AKAM Lecture_Invitation _CESS download
ABSTRACT
Menon considers how Indian foreign policy has done in the 75 years of the Republic in achieving the goals that were set for it for promoting India’s transformation and creating an enabling environment for India’s security and prosperity. Menon believes that the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) was not neutrality, but in fact a strategic choice of India. The focus of India’s foreign policy should not be limited to seeking permanent seat in Security Council or revenge for historical wrongs. Welfare and peace should be given more importance. Yet, India needs the world for energy and other resource endowments. He looks at the different situations that India has faced since independence, and at some of the most significant relationships, particularly with its neighbours and the major powers. Until 1971, India had space with respect to the foreign relations with China. But, with the Sino- Soviet split followed by the Sino-US alliance, India was left with limited options. During this phase, the limitations of NAM also became apparent. With the collapse of USSR in 1989, a Unipolar movement started across the globe. This movement halted with the 2008 global financial crisis. But the speaker thinks that the world has not yet moved towards multipolarity. Economically, the world order is multipolar. In addition to the changes that globalisation has brought in to the global economy, it had great impact on the internal politics of the countries. Rise of new authoritarian populist demagogues, explosion of aspirations and waves of urbanisation were such impacts. Politics eventually became ‘politics of emotions and resentment’ leading to hyper-nationalist tendencies. Earlier China described disputes with India as ‘disputes leftover from history’, which stemmed from the British Raj. But now, China considers this as a threat to its Sovereignty, projecting their hyper-nationalist attitude. Currently, domestic policies of countries do not support the kind of foreign policy we require. He then discusses learnings from the experience of 75 years of foreign policy and the prospects for India in the years to come. Finding partners who share common interest in terms of energy security, climate change, cyber security etc is the way forward.
Greetings from CESS!
You are cordially invited to the Lecture under the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM) Series by Dr.Shivshankar Menon, IFS (Retd), Former National Security Adviser, Govt. of India, Chairman, Advisory Board, Institute of Chinese Studies (New Delhi), Visiting Professor, Asoka University (New Delhi) on “Indian Foreign Policy @75 : Challenges and the Way Forward” on Friday, 8 July, 2022 at 11.00 AM in Seminar Hall, First floor, CESS, Hyderabad.
Prof.Rajen Harshe, Founding and Former Vice-Chancellor, Central University of Allahabad (Prayagraj) will chair the Lecture.
The Invitation card for the Lecture along with the login credentials for online participation is attached / furnished below:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4466148563 pwd=AoxpEfhR9DYziABOxV7MEOrAL90L2o.1
Meeting ID: 446 614 8563
Passcode: cbp0822