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Mr. Chen Dongxiao, President of the Shanghai Institute of International Studies (SIIS), accompanied with Dr. Liu Zongyi, Senior Fellow, SIIS, visited the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) on 03 April 2017 for an interaction on issues of mutual strategic interests to both China and India.

With no agenda fixed for the interaction, discussions between the two sides broadly revolved around issues such as the likely trajectory of the US foreign policy (continuity vs. change) under Trump administration especially towards China and India and its impact on the bilateral relationships, recalibration of the Asia rebalance strategy under President Trump, radicalization and extremist violence in the region, China’s proposal for expanding the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) association and the rationale behind it, improvement of economic engagements between China and India against the backdrop of prevailing bilateral political atmosphere, formulations over Afghanistan where China is keen to play a dominant role, China’s role in de-escalating tension in the Korean Peninsula, and China-Pakistan relations.

While the interaction for a substantial part remained focused on geo-political issues, views exchanged across the table also reflected a bipartisan desire for increasing convergence while simultaneously minimizing points of divergence between the two neighbours. The interaction however underlined continued dialogues, appreciating each other’s concerns and increasing the level of people to people contacts as the fundamentals to improving bilateral cooperation. With Amb TCA Rangachari, India’s former Ambassador to China, leading the VIF’s panel of interlocutors, Lt Gen Ravi Sawhney, Mr. CD Sahay, Amb Ashok Kantha, among others, engaged in a brain-storming session with the visiting delegates.