Coordinated by Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Ashok K. Mehta

Whither Afghanistan?

Panelists: Amb. Gautam Mukhopadhyay, former Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan; Lt. Gen. Ravi Sawhney, Senior Fellow, Vivekananda Foundation; Ms Maya Mirchandani, Counter Terrorism Specialist, Observer Research Foundation; Shri Kabir Taneja, Fellow, Strategic Studies Programme, Observer Research Foundation; and Mr. David Loyn, former BBC correspondent and author of The Long War: The Inside Story of America and Afghanistan since 9/11

Chair: Maj. Gen. Ashok K. Mehta

It is 18 months since the Taliban re-conquered Afghanistan and rolled back the two-decade old experiment with democracy. Unlike 1996, not a single country has recognized the Emirate. The humanitarian crisis has worsened as ISIS and the National Resistance Front led by Ahmed Massoud continue to challenge the Taliban. The panel will discussed the charmed future of the Taliban government
 

Economic Security in Indo-Pacific: Gradation of Regional Responses

Lead presentations by IIC and International House of Japan (I-House) Distinguished Visiting Scholars

- Prof. Ken Jimbo, Managing Director (Representative Director), President, Asia-Pacific Initiative and Professor, Faculty of Policy Management, Keio University, Tokyo; and Prof. Kazuto Suzuki, Director, Institute of Geoeconomics, and Professor of Science and Technology Policy, Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Tokyo, Japan

Speakers: Prof Manoj Pant, former Dean, SIS, JNU and  Ms Indrani Bagchi, CEO, Ananta Centre 

Chair: Dr. Shankar Acharya, former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India and currently Professor at the ICRIER 
 

(Collaboration: International House of Japan, Tokyo)
 

Energy Efficiency Matters

By Ajay Mathur and Leher V. Thadani (Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation; & Teri Alumni Association: 2022)

Discussants: Amb. Shyam Saran, President IIC and former Foreign Secretary of India; Ms Namita Vikas, Founder & Managing Director, Auctus ESG; Shri Ajay Shankar, Distinguished Fellow, TERI and former Secretary, Dept. of Industrial Planning & Policy, Govt. of India; and Dr, Ajau Mathur, Director General, International Solar Alliance and author of the book

Moderator: Shri Amitabh Sinha, Resident Editor, The Indian Express, Pune

Two books from the “Routledge Focus on Modern Subjects” will be discussed:

Disciplines of Modernity: Archives, Histories, Anthropologies

By Saurabh Dube (Routledge Taylor & Francis: 2022)

The Dazzle of the Digital: Unbundling India Online

By Meghna Bal and Vivan Sharan (Routledge Taylor & Francis: 2022)

Discussants: Dr. Mahesh Uppal, Director, ComFirst India; Prof. Prathama Banerjee, Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi; Prof. Projit B. Mukharji, Professor, History and Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania and Ashoka University; Prof. Vibodh Parathasarathi, Associate Professor, Centre for Culture, Media and Governance, Jamia Millia Islamia University; Ms Meghna Bal, Fellow, Esya Centre and co-author of the book; Shri Vivan Sharan, Partner, Koan Advisory Group and co-author of the book; and Dr. Saurabh Dube, Distinguished Professor of History, El Colegio de Mexico, Mexico City and author of the book
 

Japan – India Synergy: Vision 2052
An International Symposium
Conceptualised by Dr. Anu Jindal, artist, scholar and curator

PROGRAMME

Opening remarks:         Dr Anu Jindal, New Delhi
Welcome Address:         Mr K. N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC
Invocation:                     Ms Yoko Matshushita, Osaka, Japan

Session I:                    10.10 - 11.20 am

Chair: Mr Kojiro Morikawa, Historian, Member of Osaka Foreign Business Network Club & Investor, Kyoto, Japan. 

A brief introduction of the Mithila Museum at the Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama
Mr Tokio Hasegawa, Founder-Director, Mithila Museum, Tokamachi, Niigata, Japan. (Yuka-san - Amagasaki, Osaka, interpreter) 

My Journey of Dance, Kalari, Yoga, Geeta and Situation of Indian Culture in Japan
Ms Yoko Matsushita, Bharat Natyam Dancer, Founder-Director, Studio Prachee, Osaka, Japan

India-Japan Economic Relations: Select Aspects
Dr H.S. Prabhakar, former Prof, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi 

Tea break:             11:20 – 11:40 hours

Session II:             11:40 – 13:00 hours
Chair: Dr Anu Jindal, Artist, Scholar, Arts Administrator

Special Address:     Dr Vibha Dhawan, Director-General, The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI), New Delhi 

India as a fountain in the Japanese popular culture context: Focusing on the 1970s children's action TV drama Rainbow Man
Dr Hajime Hasegawa, Prof of Media Studies, Gaku-in University, Tokyo 

Dr Nisha Taneja, ICRIER, New Delhi 

Three Similarities of China’s Territorial Expansion: How does QUAD work?
Dr Satoru Nagao, Fellow (non-resident), Hudson Institute (Washington DC), will join from Tokyo

Lunch Break:         13:00 – 14:00 hours

Session III:             14:00 – 15:20 hours

Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Japan-India 
Dr Sreeram Chaulia, Prof & Dean, Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA), O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), Sonipat, Haryana, India 
 

Mr Anuj Dayal, Principal Executive Director (CC), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, New Delhi

Mr Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, Head of India Practice, Eurasia Group, New Delhi 

Indo-Japanese bilateral and multilateral relations till 2047
Mr Gautam Mukherjee, Senior Journalist & TV Panelist, New Delhi 

Strategic Partnership/Africa Corridor
Mr. Manish Chand, CEO & Editor-in-Chief, India Writes Network, Centre for Global India Insights (CGII), India 

Tea break:             15:20 – 15:40 hours

Session IV:             15:40 – 17:00 hours

Chair: Dr Anita Sharma, former Prof, Dept of East Asian Studies, University of Delhi, New Delhi

Japan-India Trade and Soft Power Exchanges
Mr Amarendra Khatua, former Secretary and Director-General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), New Delhi

City Planning in Japan: Historic City of Nagahama
Dr Prafulla Parlekar, Prof in Dept of Urban Planning, School of Planning & Architecture, New Delhi 

Environment Friendly Design for Sustainable Living-Japanese Role Model
Dr Anu Jindal, Artist Scholar Arts Administrator, New Delhi 

Summation by Dr Anu Jindal

The Symposium takes off from the Embassy of Japan in India’s declaration of “Building a future for our centenary” – looking ahead to the year 2052, when the celebration to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and India will take place. 

Organised to mark the 70th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and India

 
Relevance of the Values of the Freedom Struggle
Speaker: S. Irfan Habib
 
Moderator of the series: Suhas Borker
Introduction: Vinay Kumar, Secretary General, Press Club of India
 
The series of Conversations with Media is jointly presented by IIC and PCI and is hosted by them alternatively every month
 

Slow Disaster: Political Ecology of Hazards and Everyday Life in the Brahmaputra Valley, Assam

By Mitul Baruah (Routledge Taylor & Francis: 2022)

Discussants: Shri Sanjoy Hazarika, writer, columnist and Human Rights activist; Prof. Arupjyoti Saikia, Professor, Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT, Guwahati; Prof. Rajeswari Raina, Professor, Dept. of International Relations and Governance Studies, Shiv Nadar University; and Dr. Mitul Baruah, Assistant Professor, Sociology, Anthropology and Environmental Studies, Ashoka University and author of the book

Moderator: Dr. Swargajyoti Gohain, Associate Professor, Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology, Ashoka University

Coordinated by Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Ashok K. Mehta

India-Nepal Relations Post the Elections

A discussion with Amb. Manjeev Puri, former India Ambassador to Nepal; Ms Akanshya Shah, Nepali journalist and researcher based in Delhi; Dr. Nihar R. Nayak, Research Fellow, MP-Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses; and Lt. Gen. P.J.S. Pannu, former Deputy Chief of Army Staff

Chair: Maj. Gen. Ashok K. Mehta

Provincial and national elections in Nepal will be held on 20 November 2022. Going by results from local elections held earlier this year, the Nepali Congress-led alliance of Prime Minister S.B. Deuba is likely to be the winners with the K.P. Oli led UML Alliance giving a tough fight. The border dispute with India including Kalapani will be a key issue and focus on nationalism.

Her Voice: India @75 - Affirmative Legislation for Equitable Women’s Representation

Speaker: Rami Chhabra, pioneer woman journalist and columnist of women’s issues in the national press; former administrator, Member, National Population Commission; Founder-President, STREEBAL

Introduction: Dr. S.Y. Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner of India and author of An Undocumented Wonder – The Making of the Great Indian Election

Concluding Remarks: Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Life Trustee, IIC and former administrator, diplomat and Governor

Chair: Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath, Life Trustee, IIC and Chairperson, Centre for Policy Research

India@ 75 with a mere 15-per cent women in Parliament - less in State Legislatures- is a travesty of the Constitutional promise of gender-equality. The controversial Women’s Reservation Bill (WRB) featuring rotational-constituencies lies moribund in Rajya Sabha. But the soon-to-be-inaugurated-new-Parliament- building with ample space -and the General Election scheduled in 2024 - make it imperative to examine women’s political representation issues anew: for alternatives to harmoniously, seamlessly, assure equity to women. Rami Chhabra had earlier fielded an alternative that merited serious consideration by the Parliament Standing Committee examining WRB. She updates the facts and arguments to urge policy-makers across the political spectrum to unite and fulfill the overdue Constitutional obligation – one that could hopefully also recalibrate the country’s politics to greater accountability.

( Collaboration: WISCOMP )

To be presented by Dr. Poonam Gupta, Director General, National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER); and Dr. Mridul Saggar, Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority (IEPF) Chair Professor, NCAER

Discussants: Prof. Arvind Panagariya, Columbia University and Visiting Distinguished Professor, NCAER; Shri Amitabh Kant, India’s G-20 Sherpa; and Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Adviser to the Govt. of India

Chair: Dr. Poonam Gupta

(Collaboration: Malcolm and Elizabeth Adiseshiah Trust; and National Council of Applied Economic Research)