Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies

🌊 ’s Sixth Summit in Thailand has once again drawn global attention to the growing strategic importance of the Bay of Bengal.

Since 2021, IPCS has been at the forefront of advancing research, dialogue, and regional cooperation on the Bay of Bengal-partnering with BIMSTEC and beyond- as part of our ongoing collaboration with The Clingendael Institute's Planetary Security Initiative (PSI).

Here’s a quick look at some of our key activities in this space:
🔹 Research & Analysis: In early 2022, we published a flagship report on Climate Security in the Bay of Bengal, examining how climate impacts intersect with regional conflict dynamics and geopolitical vulnerabilities.

📘 Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/dEsn53Sb

🔹 Track 1.5 Workshop: In December 2022, IPCS hosted a regional Track 1.5 workshop in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Climate Security in the Bay of Bengal, convening policymakers and experts to identify shared challenges and solutions.

📘 Workshop report: https://lnkd.in/dh5WCPBx

🔹 Global Outreach In 2023, we took our work global:
- The Hague: Co-hosted a roundtable with Clingendael on climate-security implications.

- Berlin: A panel at the Berlin Climate Security Conference, with expert insights from Amb. Riaz Hamidullah, Amb. Hassanthi Dissanayake, and Air Marshal Anil Chopra.

🔹 Policy Implementation Workshop: In October 2024, we co-hosted a Track 1.5 Policy Implementation Workshop in Bangkok, Thailand with BIMSTEC and Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), focusing on Climate Change and Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief (HA/DR).

The event featured opening remarks by BIMSTEC Secretary General H.E. Indra Mani Pandey. The workshop convened experts from across the region to address last-mile challenges in regional HA/DR coordination. The report will be published shortly.

🔗 Stay tuned for more insights on IPCS' work in the region and beyond.

📢 India-Europe Resilience Forum📢

The IPCS-Hanns Seidel Foundation roundtable on Critical Raw Materials (CRM) hosted on 28 March in New Delhi marked the launch of our new initiative, the India-Europe Resilience Forum (IERF).

Established through a partnership with Hanns Seidel Foundation - India, Centre for Social Research (CSR) India and Chanakya University, will facilitate India Europe track 1.5 policy dialogue.

We are thankful to Ambassador Dr. TCA Raghavan (Member, IPCS Governing Council) for formally launching the , and Dr. Ranjana Kumari (Centre for Social Research) Prof. (Dr). Chetan Singai (Chanakya University) and Judith Weinberger-Singh (HSF) for their remarks on its relevance and necessity.

The first roundtable—moderated by Ruhee Neog and Judith Weinberger-Singh—explored the geopolitical and trade complexities of the CRM ecosystem.

🎙️Grateful to our panel🎙️
Dr. Ajey Lele, (MP-IDSA)
Dr. Melanie Müller, (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP))
Ambassador Ashok K. Kantha (Retd.)
Kamal Madishetty
Dr. Louise van Schaik, (The Clingendael Institute)
Varda Taneja, (Federation of European Business in India)

For more information on the IERF, please read Dinakar Peri's coverage for The Hindu:

https://lnkd.in/d4Cj8ciD

Stay tuned for more insights!

‘India-EU Dialogue on Strategic Autonomy: Energy and Minerals’

On 17th March, IPCS, in collaboration with The Clingendael Institute and the Embassy of Netherlands in India, hosted a closed-door roundtable exploring the synergies between India and the EU in terms of energy security and access to critical raw materials, a topic of immense importance given the global challenges in these areas.

We were grateful to have a stellar panel who enriched the discussion with their insights:

🎙️ Keynote Remarks by Deputy Ambassador of the Netherlands to India, Huib Mijnarends
🎙️ Opening Remarks by Benedikt Franke, Ambassador Manjeev Singh Puri (Retd), Shebonti Ray Dadwal, and Dr. Stephan Hesselmann
🎙️ Moderated by Louise Van Schaik and Ruhee Neog

We look forward to continuing these conversations to deepen collaboration and foster mutual understanding.

IPCS was pleased to host an online discussion on Amb (Retd.) Dr. T.C.A. Raghavan's latest book: 'Circles of Freedom: Friendship, Love & Loyalty in the Indian National Struggle' on 2 December 2024.

This discussion featured a conversation between Dr. Raghavan (Governing Council Member) and the discussant, Urvashi Butalia.

IPCS and Hanns Seidel Foundation - India were pleased to host a closed-door roundtable discussion on 'Geopolitics of Climate Change & Energy in India-EU Cooperation' on 29 November 2024 in New Delhi.

We are grateful to Dr. Arvind Gupta, Director Vivekananda International Foundation, for chairing and delivering the opening remarks.

We are also thankful to Dr. Dhanasree Jayaram and Tapan Bharadwaj for their scene-setting presentations; and our participants for their contributions to the discussion.

| "While China’s immediate response to the tariff hike has been mild and defensive, it is likely to adopt a multi-pronged approach to address the looming trade war."

In his latest for Deccan Herald, Prof Srikanth Kondapalli, Distinguished Fellow, highlights the measures might take to retaliate against Trump's announcement of a tariff hike. These measures range from diversifying its trade to striking a bargain with .

Read the article here:

Trump’s tariff war 2.0 looms. And China isn’t just watching Inscrutable China

| 'Bangladesh in Transition: Domestic Contenders, External Players, and Future Scenarios'

This report seeks to understand Bangladesh’s evolving political trajectory and its implications for international relations.

Authored by Fiona Raval, Dr. Muneer Ahmed, Prerana Priyadarshi, and Tapan Bharadwaj, this comprehensive analysis explores 's political landscape by examining key domestic power contenders, the role of external players, and the broader implications of political shifts for global stakeholders.

Read the full report here: https://www.ipcs.org/issue_select.php?recNo=6166

| "Beijing has been insisting for some time that it bring its own security agencies into the country, including supporting intelligence."

Tara Kartha, Distinguished Fellow, writes about the growing attacks on projects and its impact on Sino-Pak relations in her latest for Firstpost.

How attacks on Chinese working for CPEC projects dent China-Pakistan ties That the Chinese have felt the need to hire private security is perplexing when the Pakistan army has granted itself a huge rise in the budget ostensibly to take care of their security

| "The India-China-US triangle will take on greater strategic salience in the decade to come as China continues trying to unseat the United States as the world’s top economy and India targets third place on the global GDP ladder."

Commodore C. Uday Bhaskar (Retd), Distinguished Fellow, writes on the tentative thaw in Sino-Indian relations in his latest for South China Morning Post.

Opinion | No cost-free choices in complex US-China-India triangle Keeping India-China dialogue open could add a slight but welcome bit of malleability to what could otherwise be a brittle strategic triangle.

| "While ’s seemingly “isolationist” foreign policies provide some space for to fill in Asia and beyond, it is unlikely to be a breather for Beijing given the structural intent behind ."

Writes Professor Srikanth Kondapalli, Distinguished Fellow, in his latest for Firstpost.

How Trump 2.0 is more a challenge for China While Donald Trump’s seemingly ‘isolationist’ foreign policies provide some space for China to fill in Asia and beyond, it is unlikely to be a breather for Beijing given the structural intent behind Trump’s policy of ‘Making America Great Again’

| 'The Myanmar Situation and Implications for Northeast India'

In 2007, Mirza Zulfiqur Rahman analysed the political situation in and highlighted the various ways it could impact India's Northeast.

Read the whole piece here: https://www.ipcs.org/comm_select.php?articleNo=2397

| "Whenever tenures of army chiefs were extended in the recent past, prime ministers were subsequently eased out of office by the same army chief."

Observes Rana Banerji, Member, Governing Council as he writes about the tenure extension of defense services chiefs in .

Pak Army Chief Will Now Stay Till Nov 2027 Whenever tenures of army chiefs were extended in the recent past, prime ministers were subsequently eased out of office by the same army chief, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.