Speaker: Prof. Baladas Ghoshal, former Professor of Southeast Asia and South-West Pacific Studies, and Chairman, Centre for South and Southeast Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. He was ICCR Chair in Indian Studies, Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow 2013; Honorary Distinguished Fellow, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies; and Visiting Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research

Chair: Amb. Rajiv Bhatia, Distinguished Fellow, Foreign Studies Programme, Gateway House

Over the course of the last year and a half, four national elections were held in countries of Southeast Asia, namely in Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and in Indonesia. Each one of them were consequential bringing about regime and policy changes. While the priorities in each of these countries were distinct, the common focus was political stability, economic development in the post Covid-period and foreign policy directed towards preservation of national sovereignty and balancing the major relations that were in turmoil due to the breakdown of understanding between the United States and China. The change in the political developments of these countries will have a major impact not only in the domestic politics of these countries, but also on regional developments as well as their approaches to the United States and China. More importantly, new challenges will emerge in India’s engagement with the region and will require calibrating and fine-tuning of strategies to deal with them.