grand strategy in circumstances where war is not the preferred instrument of national policy. Drawing upon official Chinese documents and strategic writings, it explores the long-term objectives that underpin China’s grand strategy and assesses their implications for India.