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Dear Friend,
The month of November remained productive for the Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS), with a wide range of events and activities, along with our research on China and East-Asia.
EVENTS AND ACTIVITIEs
The 12th All India Conference of China Studies (AICCS) was held on 8-10 November. An annual flagship conference of the Institute, the AICCS is held in collaboration with an academic institution/university, with the objective of spreading interest in and strengthening research on China and East Asia in India. The 12th edition held in partnership with the Jindal Global University (JGU), Sonipat, Haryana at the JGU campus. The special theme of the conference was ‘Law, Governance and Society in China’. We received 85 abstracts, out of which 35 were shortlisted in the first round through a rigorous selection process. In the second round, 21 completed papers selected for presentation at the conference, thereby bringing students and scholars from different parts of the country. In addition to papers, over the last two editions of the AICCS, we have also been having special panels for more focused discussions. During the 12th AICCS, there were 7 special panel discussions on issues/areas ranging from 50 years of the ICS to East Asian Security and Geopolitical Narratives, from Geopolitics of the river Brahmaputra to Fieldwork Experiences in China. The programme of the AICCS can be found here. We will also be shortly uploading videos of the special panel discussions on the YouTube channel of the Institute.
Many ICS Fellows – Emeritus, Honorary and Adjunct – and Faculty were involved in as speakers/chairs at the 12th AICCS. The first session of the conference commemorating the Institute’s 50th anniversary was chaired by Amb. Kishan Rana, ICS Emeritus Fellow and included talks by Prof. Manoranjan Mohanty, ICS Honorary Fellow, Prof. Patricia Uberoi, ICS Chairperson, Prof. Sreemati Chakrabarti, ICS Vice Chairperson and Dr. P.K. Anand, ICS Research Associate. On special panels Prof. Alka Acharya, ICS Honorary Fellow, spoke in the seventh session on the present state of India-China relations and Dr. Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman, ICS Visiting Research Associate, presented on the subject of India-China cooperation surrounding the Brahmaputra river. The final special panel on experiences of fieldwork in China included talks from Dr. Hemant Adlakha, ICS Honorary Fellow, Dr. Madhurima Nundy, ICS Associate Fellow and Dr. Veda Vaidyanathan, ICS Research Associate. ICS Faculty also presented papers. Dr. Debasish Chaudhuri, ICS Adjunct Fellow, presented on reforms of the Chinese legal system and Mr. Rajesh Ghosh, ICS Research Assistant, co-presented a paper on China’s new Foreign Direct Investment law. I also spoke at the opening and valedictory sessions.
We also organised the launch of Commercialisation of Medical Care in China: Changing Landscapes authored by Prof. Rama Baru, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Dr. Madhurima Nundy, ICS Assistant Director, and published by Routledge (YouTube). The event was covered by The Asian Age. We also organised a special lecture on the subject of China-Russia relations delivered by Raquel Vaz-Pinto, Researcher, Portuguese Institute of International Relations, NOVA University of Lisbon (Soundcloud).
One Wednesday Seminar was conducted this month. Dr. Rup Narayan Das, Senior Fellow, Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), gave a presentation on the Hong Kong protests (YouTube)(Soundcloud).
PUBLICATIONS
As part of our ‘China in the World’ programme, we published the ICS Monograph China’s Infrastructure Development in Africa: An Examination of Case Studies in Kenya and Tanzania. Led by Dr. Veda Vaidyanathan, ICS Research Associate, the field-based project examined six case studies of Chinese construction activity on the African continent and underwent a thorough peer-review after the dissemination event that we held this April.
We published one ICS Analysis this month titled ‘Historical Overview of Chinese FDI Regulations’, by Mr. Rajesh Ghosh, ICS Research Assistant.
IN THE MEDIA
Amb. Shyam Saran, Member, ICS Governing Council, penned two pieces for Business Standard this month - one reviewing Sudheer Sharma’s book on the India-Nepal relationship and another on India’s emergence as a leading power. He also penned his thoughts on the India-Nepal border for The Indian Express and on military reorganisation for The Tribune. Further, he appeared in an interview conducted by senior journalist, Smita Sharma, of the South Asian Women in Media (SAWM) to discuss topics ranging from India-Sri Lanka relations to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Prof. Brij Tankha, ICS Honorary Fellow, reviewed author Pico Iyer’s book A Beginner’s Guide to Japan: Observations and Provocations in the Indian Express. Prof. Sreemati Chakrabarti, ICS Vice-Chairperson was interviewed by BBC Bengali regarding the newly elected Sri Lankan President’s visit to India.
Faculty Updates
Prof. Sreemati Chakrabarti, ICS Vice-Chairperson, spoke on her research on the Cultural Revolution in China at a workshop held at Jawaharlal Nehru University on 21 November. I participated in the 4th India-China Think Tanks Forum held in Beijing on 28-29 November 2019.
The ICS Website, Facebook and Twitter accounts are among the several ways you can get the latest on our publications and activities. You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter to follow our events and publications as well as browse our YouTube and SoundCloud channels.
We look forward to seeing you at more of our events.
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