EVENTS

About the Speakers

Ambassador Vishnu Prakash, a Law Graduate (Gold Medalist), joined IFS in 1981. After postings in Moscow, New Delhi, New York and Vladivostok (Consul General) he returned to MEA as Director looking after Nepal and Bhutan (1994 – 1997) when he also did a three-month sabbatical with the ‘Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies’ in Hawaii (USA). His next served in Tokyo, Islamabad, Cairo and Shanghai (Consul General). In August 08, he was appointed Official Spokesperson of MEA, when interalia he was a member of PM’s delegation during all overseas visits. In January 2012, he took over India’s Ambassador to Seoul. In August 2013, he was conferred an Honorary Doctoral Degree in Business Administration by Tongmyong University, Busan. In January 2015, he was bestowed the 'Ambassador of the Year, 2014' award by the Asia Society, Korea Center. Mr. Prakash next assumed the office of Indian High Commissioner in Ottawa in March 2015 from where he retired on 31 October 2016. Presently he is a columnist on foreign affairs (The Hindu, Hindustan Times, India Today, WION News etc) and regularly participates in TV debates. 

Dr. Sandip Mishra is Associate Professor of Korean Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University and an Adjunct Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi. He has published several articles in Indian and Korean academic journals along with book chapters and contributed opinion articles to Indian and Korean newspapers such as Korea Times, Indian Express, Financial Express, Pioneer, and Statesman. Security Dynamics of East Asia and Korean Peninsula is his forthcoming book. His latest article “India and Republic of Korea: Growing Strategic Partnership”, was published in Foreign Affairs Journal, July-September 2012 Issue.

Ambassador Anil Wadhwa was a member of the India Foreign service from 1979 till 2017. He has served as the Indian Ambassador to Poland, the Sultanate of Oman, Thailand and Italy. He was also concurrently accredited as Ambassador to Lithuania and San Marino. Ambassador Wadhwa was Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs from 2014-16 looking after relations with South East Asia, Australasia and Pacific, Gulf and West Asia and North Africa.  He has been Indian delegate to the Conference on Disarmament and the Disarmament Commission. Ambassador Wadhwa served in various capacities in the Indian Missions in Hong Kong, Beijing and Geneva, was in charge of Russia and Eastern Europe as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. 

Ambassador Ashok K. Kantha is currently the Director of the Institute of Chinese Studies.  He was Ambassador of India to China until January 2016. Prior to this, he was Secretary (East) at Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi. His previous assignments include High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka and Malaysia, Consul General in Hong Kong, Deputy Chief of Mission in Kathmandu, and Joint Secretary (East Asia) and Director (China) in Ministry of External Affairs.

Abstract

The second summit between the United States President Donald Trump and the DPRK leader Kim Jong-un, held at Hanoi on 27-28 February 2019, ended early. This abrupt conclusion left several questions unanswered, not only about the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula (including denuclearizing North Korea) but also about the parallel processes of building a peace regime on the Peninsula, normalization of the US-DPRK relations and inter-Korean rapprochement. The roundtable will assess the Hanoi summit and its outcomes, including expectations of the two principal interlocutors from the meeting and their takeaways. It will also look at the key issues from the perspectives of the USA, the two Koreas, China and Japan; discuss how this summit affects the region; and explore the road ahead.