Professor Michimi Muranushi, Department of Law, Gakushuin University, Tokyo spoke on 'The Weakness of Japanese Diplomacy and the prospects of Indian-Japanese Ties?' on Monday, 28 March 2011 at Vivekananda International Foundation. While he was talking about the weakness of Japanese diplomacy, Professor Michimi took the case of Senkaku island dispute to explain it.
Central Asia has a been of immense geopolitical significance for centuries, whether it was Tsarist Russia or Soviet Union and now the current world order after the demise of the Soviet Union, Central Asia continues to play an important role in the emerging power structures. The competition between various powers was earlier referred to as a Great Game which in some form or the other continues even till today. The appearance of five sovereign Central Asian Republics after the disappearance of the Soviet Union led to a strategic vacuum in the region.
US Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Andrew J. Shapiro visited VIF on February 11, 2011 for an interaction with senior members of the Foundation. A range of issues, including the strategic dimension of the India-US bilateral relations, defence trade between the two countries, relations between the two militaries and the regional and global strategic perceptions of the two great democracies, were discussed in a free and frank manner during the interaction.
Hardcover: 268 pages Publisher: VIJ Books (India) Pty Ltd (1 January 2011) Language: English ISBN-10: 9380177798 ISBN-13: 978-9380177793' Online Available at amazon.com
A delegation from Japan Institute for National Fundamentals interacted with VIF on 16 December 2010. The delegation comprised Vice President Dr Tadae Takubo, Mr Katsuhiko Takaike, Mr Yoshito Ogura, Mr Yoichi Shimada, Mr Yujiro Oiwa, Mr Hironobu Ishikawa and Mr Yasuhi Tomiyama. The discussion was open sans any hesitation. Both the sides acknowledged various issues of common concern including assertive China. There was also a convergence of thoughts on the imperative of co-operation in economic and security spheres for common benefit.
A discussion with a delegation of American foreign policy experts from the Washington based think-tanks Foreign Policy Initiative and the German Marshall Fund was held on 6 December 2010 at 2.30 p.m. at the VIF. The group consisted of William Kristol, Robert Kagan, Ashley Tellis, Gary Schmitt, Daniel Twining, Jamie Fly and Dhruva Jaishankar. There was a lively and wide ranging discussion on Indo-US relations.
Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP, the British Secretary of State for Defence, delivered a talk on ‘UK Strategic Defence and Security Review’ at VIF on 22 November 2010. Mr Ajit Doval, Director of VIF welcomed the gathering. Dr Fox began with a statement that the United Kingdom was committed to an enhanced partnership with India that recognised India’s position as a central player in contemporary world affairs. The partnership was based on over-lapping self-interest in trade and security.
Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP, the British Secretary of State for Defence, delivered a talk on ‘UK Strategic Defence and Security Review’ at VIF on 22 November 2010. Mr Ajit Doval, Director of VIF welcomed the gathering. Dr Fox began with a statement that the United Kingdom was committed to an enhanced partnership with India that recognised India’s position as a central player in contemporary world affairs. The partnership was based on over-lapping self-interest in trade and security.
VIF held an interaction on 12 November 2010 with a multi-disciplinary team of researchers from Taiwan led by Mr. Wen Hua Tzen and accompanied by Taiwan’s Representative in India Mr. Wenchyi Ong. Ambassador Satish Chandra, former Deputy National Security Advisor welcomed the delegation. Ambassador Chandra thanked Mr. Ong in particular, for having brought such a high level delegation, consisting of scholars from varied backgrounds. He also thanked Mr. Ong for having facilitated one of VIF researchers, Mr. Anirban Ganguly’s visit to Taiwan.