EVENTS

Abstract
The Communist Party of China's 19th Congress concluded on 25 October in Beijing. Over 2,000 delegates elected a new Central Committee out of which a new Politburo and Politburo Standing Committee too, were chosen. As expected, General Secretary Xi Jinping continues in his position for a second term as does Premier Li Keqiang. However, what do the selection of the other five members of the Standing Committee reveal about CPC's institutional structures as well as about China's policy directions for the next five years? Also, what are the implications of Xi departing from the norm of recent years and not identifying potential successors for 2022 when again according to Party norms he is supposed to step down? What are the key outcomes of Xi's report to the Congress and what are the implications that India can draw from the week-long exercise in the Chinese capital?

About the Speaker
Shyam Saran is an Indian career diplomat. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1970 and rose to become the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India. Prior to his appointment as the Foreign Secretary he served as India's ambassador to Myanmar, Indonesia and Nepal and as High Commissioner to Mauritius. Upon completion of his tenure as the Foreign Secretary he was appointed Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Indo-US civil nuclear issues and later as Special Envoy and Chief Negotiator on Climate Change.

Vijay K Nambiar joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1967. He studied Chinese in Hong Kong, and served in China from 1970-72 and returned to South Block and Udyog Bhavan until 1976. He then served as First Secretary in Tito’s Yugoslavia. He was posted from 1979 to 1982 in the Indian Mission at the United Nations (UN) in New York and served in Delhi during the 1983 NAM Summit and after. From 1985 to 1987, he was  India’s Ambassador in Algeria. He returned to Delhi as Joint Secretary East Asia in the MEA in 1987 and helped prepare for Rajiv Gandhi’s historic visit to China in 1988. Subsequently, he served as India’s Ambassador/ High Commissioner in Afghanistan (1990-1992), Malaysia (1993-1996), China (1996-2000), Pakistan (2000-2001) and Permanent Representative to the UN in New York (2002-2004). Post-retirement, he served as Deputy National Security Adviser of India (2004-2006). He was then deputed by the Government of India to serve in the United Nations Secretariat as Under Secretary-General, Special Adviser to Secretary-General Kofi Annan (2006-2007), then as Chef de Cabinet to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (2007-2012) and later as Adviser on Myanmar (2012-2016).  

SL Narasimhan, PVSM, AVSM**, VSM (Retd) is a Madras Regiment Officer and is a graduate in Mathematics. He is a post graduate in Defence Studies and has seen action in Op PAWAN in 1987 in Sri Lanka and has a vast experience in 'Counter Insurgency Operations, Line of Actual Control and High Altitude Area environment. After having successfully commanded the largest Corps of the Army in the North East, Narasimhan attained super annuation after a successful stint as Commandant, Army War College. He is well accomplished in the Chinese language. Lt Gen S L Narasimhan has authored many articles in various journals and magazines. He is presently Member of the National Security Advisory Board.