EVENTS

The May 2025 terrorist attack in Pahalgam sparked a sharp escalation between India and Pakistan, leading to a retaliatory Operation Sindoor by the Indian Armed Forces. The Operation escalated into a four-day long series of cross-border strikes with missiles and drones before culminating in a ceasefire on 10 May. This confrontation challenged and fractured long-standing bilateral frameworks including the Indus Water Treaty and the Simla Agreement. Moreover, the conflict also featured a technological dimension, China’s J-10C jets and PL-15 missiles that had remained untested in the past, were employed in combat; this also revealed China’s deepening role as a military sponsor and strategic mediator in the region. The escalation also posed a dual challenge for Beijing: ensuring the sustainability of the CPEC and BRI investments, as well as navigating diplomatic ties with both India and Pakistan. This panel will examine China’s balancing strategies within the trilateral power matrix, and the broader implications for the Indo-Pacific strategic order.

Speakers

Ambassador T.C.A. Raghavan is former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan (2013-2015). In the Ministry of External Affairs, he was Joint Secretary for Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran (2007-2009). He holds a PhD in Indian economic history from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He served as Director General of the Indian Council of World Affairs (2018-2021) and is currently associated with the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies and NIAS, Bangalore. His work focuses on historical research, strategic affairs, and South Asian diplomacy. He is the author of several acclaimed books, including Attendant Lords (2017), The People Next Door (2017), History Men (2020), Circles of Freedom (2024), Sapru House.

Atul Bhardwaj is a Visiting Research Fellow at School of Policy and Global Affairs, City St. George's, University of London. He was a Fellow at the Prime Minister Museum and Library, Teen Murti. He is currently completing the book on “Eurasian Connectivity and its Impact on Maritime and World Order.” He is the author of India - America Relations 1942-62: Rooted in the Liberal International Order (Routledge London 2019). He has been writing a strategic affairs column for the Economic and Political Weekly since 2013. He holds a doctorate in history from Ambedkar University, and a masters in War Studies from King's College, London. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Pune and has served in the Indian Navy for two decades. He has been a Research Fellow at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), Delhi and a Senior Fellow at Indian Council of Social Science Research, Delhi. He is also an adjunct fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi.

Chair

Hemant Adlakha is a professor of Chinese at the Centre for Chinese and Southeast Asian Studies, JNU, New Delhi. He is also Vice Chairperson and Honorary Fellow at the ICS, Delhi. His areas of research include political discourse in the PRC and modern Chinese Literature and Culture. He is on the editorial board of China Report. His articles have appeared in China Report, The Diplomat, Japan Times, Encyclopaedia of Race and Racism, (2nd ed.,Washington).

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