A discussion on the recently released book ‘KASHMIR-THE VAJPAYEE YEARS’, authored by Shri A S Dulat, former Chief of Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India’s external intelligence agency, was organized at the VIF on July, 22, 2015. The programme was chaired by Shri Vijay Kapoor, IAS (retd.) former Lt. Governor of Delhi with Shri Dulat as the main speaker.
With China ostensibly scaling to new heights in military combat power every year and continuing with its assertive stance, especially around contested territories, increasingly grabbing international headlines, a Round Table Discussion was organised by the VIF on July 13th 2015, aimed at carrying out an Indo-centric realistic assessment of China’s military capabilities as also its options to use force against perceived adversaries, especially India.
The VIF held a Round Table Discussion (RTD) on ‘Energy Security for India’, on 14 & 15 May 2015. An astute panel of policy experts and stakeholders, comprising, among others, Shri GB Pradhan, Chairman, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, Shri B.K.Chaturvedi, former Cabinet Secretary and Member Planning Commission, Shri R.V.Shahi, former Secretary (Power), and Dr.
On Jun 19th, 2015, VIF hosted Lt. Gen VK Ahluwalia, formerly Army Commander Central Command, for a talk on ‘Counter Measures against Naxalism’, followed by a round table discussion. With General NC Vij, Director, VIF, presiding over the session, others who took part in the discussion included Satish Chandra, former Dy NSA, Rajiv Mathur, former IB Chief, AK Verma, former RAW Chief, Adm KK Nayyar, former Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Lt Gen RK Sawhney, former Deputy Chief of the Army Staff & former DGMI, and PK Mishra, former Additional Director General of BSF, among others.
On May 27, 2015, the VIF put together a panel of eminent policy experts on defence, comprising, among others, serving and retired high ranking military officers, senior bureaucrats and representatives from the defence manufacturing industry for a seminar on ‘Make in India’ and DPP 2013.
With a view to evolve the future roadmap towards building comprehensive national capabilities in design and manufacturing in the Electronic Sector, the VIF, in collaboration with the DRDO, CII and the American Chamber of Commerce in India (AmCham India), organised an important seminar ‘Design and Make in India - Electronics Sector’ on 3 & 4 Jun 2015.
Vimarsha - VIF’s monthly series of talks on issues of contemporary strategic relevance - was held on 13 May 2015 with then Governor of Arunachal Pradesh His Excellency Lt Gen (retd) Nirbhay Sharma sharing his perspective on the development of the Northeast in the light of India’s ‘Act East’ policy. Lt Gen S K Sinha, former Governor Assam and J&K, chaired the session, while several prominent experts among the audience interacted with the speaker.
With the ‘Make in India’ drive of the government promising to change the entire industrial landscape in the country, the VIF organised it monthly talk ‘vimarsha’ on the ‘Role of Technology in the Manufacture of Defence Equipment’ on 23 April 2015, delivered by Vice Admiral Puri, former Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, who is presently associated with the Foundation as a Distinguished Fellow.
Noted columnist and author of ‘Chasing the Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State’, Tarek Fatah, delivered an insightful talk on ‘The Rise of Islamism: A Direct Consequence of the Creation of Pakistan’, on March 25, 2015 under the Vimarsha lecture series at VIF. A gusty speaker, known widely across the Muslim world for his secular, progressive and liberal views, Tarek Fatah, gave a brilliant exposition on the evolution of political Islam in the sub-continent, attributing much of the radicalisation going on across the world to the creation of Pakistan.
VIF, together with All India Kashmiri Samaj (AIKS), organised a day-long conference ‘Revisiting the displaced Kashmiri Pandits issue’ on 13 February 2015. ‘J&K: the fractured electorate mandate and its implications,’ and ‘Creation of a legitimate political space for displaced Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir’ were the two prominent themes of the seminar. The conference was attended and addressed by a large panel of eminent Kashmir observers and security experts, many among them owing their ancestry to Kashmir.