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INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
26-28 February 2008
A Brief Profile
EMERGING INDIA: STRATEGIC OPTIONS IN THE NEW CENTURY
India’s role in global politics is in a decisive stage of transition. For more than a decade, India has been engaged in redefining its role and responsibilities vis-à-vis the international system in response to the changes in the global political and economic landscape. Having completed sixty years of independence, India is in a buoyant mood today, and it is more self-assured, fortified by its noticeable achievements and sustained rates of high growth. This has prompted the global powers to reckon India as an emerging power capable of influencing the Asian power balance as well as the unfolding global political scenario.
Plausibly, India’s emergence as a key actor in global political and economic affairs depends on its ability to assume ‘great power’ responsibilities and to manage the domestic and regional issues in its favour. As such, a stable and balanced growth rate, a vibrant democracy, a stable defence policy etc. will be crucial for India. Economic capability is, no doubt, a critical variable in providing a great power status, but that alone is quite insufficient in bringing recognition as a key actor in global affairs. India is certainly on the threshold of the status as a key global actor, but its entry into global arena as a vibrant actor necessarily depends on the ability and capabilities of India to transform the positive trends into reality. A crucial point that requires attention at this stage is the strategic importance currently accorded to India in recognition of its emerging power potential. The fundamental task, then, before the policymakers in India is how to interpret and address the emerging trends in the strategic landscape in a manner that explains its own realities and locations in the structure of transformation. It also calls for a substantial redefining of policy options to address these challenges in the ensuing years.
It is against this backdrop that the School of International Relations and Politics, Mahatma Gandhi University, is hosting a three-day International Seminar, tentatively scheduled to be held on 26-28 February 2008. The Conference is organized as part of the Silver Jubilee celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi University which was established in 1983. The Conference is expected to bring together scholars, policy-makers and activists from India and abroad. Considering the importance of the focal theme, the Conference is proposed to be organized in association with the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Defence, and Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India, University Grants Commission, New Delhi, Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi, Centre for Trade and Development, New Delhi and other public/private sector establishments.
Main subjects/topics/themes to be discussed in the Conference
1. India and the international system.
2. Democracy and social security
3. India’s trade, development and economic diplomacy
4. India and WTO
5. Energy security strategy
6. Defence and national security strategy
7. India’ Nuclear Development Strategy
8. Foreign policy challenges
9. India’s relations with major powers
10. India and the regional arrangements
11. India and South Asia
12. India and West Asia
13. Indian Diaspora
14. India and international institutions
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