EVENTS

China has articulated its ambition to supersede the United States of America as the pre-eminent power, without causing much disruption for itself or for the world, if possible. The strategies it is likely to adopt would broadly be as follows: Politically, China plans to use the existing architecture of the moribund UN and attempt to create new plurilateral groupings like BRICS and SCO, while maintaining a modicum of rapprochement with the US. Economically, while China has had to cut back on its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and recalibrate its role as a major lender in the Global South, it remains the leading trading partner for an overwhelming majority. The challenge of possible denial of technology by the US and EU can be overcome by developing cutting-edge technology and attempting to divide the US and EU to persuade the latter to share technology. Finally, on the Security front, China plans to keep testing the US’s will and power and will continue to tackle Taiwan with incremental micro-aggressions rather than an outright invasion. The land borders with India will remain “hot” for the foreseeable future. It is the maritime space, including the Indian Ocean, which is of vital interest to China, the objective being to bring about the elimination of American presence in the Pacific. China acknowledges the considerable gap in its military capabilities; hence, Russia becoming a de facto junior partner is a welcome development for now. The seminar will analyse these aspects concerning China’s path to the world order that it seeks.

About the Speaker

Mohan Kumar served in the Indian Foreign Service for 36 long years and retired as India’s Ambassador to France in 2017. For more than six years now he has been a full-time academic, serving as both Dean and Professor at the prestigious OP Jindal Global University. His most recent publication is India’s Moment (2023) published by Harper Collins India. Ambassador Mohan Kumar has an MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies in the University of Delhi and a PhD from the prestigious Sciences Po University in Paris. He is fond of reading, travel, and music.

About the Chair

Vijay K Nambiar joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1967. He studied Chinese in Hong Kong and served in China from 1970-72 before returning to Delhi, where he served until 1976. He then went as First Secretary to Tito’s Yugoslavia. From 1979 to 1982, he was posted in the Indian Mission at the United Nations (UN) in New York and came back to Delhi during the 1983 NAM Summit. From 1985 to 1987, he was India’s Ambassador to Algeria, followed by a stint as Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the MEA in 1987, during which he helped prepare for Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s historic visit to China in 1988. Subsequently, he served as India’s High Commissioner to Afghanistan (1990-1992), Malaysia (1993-1996), China (1996-2000), Pakistan (2000-2001) and Permanent Representative to the UN in New York (2002-2004). Post-retirement, he served as Deputy National Security Adviser of India (2004-2006). He was then deputed by the Government of India to serve in the United Nations Secretariat as Under-Secretary-General, Special Adviser to Secretary- General Kofi Annan (2006-2007), then as Chef de Cabinet to Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon (2007-2012) and later as Adviser on Myanmar (2012-2016).

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