EVENTS

Debates concerning power and influence arising from the nature of economic interdependence between nation-states are gaining currency amidst the US-China rivalry, and increasingly so from the perspective of middle powers like India. Evidence is now available to show that the nation-states are utilizing the positive and negative asymmetries of their economic exchanges as potential points of leverage to advance strategic political and security interests globally. The magnitude of positive or negative leverage from economic interdependence that nation-states can obtain, both dyadically and globally, is contingent upon the sources of asymmetry in economic exchanges. These sources, in turn, derive from factors like the domestic asset composition and market structure of the nation-state in question, the alternatives available to drive the composition and structure of economic activity, the policy and policy choices available and exercised, and the cost arising from the exercise of these choices. The question of exercisable leverage, or vulnerability, arising from interdependence becomes particularly sensitive when faced with both long-standing and emergent points of conflict arising from military security, ideology, and territorial rivalry. Against this backdrop of rivalry between the two powers, middle powers like India now face questions over the nature and direction of the choices over economic exchange options that may be available to them in the exercise of their core national interests. The potential costs and outcomes therein, across both politics and economics, may limit or enhance their exercise of statecraft. The presentation analyses India’s economic dynamic, its advantages and vulnerabilities against the backdrop of US-China rivalry, particularly from a viewpoint of positive and negative interdependence arising from its economic exchanges with China.

About the Speaker

Vivek Y. Kelkar is an independent researcher, analyst, and columnist focused on geo-economics, geopolitics, and strategic risk. He is an Adjunct Faculty at the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, and a Visiting Faculty at the Indian Institute Management-Indore. He holds an MA in International Political Economy from the University of Sheffield and an MBA from the Ashridge Business School. Mr. Kelkar writes a weekly column for Moneycontrol, one of India's top business news, data, and analysis portals, and contributes to respected global and local platforms like Asia Times, The Spectator, Modern Diplomacy, Founding Fuel, among other publications. His research interests include the US-China rivalry across Asia-Pacific, and West Asia with a particular focus on emergent issues and trends, insofar as they affect political economy and business strategy.

About the Chair

G. Venkat Raman is a Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Indore. He is also an Honorary Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi. He has recently completed his Fulbright Fellowship at the Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University (Virginia, USA). He obtained his doctoral degree from the School of Government, Peking University, Beijing. His research interests include the current state of US-China power rivalries, with a primary focus on the technology war and climate change, and China's interface with global governance. His recent publication is a co-edited volume on BRICS titled, Locating BRICS in the Global Order: Perspectives from Global South. He has also co-authored case studies on Indian businesses in China.

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