AUGUST 2021
       

Dear Friend,

 

In August, the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi (ICS) held a series of online activities to stimulate informed analysis of China and East Asia. With as many as four webinars and nine publications during the month, ICS brought together leading experts to discuss key issues of contemporary relevance in China.

 

Recently we have partnered with Hindustan Times on their new online page called Hindustan Times Insights which will feature some of ICS Publications. Since July, more than 7 ICS publications have been featured and shared by HT Insights.  In August, Volume 57, Issue No. 3 of the China Report was published online. The special issue on East Asia has five academic articles and five book reviews.

 

Following the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Communist Party of China (CPC), our senior ICS fellows, Amb. Shyam Saran and Professor Manoranjan Mohanty along with subject experts from India and abroad discussed the One Hundred Years of the CPC and the Journey Ahead. Adding to the vast range of academic analysis on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and on the transforming nature of global geopolitics, the ICS in partnership with Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), organised two panel discussions on Shifting Gears of China’s Post-Covid Economy and Future of Cross-Strait Relations: Implications for the region and India. Subject matter experts Mr. Avtar Singh Bhasin, Dr. Tanvi Madan and Mr. Ananth Krishnan discussed Nehru, Tibet and China.

 

Mrs. Poonam Surie presented rich insights on the demographic changes happening in China through her ICS Occasional Paper on Demographic U Turn in China: Xi Jinping’s Vision 2035 and the Three Child Policy and Madhurendra Jha translated an interesting write-up in his ICS Translations titled Involution, Acceleration and the “Making-Out” Game of the Contemporary Chinese Society. While Dr. Hemant Adlakha wrote on China’s take on India’s position in Quad in his analysis piece titled Beijing Thinks India is the ‘Weakling’ in Quad, interns at ICS covered a vast range of topics from Sino-Russian joint military exercises and cross-border e-commerce to ecological civilisation.  

 

 

EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

The ICS conducted four webinars during this month.

First was a book discussion on Nehru, Tibet and China which was conducted on 4 August. The panellists included Mr. Avtar Singh Bhasin, author of ‘Nehru, Tibet and China’ and former Director, Historical Division, Ministry of External Affairs; Dr. Tanvi Madan, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution; and Mr. Ananth Krishnan, China Correspondent, The Hindu. The discussion was chaired by Amb. Kishan S. Rana, Emeritus Fellow, ICS. (SoundCloud)  (YouTube)

 

We organised a panel discussion on One Hundred Years of the CPC and the Journey Ahead on 11 August. The discussion was hosted by Dr. Hemant Adlakha, Vice-Chairperson and Honorary Fellow, ICS and Associate Professor of Chinese, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Dr. Bhim Subba, Visiting Associate Fellow, ICS and Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Hyderabad. The panellists included Amb. Shyam Saran, member of ICS Governing Council and former Foreign Secretary of India; Professor Manoranjan Mohanty, Emeritus Fellow, ICS; Professor Rana Mitter, Professor of the History and Politics of Modern China, and Fellow, St Cross College, University of Oxford; and Professor Lance Gore, Senior Research Fellow, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore. (SoundCloud)  (YouTube)

 

In partnership with KAS, we organised a panel discussion on Shifting Gears of China’s Post-Covid Economy on 18 August. The panellists included Dr. Hans H. Tung, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and  Faculty Associate, Centre for Research in Econometric Theory and Applications, National Taiwan University; Dr. Mareike Ohlberg, Senior Fellow, Asia Program, German Marshall Fund; Ms. Nivedita Rao Kommineni, China India Visiting Scholars Fellow; and Dr. Priyanka Pandit, China Studies Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Department of International Relations and Governance Studies, Shiv Nadar University. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Santosh Pai, Honorary Fellow and Treasurer, ICS and Partner, Link Legal. (SoundCloud)  (YouTube)

 

The ICS also partnered with KAS for a panel discussion on Future of Cross-Strait Relations: Implications for the region and India on 25 August. The speakers included Ms. Bonnie S. Glaser, Director, Asia Program, German Marshall Fund; Dr. Alan Hao Yang, Executive Director, Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation, Executive Director, Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, National Chengchi University and Deputy Director, Institute of International Relations; and Dr. Sana Hashmi, Visiting Fellow, Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation and non-resident fellow, Taiwan NextGen Foundation. Amb. Ashok K. Kantha, Director, ICS chaired the event. (SoundCloud)  (YouTube)

 

 

PUBLICATIONS

This month we had nine publications in total – one Occasional Paper, one ICS Analysis, one ICS Translation and six ICS Research Blogs.

 

ICS Occasional Paper

Poonam Surie, Adjunct Fellow, ICS and Independent Researcher and Author on Demographic U Turn in China: Xi Jinping’s Vision 2035 and the Three Child Policy.

 

ICS Analysis

Dr. Hemant Adlakha, Honorary Fellow, ICS and Associate Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, on Beijing Thinks India is the ‘Weakling’ in Quad [This is an expanded and edited version of 2-part article published on 18 and 19 June by Indian Defence Review under the title Quad: Is India the Weakest Link in the US-led Alliance].

 

ICS Translations

Madhurendra Jha, ICS-HYI Fellow and Assistant Professor, Department of Chinese Studies, Doon University, translated Involution, Acceleration and the “Making-Out” Game of the Contemporary Chinese Society.

 

ICS Research Blogs

  1. R. M. V Pavan Raghavendra, Research Intern, ICS, on Zapad/Interaction-2021: A New Milestone in China-Russia Joint Military Exercises.
  2. Raj Gupta, Research Intern, ICS, on China’s CBDC: Cross-border Prospects and Challenges.
  3. Raj Trikkha, Research Intern, ICS, on Cross-border e-commerce in China: Past, Present & Future.
  4. Annesha Bhattacharjee, Research Intern, ICS, on Ecological Civilisation/ Shengtai Wenming: Towards a New Wave of Resilience Thinking?.
  5. Dr. Hemant Adlakha, Honorary Fellow, ICS and Associate Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, on Did Lavrov-Blinken tête-à-tête in Reykjavik Stir the Pot between Beijing and Moscow?. [This article was earlier published under the same title in Modern Diplomacy on 1 June 2021].
  6. Halim Nazar, Research Intern, ICS, on Chinese Mining in the DRC: From Sicomines to Global Cobalt Monopoly.

 

 

IN THE MEDIA

ICS Webinar on One Hundred years of CPC: The Journey Ahead was covered by The Print in its article titled If India contests China’s Asian dominance, there will be no let-up in tensions: Shyam Saran.

 

Amb. Shyam Saran, member of Governing Council, ICS and former Foreign Secretary of India, authored an Op Ed titled On Kabul, India need not hurry. Let Russia, China, Iran see Pakistan’s control of Taliban for The Print and The Tribune on 25 August. Amb. Skand R. Tayal, Adjunct Fellow, ICS penned a piece for Deccan Chronicle on Central Asia’s bid for access to sea may see new Quad rise on 9 August.  

 

Dr. Siddiq Wahid, Adjunct Fellow, ICS and Senior Visiting Fellow, Centre for Policy Research (CPR), authored a piece for The Quint on Article 370 & Ladakh: Disillusionment With BJP Govt Makes Leh-Kargil Join Hands on 5 August. Amb. Gautam Bambawale, Adjunct Fellow, ICS and Distinguished Professor, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Symbiosis International University, Pune, was quoted by the Mint in its article titled, India, China pull out of Gogra on 6 August.  

 

Dr. Ritu Agarwal, Adjunct Fellow, ICS and Associate Professor, Centre for East Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University was interviewed by China News Agency for its article titled, Indian scholars: Yunnan can play an important role in promoting exchanges between India and China(印度学者:云南能印中交往发挥重要作用) published on 29 August.

 

Dr. Veda Vaidyanathan, Visiting Associate Fellow, ICS penned a piece for The Washington Post on A Chinese airport project in Zanzibar floundered. Here’s what the new G-7 infrastructure plan can learn on 18 August.

 

 

FACULTY UPDATES

Amb. Shyam Saran, member of Governing Council, ICS and former Foreign Secretary of India, was a speaker at the India Foundation-Fudan University Dialogue held on 26 August.

 

Prof. Rama V. Baru, Honorary Fellow, ICS and Professor, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University  delivered the Keynote Address at a Webinar on Release of the Report ‘Regulation of Health Care Delivery in India - A Landscape Study’” organised by Health Systems Transformation Platform on 26 August. Her article titled, ‘Fighting heavy odds: Corporate influence over policy weighs on India’s public health system was published by Policy Circle on 19 August.

 

Dr. Partha Mukhopadhyay, Honorary Fellow, ICS and Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research spoke at a Webinar on Defining Informality in a Continuously Changing Labour Market: Future of Work in the Global South organised jointly by Just Jobs Network, Future of Work in the Global South and CIPPEC (Centro de Implementación de Políticas Públicas para la Equidad y el Crecimiento) on 20 August. Dr. Sandip Mishra, Honorary Fellow, ICS and Associate Professor, Centre for East Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University wrote two articles titled, Restoration of Inter-Korea Communication Lines’ and ‘Chinese Diplomacy and the Taliban in Afghanistan for the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies on 30 July and 31 August respectively.

 

Lieutenant General Gurmit Sigh, Adjunct Fellow, ICS and Colonel Gautam Das, Adjunct Fellow, ICS contributed to the book 75th Anniversary of Indian National Army and Provisional Government published by The Asiatic Society, Kolkata, which was released on 15 August. Col. Virendra Sahai Verma, Honorary Fellow, ICS, participated in an interview organised by 1947 Archive on the theme, Independence, Partition and Life After Independence.

 

Prof. Prabir De, Adjunct Fellow, ICS and  Professor, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), spoke at the Inaugural Session of The ASEAN–India Development Partnership Programme organised jointly by ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, and the ASEAN-India Centre at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) on 16 August and on ‘10 Years of India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement: Implications for Engineering Manufacturing – its present Status and the Way Forward’ on 24 August at the India ASEAN Engineering Partnership Summit organised by Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Commerce and Industry. He also participated in a podcast on Regional Cooperation in BIMSTEC in Post-COVID-19 World organised by Vivekananda International Foundation on 30 July.

 

Dr. Amita Batra, Adjunct Fellow, ICS and Professor, Centre for South Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, spoke on ‘10 Years of India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement: Implications for Engineering Manufacturing – its present Status and the Way Forward’ on 24 August at the India ASEAN Engineering Partnership Summit organised by Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

 

Dr. Raviprasad Narayanan, Adjunct Fellow, ICS & Associate Professor, Centre for East Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, penned an article titled, A Common Enemy: Beijing’s increasing Assertiveness driving India closer to Washington which was published in Strategic Vision Issue No 5. dated 17 August. Dr. Zorawar Daulet Singh, Adjunct Fellow, ICS authored a piece titled ‘Looking Back at the Indo–Soviet Treaty which was published by the Economic and Political Weekly Volume 56, Issue No. 34 on 21 August. Dr. Rajiv Ranjan, Adjunct Fellow, ICS and Assistant Professor, Institute of Global Studies, Shanghai University, gave a lecture on ‘India-China Relations: Connections, Coopetition and Clash’, at Jai Hind College, Mumbai on 31 August.

 

Dr. Atul Bhardwaj, Adjunct Fellow, ICS published a piece titled, ‘Afghanistan: Present Tense, Future Imperfect in Economic and Political Weekly Volume 56, Issue No. 34 on 21 August. Mr. Nishit Kumar, ICS-HYI Fellow and Research Scholar, Centre for Chinese and Southeast Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University published an article titled Howard Goldblatt’s Translations of Mo Yan’s Works into English: Reader Oriented Approach in Translation Today, Volume 15 Issue 1.

 

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We look forward to your participation in our events and activities in the coming days and hope for your continued support. Please consider contributing to ICS. To contribute, click here.

 

Please take care and stay safe and healthy.

 

Best regards,

Ashok K. Kantha

Director

 

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