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Dear Friend,
The year 2017 was a hectic year for the ICS and the month of December was the culmination of the work of several months as we hosted two major events – the 10th All India Conference of China Studies (AICCS) and a new initiative the 1st India Forum on China (IFC).
10th All India Conference of China Studies
Goa was the venue for both the 10th AICCS and the 1st IFC. The AICCS is the annual flagship conference of ICS organized with the principal objective of spreading interest in and strengthening research on China and East Asian Studies in India. The 10th edition, with the special theme ‘China in the Maritime Domain’, was organized in collaboration with the UGC Centre for Latin American Studies, Goa University in cooperation with the Naval War College, Goa from 12-14 December. Dr. Aravind Yelery, Assistant Director, ICS was Convenor and Prof. Aparajita Gangopadhyay of Goa University, the Co-Convenor.
The inaugural session of the conference saw presentations by Prof. Varun Sahni, Vice Chancellor, Goa University and Commodore Ashok Rai, Officiating Commandant, Naval War College’ (YouTube).The three-day event saw 35 paper presentations in 7 sessions, by scholars from different parts of India (Listen to all the sessions on Soundcloud). These papers had come through a rigorous selection process and were chosen through two stages from among 152 abstract submissions and 63 shortlisted paper submissions.
In addition to the technical sessions, there were two special panels organised on the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China with ICS faculty Prof. Manoranjan Mohanty, Prof. Alka Acharya, Prof. Sreemati Chakrabarti and Dr. Jabin T. Jacob as speakers (Soundcloud), and on India-China-Latin America Engagements in the 21st Century with speakers being Amb. R.Viswanathan, former ambassador of India to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, Mr. Dattesh Parulekar, of the UGC Centre for Latin American Studies and Mr. Hari Sheshasayee, Advisor, ProColombia, India (YouTube).
The valedictory session of the AICCS also encompassed the release of Prof. Tansen Sen’s opus, India, China and the World: A Connected History with the discussion led by Prof. Prasenjit Duara, Oscar Tang Chair of East Asian Studies at Duke University, Prof. Mohanty and Dr. Madhavi Thampi, Editor, China Report. We are happy to report that the 11th edition of the AICCS will be held in Bengaluru in November/December 2018, with Christ University as the host institution.
1st India Forum on China
The 10th AICCS was followed by the 1st India Forum on China (IFC) on 14-15 December, organized together with the Konrad-Adenauer-Foundation, India (KAS) in cooperation with Goa University. The IFC is designed as an annual platform for China specialists including academics and practitioners from India and across the world to help shape and project an Indian perspective on trends and developments in China. The theme of the first edition of the IFC held at the International Centre Goa was ‘Decoding China’s Quest for Global and Regional Leadership’. The IFC was inaugurated by the Honourable Governor of Goa, Smt. Mridula Sinha with Amb. Shyam Saran, Member, ICS Governing Council and Former Indian Foreign Secretary delivering the keynote address. Mr. Peter Rimmele, KAS Resident Representative to India, Prof. Sahni, Vice-Chancellor, Goa University and I also spoke in the Inaugural Session (YouTube).
There were six technical sessions over two days which covered among other themes, developments in Chinese maritime administration, Chinese investments in Europe, the strategic objectives of China’s foreign policy, its cyber capabilities, and attempts to rewrite history. Xi Jinping’s impact on China’s foreign policy and various aspects of China’s assertiveness also received close attention. The regional dimensions of China’s foreign policy were examined in particular detail with a focus on the AfPak region, West Asia, Latin America, its relations with Russia as well as the role of Chinese provinces in the promotion of the country’s national interests.
Among the galaxy of respected international academics and prominent practitioners who spoke at the IFC were Amb. Shivshankar Menon, Chairperson, ICS Advisory Board and former Indian National Security Advisor, Amb. Bilahari Kausikan, Ambassador-at-large and former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, Singapore, Amb. P.S.Raghavan, Convenor, National Security Advisory Board, India, Dr. Arvind Gupta, Director, Vivekananda International Foundation and former Deputy National Security Advisor, Prof. Richard Rigby, Professorial Fellow Crawford School of Public Policy & Executive Director, ANU China Institute, Australian National University, Canberra, Prof. C. Rajamohan, Director, Carnegie India, Prof. Christian Wagner, Senior Fellow, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Berlin, Prof. David Arase, Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies, Nanjing University, and Prof. Arthur S. Ding, Former Director, Institute of International Relations, Taipei, Taiwan, and Vice Admiral Anil Chopra, Member, National Security Advisory Board. All the sessions of the IFC are available on YouTube and Soundcloud.
Publications
ICS Fellow Dr. Jabin T. Jacob has a new ICS Occasional Paper examining Chinese arguments on BRI in so far as they relate to India. He does a thorough job of highlighting the contradictions and loopholes at the heart of these arguments. Associate Fellow, Dr. Tshering Chonzom had a piece in The Diplomat on the recent visit of a prominent Tibetan leader to his home in Yunnan province in China and its possible implications for China-Tibet relations.
Faculty Updates
Dr. Jacob was appointed to the Research and Advisory Committee to supervise PhD scholars at the Naval War College, Goa. He was also a speaker at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore on 18 December 2017 at a roundtable on Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh.
The ICS website and following us on Facebook and on Twitter are great ways of catching the latest on our activities and publications. You can also sign up to receive the latest information of our events and publications as well as browse the ICS’ YouTube and Soundcloud channels. Let me take this opportunity to thank you once again for your support to the ICS through the past year and hope we will continue to receive your support and cooperation going forward.
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