The 18th Russia-India-China Trilateral Academic Conference

The 18th Trilateral Conference of Russian, Indian and Chinese Scholars was held on 22-23  April 2021 in online mode. It was hosted by the Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi in collaboration with the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow & China Institute of International Studies, Beijing. The theme of the 18th RIC was  ‘Challenges and Opportunities in the post-Covid International Order’.  

The Chinese participants included Amb. Xu Bu, President, China Institute of International  Studies, Beijing; Dr. Hu Shisheng, Director, Institute for South Asia Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, Beijing; Dr. Li Li, Deputy Director, Institute for  International Relations, Tsinghua University, Beijing; Dr. Rong Ying, Vice President, China  Institute of International Studies, Beijing; Prof. Ma Jiali, Director, China Association for  International Friendly Contact, Beijing & Director, Centre of Strategic Studies, China Reform  Forum, Beijing; Dr. Kang Jie, Assistant Research Fellow, Department for European-Central  Asian Studies, China Institute of International Studies, Beijing; and Dr. Lan Jianxue, Head,  Department for Asia-Pacific Studies, China Institute of International Studies, Beijing.  

The Russian delegation included Prof. Alexey Maslov, Acting Director, Institute of Far  Eastern Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow; Professor, National Research  University, Moscow; Dr. Vladimir Petrovskiy, Chief Academic Researcher, Institute of Far  Eastern Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow; Mr. Vladimir F. Potapenko,  Adviser, Institute of Far Eastern Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow; Prof.  Anatoly Filippovich Klimenko, Leading Researcher, Institute of Far Eastern Studies, Russian 

Academy of Sciences, Moscow; Deputy Head, Center for Strategic Problems of North-East  Asia and the SCO, Moscow; Dr. Tatiana Shaumyan, Head, Centre for Indian Studies, Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow; and Dr. Sergei V. Uianaev,  Deputy Director, Institute of Far Eastern Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow;  Head, Center for Study and Forecast of Russia-China Relations, Institute of Far Eastern  Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow.  

The Indian delegation included Amb. Ashok K. Kantha, Director, Institute of Chinese  Studies, New Delhi; Prof. Alka Acharya, Professor, Centre for East Asian Studies, Jawaharlal  Nehru University, New Delhi; former Director, Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi; Prof.  Manmohan Agarwal, Professor, Centre of International Trade and Development, Jawaharlal  Nehru University, New Delhi; Prof. Amita Batra, Professor of Economics & Chairperson,  Centre for South Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University,  Delhi; Adjunct Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi; Amb. Ajai Malhotra, Chairperson,  Advisory Committee, U.N. Human Rights Council, Geneva; former Ambassador of India to the Russian Federation; former Ambassador and Deputy Representative of India to the United  Nations, New York; Prof. Siddiq Wahid, Adjunct Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, New  Delhi; former Gulab Singh Chair Professor of Modern History, University of Jammu, Jammu;  Prof. Gulshan Sachdeva, Jean Monnet Chair; Chairperson, Centre for European Studies,  School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Amb. Amar Sinha,  Distinguished Fellow, Research and Information System for Developing Countries, New  Delhi and former Ambassador of India to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. 

The hallmark of the RIC dialogues is the fact that participants have conceptualised trilateral cooperation in ways that are very far-reaching. Many visionary ideas have come out of these conferences, some of which have been taken up by policymakers. These ideas may not have been implemented exactly as they were conceptualised but they definitely helped in opening new channels and scope for cooperative exercises.

The conference concluded with Prof. Alexey Maslov, expressing his thanks and announcing that in keeping with the past practice of rotation, the 19th conference would be hosted by the IFES, RAS and extended an invitation to the partner institutions, expressing the hope that it would take place with actual – not virtual – participation. Amb. Ashok K. Kantha concluded the conference by thanking Prof. Maslov for the invitation and with appreciation towards all the participants and the ICS organising team.