ABOUT THE BOOK

This volume is based on the proceedings of the Kalinga International Foundation`s first international conference — `PURBASA: East Meets East: Synergising the Northeast and Eastern India with the Indo-Pacific`, held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, in March 2018. Following soon after the India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit of 25 January 2018, this Conference clearly demonstrated what a carefully choreographed convergence of politics, diplomacy, arts, and scholarship can produce by way of specific ideas to deepen India`s relationship with the East.

India`s Act East Policy has extended the nation`s vision beyond ASEAN to the larger Indo-Pacific region which unifies the Indian Ocean region and the Western Pacific region into a singular construct. This is a natural progression of the civilisational connect that India`s East and Northeast has enjoyed with other countries, both overland and through the waters of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, over the centuries. The deliberations of the Conference provide interesting answers as to how the relationship between India and the countries of the region should develop in this period of geopolitical flux in the wider Indo-Pacific.

ABOUT Author

Mr. Lalit Mansingh (Retd.) is of the 1963 batch of the Indian Foreign Service, and has served as India`s Foreign Secretary, Ambassador to the USA, and as High Commissioner to the UK. He has also been India`s Ambassador in the United Arab Emirates and High Commissioner in Nigeria. After his initial posting in Geneva, he served as Deputy Chief of Mission in the Indian Embassies in Kabul, Brussels, and Washington DC. His assignments at headquarters in New Delhi include Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance; DG, ICCR; Dean, Foreign Service Institute; and Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs.

Ambassador Mansingh is active in several international initiatives for conflict resolution, regional security, and sustainable development. As a member of an international group of elder statesmen, he has worked on a project entitled “Managing Global Insecurity” that resulted in a publication titled Power and Responsibility in 2009. Ambassador Mansingh is a part of a number of Track II dialogues between India and its neighbours.

Ambassador Anup K. Mudgal retired in May, 2016 as India`s High Commissioner to Mauritius. At the headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, he handled relations with the neighbourhood; ASEAN; the Russian Federation, and Central and Eastern Europe as well issues relating to Human Resource Development. His eight assignments abroad include  the Indian Missions in Mexico; Peru; the former Yugoslavia; Belgium (EU matters); Germany; Austria (work relating to: IAEA, UNIDO, UNODC, UNOOSA, and UNCITRAL); and Mauritius (including IORA).

Born in May, 1956, Ambassador Mudgal holds Masters` and M. Phil degrees from the University of Delhi. He speaks Hindi, English, and Spanish.

Dr. Udai Bhanu Singh is Senior Research Associate and Coordinator of the Southeast Asia and Oceania Centre, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. He studied in St. Stephen`s College (BA Hons. and MA in History) and the School of International Studies, JNU (M. Phil and Ph. D). His focus is Southeast Asia, especially Myanmar. His latest (co-edited) book was: Delhi Dialogue VIII: ASEAN-India Relations: a New Paradigm (Pentagon Press, New Delhi, 2018). He has contributed to different Journals as well as chapters in  various books. He has participated in Track-II dialogues with Myanmar, New Zealand, and Australia. He contributes to the media, and has delivered many lectures in academic and defence institutions in India and abroad.