Historical and Civilisational Studies
In Defense of Nationalism

In 1917, Rabindranath Tagore came out with a booklet on nationalism. It was a collection of three articles and a poem. Two of these, ‘Nationalism in the West’ and ‘Nationalism in Japan’, were lectures delivered in the USA in 1916-17 and in Ja....

Asian Buddhist Media Conclave – Mindful Communication for Conflict Avoidance and Sustainable Development

Organised by the International Buddhist Confederation in association with the VIF, and attended by luminary intellectuals like Dr Dhammapiya and Dr S Gurumurthy, the Conclave delved into the salience of mindful communication in conflict avoidance and....

UIHC Lecture Series, ‘Dharma & Ecology’ by Dr. Pankaj Jain

The first in a new VIF lecture series ‘Understanding Indian History & Civilisation’ was a talk on ‘Dharma and Ecology’ by Dr. Pankaj Jain, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy & Religion, University of North Texas, USA. Dr. Arvind Gu....

Samvad: the Fourth Symposium held in Tokyo - A Report

In 2015, Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Abe of Japan had mooted a unique idea of a holding a regular dialogue on ‘Samvad’ amongst Asians to discuss conflict avoidance, and philosophical and cultural heritage of Buddhism and Hinduism, the ....

योग और नैतिकता का भारतीय स्वरूप

सितंबर, 2014 में प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी संयुक्त राष्ट्र महासभा में गए और पूरी दुनिया अचंभे मे�....

Constitution, Judiciary and the Memories of Congress Rule

Recently in a TV interview, Mr. Harish Salve said that to a few Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders he had said, “you may have got the absolute majority but please do not underestimate the destabilising powers of media, political activists, and pe....

Shared Values and Democracy in Asia - 4th Samvad Conference at Tokyo

The Conference on the theme of ‘Shared Values and Democracy in Asia’ was addressed by PM Abe in which he returned to the theme that democracy in Asia was not a foreign idea introduced from the West. Prime Minister Modi in his message emphasised t....

Talk by Dr. Shashibala, Dean, Centre for Indology, Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, on ‘Echoes of Indian Culture in China’

Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organised a lecture cum discussion by Dr. Shashibala, Dean at the Centre of Indology, Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan. The topic of the lecture cum discussion was ‘Echoes of Indian Culture in China’. Dr. Arvind Gu....

India’s Soft Power and Heritage: A Gift to the World

In the foreign policy context, soft power and heritage have become as important a tool of diplomacy for States as hard power. It promotes inter-cultural dialogue, essential to counter the multiple challenges to the existing world order by non-State ....

Kashmir, Nehru’s Idealism and Article 370

Though the State of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) is an integral part of India, Pakistan claims that it is a disputed territory, particularly the Muslim majority Kashmir Valley, while some Kashmiris and the militant groups think that they are an independent....

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