You are cordially invited to Strategic Affairs RoundTable Discussions

Roundtable Panelists
Ambassador Anil Trigunayat – Panelist  Statement

Ambassador Kanwal Sibal 

Professor Holli A. Semetko – Panelist  Statement 

Chair
Dr. A. Adityanjee, President, Council for Strategic Affairs

About the Lecture
View The Recorded Event on CSA YouTube Channel

About the Roundtable Panelists 

Ambassador Kanwal Sibal
Ambassador Kanwal Sibal, Former Former Foreign Secretary to GOI, comes with 41 years of diplomatic experience, was India’s Foreign Secretary. He was Ambassador to Turkey, Egypt, France and Russia and DCM in Washington (with rank of ambassador). He has written more than 700 Op-Eds and other articles for major Indian and foreign publications. He has received the Padma Shree award ( 2017) for public service.

Ambassador Anil Trigunayat
Ambassador Anil Trigunayat has been a professional Indian Diplomat for over three decades serving India’s national interests across continents from Asia to Africa to Europe and Americas including Russia and USA . Prior to his superannuation in 2016 he served as India’s Ambassador to Jordan, Libya and Malta. He has studied in Agra, Kumaon and Jawahar Lal Nehru University . He also did research work at Oxford University on “WTO and Regional Trading Blocs”. He is a regular commentator on foreign affairs and a prolific writer. Currently apart from his association with various Think Tanks, Strategy Groups and Chambers of Commerce & Industries in India and abroad, he is a Distinguished Fellow with prestigious Vivekananda International Foundation , heading their West Asia Experts Group. His key areas of interest include West Asia, Africa, and Russia and serving India’s interests in conflict zones. Recently Government has appointed him as an Independent Director on the Board of WAPCOS a mini- Ratna Government Company. He is a Peace Ambassador with Unity Earth, Australia as well as a Rotarian serving the society to the extent possible. Apart from penning hundreds of articles , opinion pieces and commentaries on foreign policy issues in leading magazines and news papers he has recently edited a celebrated BOOK on “ Evolving Security Dynamic in West Asia and India’s challenges “ published by VIF and Pentagon Press and available on Amazon .

Professor Holli A. Semetko
Professor Holli A. Semetko, MSc PhD (The London School of Economics & Political Science) MBA (Emory), is Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Media and International Affairs and Professor of Political Science at Emory University in Atlanta, where she served as Vice Provost for International Affairs (VPIA), Director of the Office of International Affairs and The Claus M. Halle Institute for Global Learning from 2003 to early 2013. With over 100 publications, her research on influence, strategy and campaigns in international contexts extends from the US, UK, Germany, Turkey and the European Union (EU), to India, China and South Korea. Dr. Semetko often speaks internationally most recently at institutions in India and China including the Reserve Bank of India in Mumbai and Xi’an Jiaotong University School of Management among others. A 2013-14 Fulbright Nehru Scholar and Honorary Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-Bombay), Dr. Semetko lived in Mumbai for the last half of 2013 where her daughters attended the American School of Bombay. She conducted research on strategic communication and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in India, and launched a large benchmark study on media and campaigning in the 2014 national election with an international team of Indian scholars, with a grant from Emory’s University Research Council. Dr. Semetko continues to serve as Visiting Professor at IIT-Bombay and IIT-Roorkee where she addressed 900 students in the incoming class of 2018. She has visited over a dozen of India’s states and Union territories to speak, strengthen partnerships, and connect with Emory friends and families. Dr. Semetko’s tenure as VPIA and Director was a time of unsurpassed growth in Emory’s international reputation, partnerships, teaching and research. Emory’s international alumni clubs grew more than ten-fold, the international student and scholar population grew eight-fold, and more than 100 international partnerships and programs were launched in countries around the world. Strategic alliances with institutions in a number of countries were launched and strengthened under her leadership. As VIPA and Halle Institute director, Dr. Semetko led teams of entrepreneurial students, faculty and donors to launch several notable programs. She launched the Halle Institute’s Knowledge Futures initiative, an interdisciplinary program that sponsors forums to address critical issues about the digital, mediated and wireless world; the endowed Turkish Lecture Series; Cartooning for Peace at the United Nations and Cartooning for Peace and Health at Emory; and the annual India Summit. Semetko established the Halle Institute’s research program in 2004 to advance faculty research and partnered with a variety of institutions to cosponsor symposia including the European Central Bank; Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta; diplomatic missions from Argentina, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Turkey and the UK; Seoul National University and Nanjing University’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences. Hundreds of scholars and students have benefited from the research program. The Halle Institute’s study trip program was expanded from Germany and India to Belgium, Brazil, China and Hong Kong, Jordan, South Korea, Indonesia and Turkey. Dr. Semetko served eight years as Professor and Chair of Audience and Public Opinion Research at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), where she also led the Department of Communication Science, ranked #2 in the world for communication & media studies (QS 2016-17). She obtained over 1.5 million euros in research grants, launched & served as founding board chair of the Amsterdam School of Communications Research (ASCoR), an advanced institute for research and graduate training, where she remains an honorary professor. She has also held fellowships from Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center for the Press, Politics and Public Policy, and the German Marshall Fund of the United States. An award-winning scholar, Dr. Semetko’s PhD was awarded the Samuel H. Beer Dissertation Prize and took the MSc in political sociology with distinction at the LSE. An advisor to The Carter Center China Program, Dr. Semetko serves on a number of boards and consults internationally. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Emory’s Center for Ethics, and the Academy of International Business.

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You are cordially invited to Strategic Affairs Distinguished Lecture

Distinguished Speaker
Rear Admiral Sanatan Kulshrestha, Indian Navy (Retd.)

Chair
Dr. A. Adityanjee, President
Council for Strategic Affairs

About the Lecture
View The Recorded Event on CSA YouTube Channel

CoCo Islands is a small group of islands in the Northeastern Bay of Bengal near the Andaman Nicobar islands. They are part of the Yangon Region of Myanmar. The islands are located 414 km (257 mi) south of the city of Yangon. Coco Island group consists of five islands: four on Great Coco Reef and one on the Little Coco Reef. To the north of this island group lies Preparis Island, belonging to Myanmar. To the south lies the Landfall Island, belonging to India.These islands once belonged to India but during Nehru’s Prime Ministership, the ownership and possession were transferred to Myanmar. For more than two decades Communist China was operating a listening post on the CoCo Islands. Since India’s decision to transform Andaman and Nicobar into a tri-service theatre command, there is chatter about Communist China, with connivance and concurrence of Myanmar military government developing the facility into a Chinese naval base. There are serious maritime security implications for India. Admiral Kulshrestha will discuss various aspects of this emerging maritime threat.

About the Distinguished Speaker

Rear Admiral S Kulshrestha

Rear Admiral S Kulshrestha is an alumnus of Jodhpur University with Gold Medal in Solid State Physics in his Post Graduation. He joined Indian Navy in the year 1975 and was awarded Silver Medal at the Naval Academy, the Telescope and the Sword of Honour for being adjudged the best Naval Officer during initial training. He did his specialisation in Quality Assurance of Naval Armament and adorned various key appointments at Naval Command Headquarters , DRDO establishments, Ordnance Factories and finally rose to become the Director General of Naval Armament Inspection (DGNAI) at the Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Navy). During his career spanning over three decades in the Armament Quality Organisation in the Indian Navy, he has gained and attained thorough knowledge of Quality Assurance of sophisticated naval armament, Quality Management Systems, Project Management, Negotiation on technical as well as financial subjects. 

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You are cordially invited to Strategic Affairs RoundTable Discussions

Roundtable Panelists
Commodore A. J. Singh, 

Dr. Swasti Rao

Chair
Dr. A. Adityanjee, President, Council for Strategic Affairs

About the Lecture
View The Recorded Event on CSA YouTube Channel

About the Roundtable Panelists 

Commodore Anil Jai Singh
Commodore Anil Jai Singh is the Vice President of the Indian Maritime Foundation and heads its Delhi branch. He was commissioned in the Navy in Jan 1981 and took premature retirement in March 2011. In his career spanning three decades, he had the distinction of commanding four submarines and a Fleet ship. He also served in the Directorates of Naval Plans and Submarine Acquisition at Naval Headquarters and was involved in drafting the Navy’s 30 year submarine construction plan and the 15 year ship building plan which are now coming to fruition. He has been a Directing Staff at the College of Naval Warfare, Senior Instructor(Navy) at the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and the Defence and Naval Adviser at the Indian High Commission in London. His last appointment was as Deputy Assistant Chief (Maritime) in the Perspective Planning and Force Development branch of the Integrated Defence Staff in the MoD. A post-graduate in Defence and Strategic Studies, he is an alumnus of the NDA, Defence Services Staff College and the College of Naval Warfare. Keenly interested in matters maritime, he speaks and writes on the subject regularly in India and abroad and is also involved with the Indian industry associations on defence procurement and indigenization issues.

Dr. Swasti Rao
Dr. Swasti Rao is an Associate Fellow at the Europe and Eurasia Center, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.
She has an MA and MPhil in International Politics from JNU and has completed her PhD in Advanced International Comparative Politics from Tsukuba University, Japan. She also holds an adjunct research position at the University of Tokai, Japan. Before joining MP-IDSA she was teaching Strategic and Security Studies at Aligarh Muslim University. She specializes in foreign, defense and security policy of European countries. Her research interests explore dimensions of the securitization debate in Europe, Migrant Crisis, Europe’s Outreach to Indo -Pacific, Defence Cooperation between India and Major European Players, Multilateral Cooperation for Space Situational awareness and Maritime Domain Awareness. She also explores Europe- Japan relations and its global implications.

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You are cordially invited to Strategic Affairs Distinguished Lecture

Distinguished Speaker
Dr. Bharat Karnad

Chair
Dr. A. Adityanjee, President
Council for Strategic Affairs

About the Lecture
View The Recorded Event on CSA YouTube Channel

‘Security Wise’ was the title of a fortnightly newspaper column I wrote for many years in the Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle and, later, in the New Indian Express. It is a blog dedicated unapologetically to espousing realpolitik foreign and military policies and realist approach as vehicle for furthering India’s national interest (stripped of abstract universal concerns, such as world peace, disarmament and nonproliferation, Third World good, etc., and of emphasis mainly on soft power, that have for too long been the bread and butter of Indian foreign policy, both in the declaratory sense and in substantive terms).

In a system of sovereign nation-states and a harsh “dog eat dog” international milieu, National Interest should be the only motivation and driver of all state policies in the external realm. Conjoined to the relentless and focused acquisition of strategic hard power capabilities, it will, as this analyst has argued since 1979, achieve for India Great Power it has always potentially been but which governments since 1947 have failed to realize. This is because of the absence of clearly articulated national vision, strategy, disruptive game-plan and policies, and of strong political will to implement them. It has resulted in an often skewed world-view, miscued geopolitics, a myopic approach fixating on “unfriendly neighbours”, an over-accommodating stance vis a vis powerful states, an inclination to uphold the status quo rather than challenge and upend the prevailing Asian and global order that discriminates against and victimizes India, a manifestly wonky threat perception, an institutional disregard for achieving arms self-sufficiency and, hence, a military, dependent on imported armaments, with limited reach and clout backed by a truncated nuclear deterrent (that can boast of credible and reliable thermonuclear weapons only if India resumes open-ended underground nuclear testing, which it should do at the earliest).

This constitutes the meat of the argument I have made for three and half decades now (in 2016), within government and military circles and outside of them, and reflects my bedrock beliefs, which are reflected in all my books, other writings, and in the posts to-date on this blog. The arch-realist policy compass ‘Security Wise’ represents will not change, whichever the government of whatever ideological stripe is ruling in New Delhi at any given time. This usually puts this analyst and his analysis at odds with the policies of the day and those who make them because their flawed basics don’t seem to change even when the world does.

About the Distinguished Speaker

Dr. Bharat Karnad is Distinguished Fellow at the United Service Institution of India and Emeritus Professor for National Security Studies, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. His most recent book, Staggering Forward: Narendra Modi and India’s Global Ambition was published by Penguin in September 2018. Previous books include Why India is Not a Great Power (Yet) (Oxford University Press, October 2015), Strategic Sellout: India-US Nuclear Deal (2009), Índia’s Nuclear Policy (Praeger, 2008), Nuclear Weapons and Indian Security: The Realist Foundations of Strategy, now in its second edition (Macmillan, 2005, 2002), and Future Imperilled: India’s Security in the 1990s and Beyond (Viking-Penguin, 1994) . He was Member of the (First) National Security Advisory Board, Member of the Nuclear Doctrine-drafting Group, National Security Council, Government of India, and, formerly, Advisor on Defence Expenditure to the Finance Commission, India. 

Educated at the University of California (B.A., Santa Barbara; M.A., Los Angeles), he has been a Visiting Scholar at Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champagne, and Foreign Fellow at the Shanghai Institutes of International Studies and the Henry L. Stimson Centre, Washington, DC. He lectures at the top military training and discussion forums, including CORE (Combined Operational Review and Evaluation), DRDO Annual Directors’ Conference, National Defence College, Higher Command Courses at the Army War College, College of Air Warfare, College of Naval Warfare, College of Defence Management, College of Military Engineering, and at Army Command and Corps level fora and equivalent in the other two Armed Services, and Defence Services Staff College, and also at the Indian Administrative Service Academy, Foreign Service Institute, and the National Police Academy.

He was commissioned by the Headquarters, Integrated Defence Staff, Ministry of Defence, to conceptualize, conduct for several years, and lecture at the annual Strategic Nuclear Orientation Course for Brigadier-rank officers and equivalent from the three Armed Services, and conceived and conducted the first ever high-level inter-agency war game on the nuclear tripwire in the subcontinent (at the Army War College, 2003). He is a TV commentator and writes the occasional newspaper op/ed column in Indian newspapers and a sometime contributor to various periodicals, including a column (‘Realpolitik’) in BloombergQuint.com, Seminar, Open Magazine, India Today, The Week, and web news & views outlets — The Wire.in, Rediffnews.com, thecitizen.in, The Eastern Link.

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You are cordially invited to Strategic Affairs RoundTable Discussions

Roundtable Panelists
Dr. Vijay Sazawal  – Panelist  Statement

Prof. Sen Nieh – Panelist  Statement

Ambassador Pradeep Kapur 

Dr. Alan H. Yang – Panelist  Statement

Chair
Dr. A. Adityanjee, President, Council for Strategic Affairs

About the Lecture
View The Recorded Event on CSA YouTube Channel

When Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th 2022, the settled wisdom was that the war would be over within one week. Putin would thump chest once again and the Zelensky government would be toppled . However, it did not happen that way. The nationalistic fervor in Ukraine, coupled with military support from the EU and NATO countries and financial aid from the US has drained Russian resources, albeit at heavy cost of lives for both Ukraine and for Russia. Zelensky has managed to ruin his country while playing to the audience in the West. What would be the impact of this stalemate on Xi Jinping who was planning to invade Taiwan. Will Xi Jinping learn from Putin’s folly and be wiser in not invading Taiwan or will he get emboldened and make stronger plans for the eventual invasion of Taiwan. Our panel of experts will discuss varied future scenarios about possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan. 

About the Roundtable Panelists 

Dr. Vijay Sazawal
Dr. Vijay Sazawal is a policy analyst on matters related to the South Asia, especially on Kashmir. However, in his professional capacity he worked closely with the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. State Department, and the U.S. Department of Commerce on matters related to the safety upgrades of the civilian nuclear reactors in the Former Soviet Union (FSU), and extensively dealt with the Eastern European countries and their governments like in Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic and Bulgaria. He regularly attended annual general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, and was a member of the Civil Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee (CINTAC) of the U.S. Government during Obama and Trump Administrations, the only Indian-American to hold such a position during that period. While professionally active, he held a “Q” security clearance from the U.S. Department of Energy, and as a project manager of a U.S. Defense Department project, held a “Secret” security clearance. Dr. Sazawal is now retired and dividing his time between his residences in Maryland and Florida.

Prof. Sen Nieh’s
Prof. Sen Nieh’s areas of research interests include Energy Systems, Combustion Engineering, Thermal Sciences, Multiphase Mechanics, and Environmental Engineering. He is a scholar and researcher, having authored/co-authored 100+ scientific research papers, 1 college textbook, 1 computer code, and 7 US/Foreign patents. He is the recipient of Lectureship Award of the United Nations, Charles Karman Teaching Excellence Award at School of Engineering/CUA, and Honorary Professorship of 6 universities in Taiwan and China. He initiated and served as the sole principal investigator of 20 government-/Industry-funded research projects with a total fund exceeding $3.5M. Being a tenured ordinary professor, he serves the fifth term (over 14 years) as the Chairman of Mechanical Engineering Department and various Committees of Academic Affairs in the university. He has been an active advocate and speaker on religious freedom, human rights, and China affairs, and also a dedicated leader in community events and services.

Ambassador Pradeep Kapur
Ambassador Pradeep Kapur is author of the Amazon Best Seller Book, “Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic: Envisioning a Better World by Transforming the Future of Healthcare”; Ambassador Pradeep Kapur received the 2020 IAPC (Indo American Press Club) “Excellence in Literature” Award, and the 2020 Raymond Aaron Group “Health for All” Award for his latest book. He is an acknowledged “luminary diplomat” with a distinguished career, working closely with Heads of Governments, Heads of State, and other global leaders and policymakers in different continents of the world: Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, and South America.- As an educator, he has taught at some of the most prestigious universities, including Sorbonne University, Paris; IIT Roorkee; MDI Gurugram; Georgetown University; University of Maryland College Park; and as a Visiting Scholar at the George Washington University.- Proud Alumnus of IIT Delhi, with B Tech (Electrical Engineering), and M Tech (Systems & Management Studies). Ambassador Kapur is currently working as International Strategic Adviser to Intellect Design Arena Inc.; Executive Director of “Smart Village Development Fund” at the WHEELS Global Foundation, an initiative of IIT Alumni in USA and India (supporting rural development in the areas of Water, Healthcare, Education, Energy, Livelihoods and Sustainability- with the acronym WHEELS); Director, Ambassador’s Circle, American Hindu Coalition; and Chairman, Advisory Council, DiplomacyIndia.com. He is invited regularly as a commentator on national TV channels for geo-political analysis; is the author of many articles and books; and speaks French and Spanish, besides various Indian languages.

Dr. Alan Hao Yang
Dr. Alan Hao Yang is Executive Director of Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF). He also serves as Deputy Director of the Institute of International Relations (IIR) and Executive Director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) at National Chengchi University, Taiwan. CSEAS is the Secretariat of the Consortium for Southeast Asian Studies in Asia (SEASIA) since 2018. He teaches at the Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies (GIEAS) as a distinguished professor of Southeast Asia studies and offering courses related to regionalism and Sino-Southeast Asian relations. Dr. Yang engages in track II diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific. He was the Executive Secretary and Executive Director of the Secretariat of Taiwan Participatory Group to the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP Taiwan) between 2010 to 2018. Dr. Yang was awarded the SUSI Fellowship from the U.S. Department of State incapacity of visiting professor of U.S. foreign policy at the Department of Political Science, University of Florida in 2011. He was also affiliated with the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University in Japan as a visiting scholar in 2015. In 2018, Dr. Yang and his team of “building Resilient Communities in Asia” was recognized as one of the AEIF awardee. As for academic services, he serves on the international editorial board of the leading international study journal International Studies Review and the Journal of Human Values. Dr. Yang has been nominated as a senior fellow of George HW Bush Foundation for US-China Relations in the United States since 2021 and a non-resident fellow of China Desk of the Reconnaissance Research in Kuwait since the July of 2021. His research interests cover ASEAN regionalism, disaster governance, border politics, and resistance politics in Southeast Asia. Dr. Yang has published more than 80 journal articles on China-ASEAN relations, international relations of Southeast Asia, security governance and disaster preparedness as well as the international political economy in the Asia-Pacific in international referred journals such as Pacific Affairs, Pacific Review, Politics and Governance, Issues & Studies, Journal of Asian Public Policy, Journal of Human Values, China Brief.

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You are cordially invited to Strategic Affairs Distinguished Lecture

Distinguished Speaker
Prof. Srikanth Kondapalli

Dean, School of International Studies and Professor in Chinese Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University 

Chair
Dr. A. Adityanjee, President
Council for Strategic Affairs

About the Lecture
View The Recorded Event on CSA YouTube Channel

About the Distinguished Speaker

Srikanth Kondapalli, Ph.D.
Srikanth Kondapalli is Dean of School of International Studies and Professor in Chinese Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University. He was educated in Chinese studies in India and China with a Ph.D. in Chinese Studies and learnt Chinese language at Beijing Language & Culture University and was a Post-Doctoral Visiting Fellow at People’s University, Beijing from 1996-98. He was Chairman of the Centre for East Asian Studies, SIS, JNU from 2008-10, 2012-14, 2016-18 and 2018-20 and visiting Professor at National Chengchi University, Taipei in 2004, a Visiting Fellow at China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, Beijing in May 2007, an Honorary Professor at Shandong University, Jinan in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019; at Jilin University, Changchun in 2014 and at Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, Kunming in 2016 and 2017, a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at People’s University since 2014 and a Fellow at Salzburg Global Seminar in 2010. 

He wrote two books:
• China’s Military: The PLA in Transition in 1999
• China’s Naval Power in 2001.

He wrote two monographs, and co-edited six volumes:
• Asian Security & China in 2004
• China and its Neighbours in 2010
• China’s Military and India in 2012
• China and the BRICS: Setting up a Different Kitchen in 2016
• One Belt One Road – China’s Global Outreach in 2017
• China and Covid-19 – Domestic and External Dimensions in 2020

and a number of articles in journals and edited volumes – all on China. He received the K.Subramanyam Award in 2010 for Excellence in Research in Strategic and Security Studies,  a guest faculty at Indian armed forces units, including at the National Defence College, Army War College, College of Air Warfare, College of Naval Warfare, and College of Defence Management. He is also a  distinguished fellow at several think-tanks including Vivekananda International Foundation and Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies.
He supervised about 30 Ph.D. researchers at JNU and is also an academic advisor for Ph.D. researchers at Al Farabi Kazakh National University and Ablai Khan University at Almaty and Tamkhang University (Taipei) and is Editor of JNU SIS International Studies Journal (being published by the Sage).

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You are cordially invited to Strategic Affairs RoundTable Discussions

Roundtable Panelists
Maj. Gen. Shashi Bhushan Asthana

Maj. Gen. Dhruv Katoch

Lt. Gen. Syed Ata Hasnain

Chair
Dr. A. Adityanjee, President, Council for Strategic Affairs

About the Lecture
View The Recorded Event on CSA YouTube Channel

Russia’s so-called special military operations started in Ukraine on Feb 24th 2022 have stalemated into a no-win situation for either Russia or Ukraine. Furthermore, the other parties involved mainly NATO and US are also getting deeply sucked into a quagmire. Ukraine may have lost more than 200,000 soldiers in this year long war. Russian casualties also may be in same range although no reliable figures are available. Irony is that this was a totally avoidable war which could have been averted by genuine negotiations.

At this stage, no one can visualize the end game. Ukraine’s president has been playing to the Western gallery and extorting financial and military aid which is continuing to prolong the war. Putin’s megalomania has resulted in severe costs in terms of loss of equipment, soldiers and a severe drain on Russian economy. NATO is gradually becoming an involved party in the war with consequences for all its members. US financial aid to Ukraine has already been resented by the US taxpayers. Are we looking at a prolonged war in Europe, that will lead to worldwide food crisis and financial recession? Our panel experts will discuss some of these challenges in this round table discussion 

About the Roundtable Panelists 

Maj. Gen. Shashi Bhushan Asthana
Globally acknowledged Strategic and Security Analyst authored over 400 publications. Veteran Infantry General with 45 years experience at national and varied international fields. Former Director General Infantry in Indian Army. TV commentator, Speaker in various Strategic, Military forums, UN Organisations, Think tanks and Universities. Interviewed by various National and International news channels/newspapers/organisations on strategic, military and UN related subjects. Currently On Governing/Security Council Confederation of Education Excellence CEE, International Organisation of Education Development (IOED), and other UN Organisations. On Advisory Board of Global Advisors Consultants Corporation, member Expert Group Challenges Forum, IOED representative in UN Headquarters, Vienna, Austria. Chief Instructor, USI of India, the oldest think tank of India. Distinguished Expert, Bharat Centre of Canada. Advisor Amity University, Bharat Media LLC, USA.

Maj. Gen. Dhruv C. Katoch
An alumnus of Sherwood College Naini Tal, the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla and the National Defence College, New Delhi, Major General Dhruv Katoch was commissioned in the DOGRA Regiment on 31 March 1972. In a distinguished career span of nearly four decades, he has held instructional assignments in the Infantry School, Mhow and The Indian Military Academy, Dehradun and senior staff appointments at the brigade, division and Corps levels. Besides the NDC, the General Officer is a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and the Higher Command Course, Mhow. He has vast experience in sub conventional conflict, having taken part in IPKF operations in Sri Lanka as also operations against terrorists and insurgents in J&K and various states of North East India. He was commended by the Chief of Army Staff for operations against militants in Sri Lanka and was awarded Sena Medal while in command of his battalion in active operations on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. He has commanded a Sector as well as a division in the North East and subsequently retired as Chief of Staff of an operational Corps. The General writes on defence and security related issues. He also writes on non military matters ? both fiction and issues of societal concern.

Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain
PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM & Bar is a retired General of the Indian Army. His last assignment in service was as the Military Secretary of the Indian Army. Prior to that, he commanded the Indian Army’s 15 Corps in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, amongst other appointments. He has also commanded 21 Corps (Strike). In 2018, General Hasnain was appointed Chancellor of Central University of Kashmir.

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You are cordially invited to Strategic Affairs Distinguished Lecture

Distinguished Speaker
Prof. Reshmi Kazi 

Chair
Dr. A. Adityanjee, President
Council for Strategic Affairs

About the Lecture
View The Recorded Event on CSA YouTube Channel

The risk of a nuclear war has increased since the war in Ukraine. There are mixed signals coming from Russia about possible use of nuclear weapons. A nuclear conflict involving less than 3% of the world’s stockpiles could kill a third of the world’s population within two years, according to a new international study led by scientists at Rutgers University. A larger nuclear conflict between Russia and the United States could kill three-fourths of the world’s population in the same timeframe, according to this recent research study. The need for universal nuclear disarmament is very timely under the current geopolitical scenario. Professor Reshmi Kazi specializes in nuclear disarmament and will enlighten our audience on this important subject.

About the Distinguished Speaker

Prof. Reshmi Kazi

Professor Reshmi Kazi is serving as faculty and full professor at Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution at Jamia Millia Islamia. She was Associate Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. Her area of expertise includes India’s nuclear weapon policy, nuclear non-proliferation studies, nuclear security, nuclear terrorism and global nuclear disarmament. Also follow issues related to bio-terrorism and chemical terrorism and have written and published on these issues.

Education – Doctorate Degree from the Disarmament Division, Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament (CIPOD), School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Current Project – Assessing the Standards of Nuclear Security: A Critical Evaluation

Area of Specialization – Doctoral thesis is on Evolution of India’s Nuclear Doctrine: A Study of Political, Economic and Technological Dimensions. Earlier worked as a Research Fellow in the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi. During this period she worked on a project titled Weapons of Mass Destruction in South Asia, which was funded by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). In IDSA published a monograph titled “Nuclear Terrorism: The New Terror of the 21st Century”

Her complete profile is located at https://www.jmi.ac.in/upload/employeeresume/rkazi.pdf

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Further Information and Contact Us E-mail: events@councilforstrategicaffairs.org Strategic Affairs Discussion Promoted & Presented by
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You are cordially invited to Strategic Affairs Distinguished Lecture

Distinguished Speaker
Prof. Reshmi Kazi 

Chair
Dr. A. Adityanjee, President
Council for Strategic Affairs

About the Lecture
View The Recorded Event on CSA YouTube Channel

The risk of a nuclear war has increased since the war in Ukraine. There are mixed signals coming from Russia about possible use of nuclear weapons. A nuclear conflict involving less than 3% of the world’s stockpiles could kill a third of the world’s population within two years, according to a new international study led by scientists at Rutgers University. A larger nuclear conflict between Russia and the United States could kill three-fourths of the world’s population in the same timeframe, according to this recent research study. The need for universal nuclear disarmament is very timely under the current geopolitical scenario. Professor Reshmi Kazi specializes in nuclear disarmament and will enlighten our audience on this important subject.

About the Distinguished Speaker

Prof. Reshmi Kazi

Professor Reshmi Kazi is serving as faculty and full professor at Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution at Jamia Millia Islamia. She was Associate Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. Her area of expertise includes India’s nuclear weapon policy, nuclear non-proliferation studies, nuclear security, nuclear terrorism and global nuclear disarmament. Also follow issues related to bio-terrorism and chemical terrorism and have written and published on these issues.

Education – Doctorate Degree from the Disarmament Division, Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament (CIPOD), School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Current Project – Assessing the Standards of Nuclear Security: A Critical Evaluation

Area of Specialization – Doctoral thesis is on Evolution of India’s Nuclear Doctrine: A Study of Political, Economic and Technological Dimensions. Earlier worked as a Research Fellow in the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, New Delhi. During this period she worked on a project titled Weapons of Mass Destruction in South Asia, which was funded by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). In IDSA published a monograph titled “Nuclear Terrorism: The New Terror of the 21st Century”

Her complete profile is located at https://www.jmi.ac.in/upload/employeeresume/rkazi.pdf

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Roundtable Panelists
Dr. Ramaharitha Pusarla – Panelist  Statement

Prof. M.D. Nalapat

Commodore R. Seshadri Vasan – Panelist Statement 

Chair
Dr. A. Adityanjee, President, Council for Strategic Affairs

About the Lecture
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About the Roundtable Panelists 

Ramaharitha Pusarla, Ph.D.
A freelance writer, blogger and strategic affairs analyst. Obtained doctorate in Life Sciences from Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad. Worked as a research scientist at CenBIOS. Swiftly transitioned from academic research to journalism with purpose. Over the past eight years published articles on international relations, politics, climate change, breakthrough science, sports, travelogues, book reviews and other contemporary issues. Authored a book on foreign policy- “A Commentary on Modi Government’s Unprecedented Outreach and its Outcomes”. Currently Editor-in-Chief at MyIndMakers, a US-based web portal.

Commodore R. Seshadri Vasan (Retd.)
A naval officer with combined distinguished experience of 34 years from Navy and the Coast Guard which includes, staff, command and instructional appointments.To name a few, the appointments include Regional Commander of the Coast Guard Region East, Chief Staff Officer Operations of the Southern Naval Command, Commanding Officer of two naval air stations, a naval air squadron, war ships etc. More than nine years of think tank experience. Working in the field of Strategy and Security, International relations with a view to contribute to the understanding of these issues as well as to provide policy alternatives to stake holders of any description.

Specialties: Maritime and Naval Aviation back ground , conferences, seminars, conducting workshops in areas indicated, writing for print media. etc.

Professor Madhav Das Nalapat
Prof. Nalapat was appointed India’s first Professor of Geopolitics in 1999 as well as, among the first UNESCO Peace Chairs in India, again at Manipal University, India, positions that he continues to hold Editor of the Mathrubhumi Daily and subsequently the Times of India. Professor Nalapat focused on security and defense. He is the author of seven books, the last being ‘The Practice of Geopolitics’, published by Manipal University Press, which is also bringing out in 2021. His latest book, on a 21st-century foreign policy for India, is being brought out by Rupa Publications shortly, while work on a book on Great Power dynamics in the 21st century has been completed, and is expected to be published in early 2022.

His specialization includes diplomacy, foreign policy, comparative politics, international political economy, international organizations, armed conflict, humanitarian practices, and contemporary world history. He teaches courses related to these subjects and has over nine hundred publications in these domains. His writings have appeared in journals in the USA, UK, Australia, Canada, and India, some of which are International Affairs.

A collection of Professor Nalapat’s writings can be found at http://globe.mdnalapat.com/

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Roundtable Panelists
Commodore R. Seshadri Vasan, 

Dr. Swasti Rao, 

Francois Gautier

Chair
Dr. A. Adityanjee, President, Council for Strategic Affairs

About the Lecture
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About the Roundtable Panelists 

Commodore R. Seshadri Vasan (Retd.)

A naval officer with combined distinguished experience of 34 years from Navy and the Coast Guard which includes, staff, command and instructional appointments.To name a few, the appointments include Regional Commander of the Coast Guard Region East, Chief Staff Officer Operations of the Southern Naval Command, Commanding Officer of two naval airstations, a naval air squadron, war ships etc., More than nine years of think tank experience. Working in the field of Strategy and Security, International relations with a view to contribute to the understanding of these issues as well as to provide policy alternatives to stake holders of any description.

Specialties: Maritime and Naval Aviation back ground , conferences, seminars, conducting workshops in areas indicated,writing for print media. etc.

Dr. Swasti Rao

Dr. Swasti Rao is Associate Fellow at the Europe and Eurasia Center, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. She has a Masters in Politics (spl’n. IR) and an M.Phil in East Asian Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She has completed her PhD in Advanced International Politics from Tsukuba University, Japan. She is a recipient of Japanese Education Ministry Fellowship (MEXT) in 2011 and also a recipient of the ‘Okita Memorial Scholarship’ in 2010 from ICCR.

She holds an adjunct position at the Tokai University, Japan in the capacity of a foreign collaborator for the Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) funded research project on “Civil Society and Urban Governance in Asia, 2020-2025”. Her current research project at IDSA is on Conflicts in Europe amidst shifting Global Power Structures: Geometries of Deterrence and Europe's Indo Pacific outreach as strategies for Threat Balancing. Her other work and research interests explore dimensions of the securitization debate in Europe , Migrant Crisis, Europe's Outreach to Indo -Pacific, Defence Cooperation between India and Major European Players, Multilateral Cooperation for Space Situational awareness and Maritime Domain Awareness. She also explores Europe- Japan relations and its global implications. She has published with Routledge on intelligence sharing in the Indo Pacific and her forthcoming work with them is on Climate Change and Space Debris issues with special focus on emerging space race.

Before joining MP-IDSA she was Assistant Professor in the Department of Strategic and Security Studies, AMU where she taught courses on European Security, Rise of China and implications for World Order, Research Methodology and UN Peacekeeping. She has been a Principal Investigator in  Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) funded project,”A Comparative and Empirical Study of the Structural  Changes in Politics” from 2011-2014.

Dr. Rao has published extensively, delivered talks and lectures at various international universities like Australian National University, Canberra;  Gakushuin University and Tokai University, Japan; Giresun University, Turkey; National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico; Thammasat University, Thailand and writes regular Op-ed columns for leading dailies.

She has been involved in syllabus writing for Political Science, CBCS, IGNOU for the year 2020 and has been associated with the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), for collating International Relations Resources and Research Methodology Resources for teachers in Higher Education in 2020 funded by the National Resource Centre for Education, NEUPA

Francois Gautier

François Gautier (francoisgautier.com) was the political correspondent in South Asia during ten years for « Le Figaro », France’s largest daily. He is now the editor in chief of the Paris-based La Revue de l’Inde, published by Les Editions de l’Harmattan (Harmattan.fr). François has written several books on India: Un autre Regard sur l’Inde” (Editions du Tricorne), “A Western journalist on India” (Har-Anand 2001), “ “Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a Guru of Joy” (Hay House, 2003; 11 reprints, 100.000 copies sold). « Quand l’Inde s’éveille » (Editions du Rocher, Paris 2013), « Apprendre à Souffler (Hachette Marabout, 2016), Les Mots du dernier Dalai Lama (Flammarion, 2018), Une Encyclopédie de l’Ayurvéda, (Flammarion, 2020), « An entirely New History of India (Garuda Books, 2021). Francois is also building a Museum of (true) Indian History in Pune (factmuseum.com). Francois, who is married for 25 years to Namrita, shuttles between Pondichéry, Pune and Delhi

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You are cordially invited to Strategic Affairs RoundTable Discussions

Roundtable Panelists
Dr. Ramaharitha Pusarla

Brigadier (Retd) Rumel Dahiya

Lt General (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain

Chair
Dr. A. Adityanjee, President, Council for Strategic Affairs

About the Lecture
View The Recorded Event on CSA YouTube Channel

About the Roundtable Panelists 

Ramaharitha Pusarla, Ph.D.
A freelance writer, blogger and strategic affairs analyst. Obtained doctorate in Life Sciences from Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad. Worked as a research scientist at CenBIOS. Swiftly transitioned from academic research to journalism with purpose. Over the past eight years published articles on international relations, politics, climate change, breakthrough science, sports, travelogues, book reviews and other contemporary issues. Authored a book on foreign policy- “A Commentary on Modi Government’s Unprecedented Outreach and its Outcomes”. Currently Editor-in-Chief at MyIndMakers, a US-based web portal.

Brigadier (Retd) Rumel Dahiya

Lt General (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain

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Roundtable Panelists
Prof. M.D. Nalapat 

Prof. Sen Nieh

Ambassador Pradeep Kapur

Chair
Dr. A. Adityanjee, President, Council for Strategic Affairs

About the Lecture
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China’s political clock is winding toward the convening of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) this fall. Since 1977, the CCP has regularly held a Party congress every five years, which has been an occasion for large-scale change within the Chinese leadership and embarking on a new trajectory in the country’s domestic and foreign policies.  The personnel changes at the upcoming congress are simultaneously more anticipated and less predictable than most previous congresses. More anticipated, because it is beyond doubt that Xi Jinping will continue his third term as the Party chief and head of state. Also expectedly, Xi’s proteges will occupy more senior leadership positions than ever before. Less predictable, because some of the norms and rules of elite recruitment established in the post-Deng era such as the mandatory retirement age and term limit, which applied to the previous three congresses, will not apply to all members of the newly assembled Central Committee (CC) this time. Thus, analysts of Chinese leadership politics will likely be far less capable or effective at forecasting the new leadership lineup at the 20th Party Congress.

About the Roundtable Panelists 

Prof. M.D. Nalapat

Madhav Nalapat is Professor of Geopolitics and UNESCO Peace Chair at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India’s elite private university. Prior to this he was Coordinating Editor of the largest-circulated English-language newspaper in India, The Times of India . Previous to that, he was Editor of the Mathrubhumi Daily and Illustrated Weekly, the second-largest Malayalam daily and its prestigious co-offering, the literary Weekly.

As UNESCO Peace Chair, he has organized major conferences, including on the US, India and China. He has visited the U.S. and China frequently, recognizing their importance to India. He organized the first Trilaterlal India-Israel-US Annual Conference at New Delhi in 2003 and led the Indian delegation to the second conference at Herzliya, Israel, in 2004.

Madhav Nalapat was made Senior Associate of the National Institute of Advanced Study, Bangalore and Member of the Institute for Social and Economic Change. He is also an Associate Member of the United Services Institution. He has lectured at several fora, including the National Defence College, New Delhi, the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, the University of Georgia, Peking University and Fudan University.

Professor Sen Nieh’s

Prof. Sen Nieh’s areas of research interests include Energy Systems, Combustion Engineering, Thermal Sciences, Multiphase Mechanics, and Environmental Engineering. He is a scholar and researcher, having authored/co-authored 100+ scientific research papers, 1 college textbook, 1 computer code, and 7 US/Foreign patents. He is the recipient of Lectureship Award of the United Nations, Charles Karman Teaching Excellence Award at School of Engineering/CUA, and Honorary Professorship of 6 universities in Taiwan and China. He initiated and served as the sole principal investigator of 20 government-/Industry-funded research projects with a total fund exceeding $3.5M. Being a tenured ordinary professor, he serves the fifth term (over 14 years) as the Chairman of Mechanical Engineering Department and various Committees of Academic Affairs in the university. He has been an active advocate and speaker on religious freedom, human rights, and China affairs, and also a dedicated leader in community events and services. 

Ambassador Pradeep Kapur

Ambassador Pradeep Kapur is author of the Amazon Best Seller Book, “Beyond the COVID-19 Pandemic: Envisioning a Better World by Transforming the Future of Healthcare”; Ambassador Pradeep Kapur received the 2020 IAPC (Indo American Press Club) “Excellence in Literature” Award, and the 2020 Raymond Aaron Group “Health for All” Award for his latest book. He is an acknowledged “luminary diplomat” with a distinguished career, working closely with Heads of Governments, Heads of State, and other global leaders and policymakers in different continents of the world: Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, and South America.- As an educator, he has taught at some of the most prestigious universities, including Sorbonne University, Paris; IIT Roorkee; MDI Gurugram; Georgetown University; University of Maryland College Park; and as a Visiting Scholar at the George Washington University.- Proud Alumnus of IIT Delhi, with B Tech (Electrical Engineering), and M Tech (Systems & Management Studies). Ambassador Kapur is currently working as International Strategic Adviser to Intellect Design Arena Inc.; Executive Director of “Smart Village Development Fund” at the WHEELS Global Foundation, an initiative of IIT Alumni in USA and India (supporting rural development in the areas of Water, Healthcare, Education, Energy, Livelihoods and Sustainability- with the acronym WHEELS); Director, Ambassador’s Circle, American Hindu Coalition; and Chairman, Advisory Council, DiplomacyIndia.com. He is invited regularly as a commentator on national TV channels for geo-political analysis; is the author of many articles and books; and speaks French and Spanish, besides various Indian languages. 

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