On November 14, 2018, 2nd Round of International Conference “Strategic Visions of India- Russia Relations in a Changing World Order” was launched in New Delhi (India). The event is organized by Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA). The first joint RIAC and ICWA conference was held in Moscow in October 2017 (conference report) and was timed to the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and India.
On November 14, 2018, 2nd Round of International Conference “Strategic Visions of India- Russia Relations in a Changing World Order” was launched in New Delhi (India). The event is organized by Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA). The first joint RIAC and ICWA conference was held in Moscow in October 2017 (conference report) and was timed to the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and India.
Amb. T.C.A Raghavan, ICWA Director General; Andrey Kortunov, RIAC Director General; Nikolay Kudashev, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to India; and Amb. Pankaj Saran, Deputy National Security Adviser, National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) made welcoming remarks at the inaugural session of the conference. At the opening of the event, RIAC and ICWA signed a memorandum of cooperation.
The sessions of the first day of the conference focused on the changes in the global and regional context, as well as the impact of external factors on Russia-India partnership. Within « Current Trends of World Order Changes: What Do They Mean for Russia and India?» session Russian and Indian experts discussed new challenges and impulses in реу development of bilateral relations given the increasing instability and crisis of the international system. Special attention was given to the US and China influence factors and to the international security issues. The speakers of the session included: Prof. Anuradha Chenoy, Centre for Russian Studies, JNU; Andrey Kortunov, Director General, RIAC; Indrani Talukdar, Research Fellow, ICWA; and Ivan Timofeev, Director of Programs, RIAC. Amb. P. S. Raghavan, Convenor of the National Security Advisory Board, moderated the discussion.
The second session of the conference « Regional International Orders: Compatibility or Competition?» focused on the opportunities for cooperation between Russia and India in Greater Eurasia, and the vision over the concept of Indo-Pacific region. The discussion concentrated on security and stability issues in Eurasia, as well as SCO development potential. The Indian side also paid special attention to the prospects for the development of the situation in the Arctic from both economic and strategic point of view. The session was moderated by Air Marshal. KK Nohwar, PVSM VM (Retd), DG, CAPS. The speakers included: Prof. Suba Chandran, National Institute of Advanced Studies; Andrey Kortunov, Director General, RIAC; Stuti Banerjee, Research Fellow, ICWA; and Mikhail Konarovsky, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia, Member, RIAC, Leading Research Fellow, Center for East Asian and SCO Studies at MGIMO University, Moscow.
The discussion within «External Factors of India-Russia Cooperation in the Defence Sector and beyond» session was focused on problem points in bilateral military-technical cooperation, as well as on the impact of anti-Russian sanctions on the whole range of Russian-Indian relations. The speakers included: Air Marshal M. Matheswaran, Founder, Chairman and President of the Peninsula Foundation, Chennai; Vasily Kashin, Leading Research Fellow, Institute of Far Eastern Studies of RAS; Amit Bhandari, Fellow for Energy & Environment, Gateway House; and Ivan Timofeev, Director of Programs, RIAC. Alexey Kupriyanov, Research Fellow, Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations of RAS mediated the discussion.
The sessions of the conference on the role of new technologies in the development of the Russian-Indian partnership and on the prospects for advancement in key areas of bilateral cooperation are scheduled for November 15.
