H.E. Mr. Wenchyi Ong, Representative, Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre, New Delhi, held an informal interaction on Feb 07, 2012 with a panel of eminent strategic experts at VIF.
The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) held an informal closed-door interaction with a visiting delegation from a Taiwan-based Cross-Strait Interflow Prospect Foundation at its premises on 18 November 2011. The delegation was led by Mr. Kuang-Chung Liu, President Prospect Foundation and comprised four other members including Ms Migonne Chan, Executive Director, Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, Chinese Taipei APEC Study Center and Prof Tuang Y. Cheng, National Chengchi University Taiwan, R.O.C. The Taiwanese delegation was welcomed by General NC Vij, a former Chief of the Indian Army, who briefed them on the various activities of VIF besides providing them with an Indian perspective on the security dynamics in the Asia-Pacific region. Besides General Vij, Mr. Sushant Sareen, Shri RNP Singh, Prof. Makkhan Lal, Mr Sanjay Kumar, Mr. Anirban Ganguly, Mr. Manoharan and Ms Neha Mehta were part of the team that interacted with the Taiwanese delegation.
Leading a four-member delegation of the Oversight and Investigation for the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the United States House of Representatives, Chief Council Mr. J Harold Rees, visited Vivekananda International foundation Oct 21, 2011 for an interaction on the situation in Afghanistan against the backdrop of an increasingly complex situation there. He was accompanied by Ms. Janice V. Kaguyutan, Deputy Chief Council and two other members of the committee - Ms. Sarah Leiby and Mr. William Hawkins. The delegation apparently was on fact finding mission to ascertain views of regional countries ahead of a scheduled Senate Hearing the following week by the US Secretary of State Ms. Hilary Clinton. The delegation was briefed by senior faculty members of VIF which comprised, among others, Mr. Ajit Doval, KC, Director VIF, Ambassador PP Shukla, Joint Director VIF, General NC Vij, Vice Adm (Retd.) K. K. Nayyar, Ambassador Satish Chandra, Shri CD Sahay, Lt Gen (Retd.) RK Sawhney, and Brig (Retd.) Vinod Anand.
In the first-ever visit by any official delegation of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of Taiwan to India, a five-member delegation led by DPP Member of Parliament MP Ms. Chen, Chiech-Ju and Ms Huai-Hui Hsieh, Deputy Director, Department of International Affairs DPP, Dr I-Chung Lai, Director of Foreign Policy Studies (Taiwan Think Tank), among others, visited Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) on August 11, 2011 for an interaction on regional security dynamics.The VIF’s battery of scholars which engaged the Taiwanese delegation included among others Mr Ajit Doval, KC, Director VIF, Amb TCA Rangachari, Lt Gen RK Sawhney, Brig Vinod Anand, and Mr. A. Suryaprakash, a noted journalist.
The recently concluded Tenth Summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Kazakh capital Astana was the focal point of a Round Table Discussion (RTD), held at Vivekananda International Foundation on Jun 20, 2011. The discussion revolved around India’s prospects of becoming a full member of SCO.
Dr Klaus Lange and Dr Klara Knapp, both from the Institute of Transnational Studies, Munich, visited Vivekananda International Foundation on Jun 22, 2011 for an informal discussion on the evolving dynamics in Af-Pak region, especially from an European perspective. They interacted with senior faculty members of VIF which included among others Mr. Ajit Doval, Director, Lt Gen RK Sawhney, and Brig Vinod Anand. The views presented by Dr. Klaus Lange underscored Europe’s declining interests in managing global affairs, largely because of its increasingly fragile economy.
A Congressional Staff Delegation from the United States, comprising Kevin Fitzpatrick, Director, Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia, Mr. Jeremy Haldeman, Staff Director on Oversight and Investigations and Mr. Ed Stein, Professional Staff Member, Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia visited Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) for a closed door interaction on India-Afghanistan/Pakistan and regional affairs on June 8, 2011. The VIF team which interacted with the Congressional delegation was led by Mr. Ajit Doval KC, Director. Among others who interacted with the delegation included Mr. CD Sahay, Lt Gen (retd.) RK Sawhney, Mr. Sushant Sareen, and Brig (retd.) Vinod Ananad.
A high level Defence Ministry delegation from Government of Sweden led by Dr. Hans-Christian Hagman, Senior Advisor, Secretariat for strategy & Security Analysis, Swedish Ministry of Defence visited Vivekananda International Foundation on May 11, 2011. Mattias Lentz, Deputy Head of Mission in Swedish Embassy in India accompanied the Defence Ministry delegation. The delegation had a comprehensive interaction with the Director and faculty members of the VIF on global strategic and security environment, regional setting, India’s foreign policy concerns and priorities and India’s possible futuristic role in the wake of its emerging as a new power centre in multi-polar world.
A delegation from the prestigious Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS), London, comprising senior defence and civil service officers from countries including UK, France, Germany and Brazil etc. visited VIF on May 09, 2011.The visiting RCDS delegation was welcomed and briefed on contemporary global and regional issues. Shri Satish Chandra, former Deputy National Security Advisor and Distinguished Fellow VIF, briefed the visiting delegates on India’s perspective of global and regional settings, with specific references to countries in India’s neighbourhood, Southeast Asia, West Asia and the United states.
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.