Webinar: Eminent diplomats, experts to map post-summit future of Quad

Eminent diplomats and experts from India, US, Japan and Australia will gather for a virtual brainstorming discussion to map the road ahead for the Quad after the historic first-ever in-person Quad summit in Washington on September 24.

The summit of the leaders of Quad countries, comprising India, US, Japan and Australia, culminated in substantive outcomes, which could help shape a free, open and inclusive region and place the four major democracies at the heart of an evolving world order. Against this backdrop, India Writes Network, India and The World and Centre for Global India Insights (CGII), a think tank focused on global affairs, are organising the webinar entitled, “Quad Summit: Power of 4 – Reshaping the World Order,” which will map future directions of the four-nation grouping.

Announcing the webinar, Manish Chand, CEO, IWN and Centre for Global India Insights (CGII), said: “The major takeaway from the first face-to-face Quad summit is the marked shift from rhetoric and word games to the phase of purposeful and constructive action, representing the evolution of a nascent grouping in barely six months since the virtual summit.”

“The summit has fleshed out signature initiatives and deliverables whose transformative impact will be felt in days to come. These include operationalisation of the Quad Vaccine Initiative under the broader rubric of Indo-Pacific Health Security, Quad Infrastructure Initiative, resilient supply chains for semiconductors and clean energy and setting principles on development of critical and emerging technologies,” said Mr Chand.

Pl. join in to listen to this star-studded panel.

Registration: https://lnkd.in/gDywBgkf

Prior registration is a must for participating in the webinar.

BLOCK THE DATE: SEPTEMBER 29, 6 PM IST; 8.30 AM EST

Quad: The Power of 4 – Reshaping post-Covid World Order

WHEN – SEPTEMBER 29, 6 PM (IST); 8.30 AM EST

SPEAKERS

Amb. (Retd.) Kanwal Sibal is a former foreign secretary of India and well-known commentator on foreign policy issues. Amb. Sibal joined the Indian Foreign Service in July 1966 and served as India’s Ambassador to Turkey, Egypt, France and Russia. In 2017, he was conferred the Padma Shree award by the President of India. While with the Indian Foreign Service, he served in numerous locations, including Dar-es-Salaam, Lisbon, and Kathmandu. Sibal also served as Joint Secretary (Administration/West Europe) in the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India and the Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India in Washington. He is the First Grand Doctor of Philosophy in India. He received the title of Full Professor from the European Academy of Informatization and the World Information Distributed University-WIDU.

Ambassador Kenneth I. Juster has over 40 years of experience as a senior government official, senior law partner, and senior business executive. He advises on cross-border and regulatory matters, with a particular focus on the United States and India. Mr Juster served as the 25th United States Ambassador to the Republic of India from November 2017 to January 2021, leading the third largest U.S. Mission in the world. As part of his responsibilities, he also oversaw the U.S. relationship with the Kingdom of Bhutan.

As Ambassador, Mr Juster participated in the development of the U.S. government’s Indo-Pacific strategy and the relaunching of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue involving the United States, Australia, India, and Japan. He also participated in three 2+2 U.S.-India Ministerial Dialogues, involving the top diplomatic and defense officials from the two countries, as well as the 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Summit, co-sponsored by the United States and India.

Prior to serving as Ambassador, he was the Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council. He was a senior member of both the National Security Council and the National Economic Council. Mr Juster served as U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce from 2001 to 2005, in charge of the Bureau of Industry and Security. Juster co-founded and served as the U.S. Chair of the U.S.-India High Technology Cooperation Group. He was also one of the architects of the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership initiative between the United States and India, which provided the foundation for the historic civil nuclear agreement between the two countries.

Amb. Teresita C. Schaffer is an expert on economic, political, security and risk management trends in the region that extends from Afghanistan through Bangladesh. She is a Senior Adviser to McLarty Associates, a Washington-based international strategic advisory firm.

In a 30-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service, Ambassador Schaffer was one of the State Department’s leading experts on South Asia, and focused as well on international economic issues. She served as U.S. Ambassador in Sri Lanka and also as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East and South Asia, at that time the senior South Asia policy position in the State Department. Her most recent book is India at the Global High Table: The Quest for Regional Primacy and Strategic Autonomy (2016), co-authored with her late husband, Ambassador Howard B. Schaffer.

Ambassador Schaffer speaks Hindi, Urdu, French, Swedish, German, and Italian; and has studied Bangla and Sinhala.

Ambassador Anil Wadhwa served as Secretary (East) in India’s Ministry of External Affairs and served as Ambassador to Italy, Thailand, Poland and Lithuania, Sultanate of Oman. He is Distinguished Adviser to India and the World magazine and India Writes Network. He is currently Distinguished Fellow, VIF.

He has been a member of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) from July 1, 1979 to May 31, 2017. Ambassador Wadhwa was also a United Nations Disarmament Fellow in Geneva (July-November1989) and India’s Permanent Representative to several Rome-based United Nations agencies. Ambassador Wadhwa also drew up the Most Favoured Nation Agreement between India and China in 1984, the first-ever agreement between the two countries since 1954.

Dr Srikanth Kondapalli is Professor in Chinese Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University. He is also an Honorary Fellow at Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi and Research Associate at Centre for Chinese Studies, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. He served at Institute for Defence Studies & Analyses, New Delhi for nearly 12 years. He learnt Chinese language at Beijing Language & Culture University and was a post-Doctoral Visiting Fellow at People’s University, Beijing from 1996-98. He was a Visiting Professor at National Chengchi University, Taipei in 2004. He has published three books, two monographs, co-edited a volume and several articles in edited books and in national and international journals and newspapers. He is a guest faculty member at College of Naval Warfare, Army War College, Indo-Tibetan Border Police Academy and Border Security Force Academy

Moderator: Manish Chand is a well-known foreign affairs expert, who has written extensively on diplomatic and policy issues. He is Founder-CEO of TGII Media Private Limited, a leading media, publishing and research company, and Editor-in-Chief, “India and The World,” an influential magazine-journal focused on international affairs and India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org), a portal on global affairs. He is also Director, Centre for Global India Insights (CGII), which focuses on global geopolitics and India’s rise as a major global player.

He has worked for leading Indian media organizations, think tanks and industry bodies, including RIS, Observer Research Foundation and CII. He has worked closely with India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on a host of publications, research reports and public diplomacy projects. He has participated in international seminars organized by leading think tanks and has been widely quoted in media and interviewed by many media outfits for his comments on international issues. He has authored and edited several publications and books, including “Journeys Across Continents: A New India on the Global Stage,” the first-of-its-kind book that maps PM Modi’s journeys to various foreign countries. He is the Editor of the much-acclaimed book on India-Africa relations, entitled “Two Billion Dreams: Celebrating India-Africa Friendship.”

Dr. Satoru Nagao is a fellow (non-resident) at Hudson Institute, based in Tokyo, Japan. From December 2017 through November 2020, he was a visiting fellow at Hudson Institute, based in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Nagao’s primary research area is the US.Japan-India security cooperation. Dr. Nagao holds numerous other research positions, including research fellow at the Institute for Future Engineering (strategy, defense policy), visiting research fellow at the Research Institute for Oriental Cultures in Gakushuin University, research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, associate at the Society of Security and Diplomatic Policy Studies, research fellow at the Security and Strategy Research Institute for Japan, senior fellow at the Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka, and senior research fellow of the Indian Military Review. Dr. Nagao has authored numerous books and articles on security issues, and he also contributes to the column, “Age of Japan-India ‘Alliance’” at Nikkei Business, the journal of one of Japan’s leading newspapers.

Author Profile

India Writes Network: India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org) is an emerging think tank and a media-publishing company focused on international affairs & the India Story. Centre for Global India Insights is the research arm of India Writes Network. To subscribe to India and the World, write to editor@indiawrites.org. A venture of TGII Media Private Limited, a leading media, publishing and consultancy company, IWN has carved a niche for balanced and exhaustive reporting and analysis of international affairs. Eminent personalities, politicians, diplomats, authors, strategy gurus and news-makers have contributed to India Writes Network, as also “India and the World,” a magazine focused on global affairs.