India’s role and prospects as a strategic competitor to China come down to two broad factors: its intent and its capacity. In the midst of intensifying U.S.-China competition, this webinar examines India’s intent and capacity to be an effective player in the Indo-Pacific’s strategic competition. On intent, India has steadfastly insisted since 2020 that the bilateral relationship cannot progress unless “peace and tranquility” are restored to their unsettled border; but in recent months India has also engaged diplomatically with China. On capacity, India’s economic performance lies at the core of its national power, but reforms have been haphazard and its recent economic performance has attracted doubts over its long-term potential. Has India struck the right balance of defiance and conciliation in its foreign policy? Is it doing enough to unleash its enormous economic and demographic potential? In both dimensions, how robust is – and should be – coordination with the United States?

 

Speakers:

Suhasini Haidar is the Diplomatic Editor of The Hindu, one of India’s oldest and most respected national dailies, and hosts a weekly online show "WorldView with Suhasini Haidar." Over the course of her 28-year reporting career, Suhasini has reported from across the region and the world, including Kashmir, where she was injured in a bomb blast. In India, she has covered the foreign affairs beat for over a decade, and was the recipient of the most prestigious Indian print journalism award, the Prem Bhatia. Suhasini began her career at CNN's United Nation's bureau in New York. She holds Bachelor's degree at Lady Shriram College in Delhi, and a Masters in Broadcast Journalism at Boston University

Arvind Subramanian is the Meera & Vikram Gandhi Fellow at the Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia, and a Senior Fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, at Brown University. He was previously a professor of economics at Ashoka University, and the chief economic adviser to the Government of India between 2014 and 2018. Prior to that, he taught at Harvard, researched at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and worked at the IMF and GATT. In 2018, Professor Subramanian published Of Counsel: The Challenges of the Modi-Jaitley Economy, reflecting on his time guiding India’s economy. He holds a DPhil from Oxford.

Moderator:

Arzan Tarapore is the South Asia research scholar at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford University, where he leads the South Asia Initiative. His research focuses on military strategy, Indian defense policy, and contemporary Indo-Pacific security issues. Prior to his scholarly career, he served as an analyst in the Australian Defence Department. Arzan holds a PhD from King’s College London.

 

This event is part of APARC’s 2022 Fall webinar series, Asian Perspectives on the U.S.-China Competition.