Indian Partnership Forum and Chatham House hosted the research event and webinar India’s Foreign Policy Challenges: A Balancing Act?
India has been engaged in a bitter border standoff with China, potentially both cause and effect of its deepening relationship with the US. Alongside other members of the Quad, in particular Japan, the US and India champion the vision of a ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’. India-UK relations are likely to deepen, while in the Gulf, India has strengthened partnerships with the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Our expert panel discussion and Q&A consisted of:
Ambassador Kanwal Sibal, Former Foreign Secretary of India
Katherine Hadda, Adjunct Fellow, Wadhwani Chair in US-India Policy Studies, CSIS
Rwitwika Bhattacharya, CEO, Swaniti Initiative
Sir Vince Cable, Former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, UK
Opening remarks: Mohan Kaul, President, Indian Partnership Forum
Chair: Gareth Price, Senior Research Fellow, Chatham House
Are there limits to India’s apparent shift from non-alignment? It has strengthened relations with the US while remaining a major purchaser of Russian weapons.
Will President Biden continue the policy put in place by his predecessor in promoting a larger regional role for India as well as a strengthened bilateral relationship?
If its relations with China remain strained, how far will India go in deepening relations with Taiwan, and expressing concern over developments in Tibet or Hong Kong?
And can New Delhi manage to delink its increasingly polarized domestic politics from its foreign policy interests?
This event was held in partnership with Chatham House on Feb 25, 2021, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM.