Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : The Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on July 3, 2021, termed the Covid-19 pandemic as the most serious challenge that has faced humanity in living memory and wanted the Indian strategic and academic community to focus on the world after Covid and its implications for India.
Naidu, also the ex-officio President of the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), made these remarks while addressing the 19th meeting of the Governing Council of the ICWA in virtual mode from Hyderabad on July 3, 2021.
Addressing the meetings, Naidu noted with satisfaction that the analysis of the global impact of the pandemic has been a cross-cutting theme at ICWA in all its deliberations and areas of research. The Vice President expressed appreciation for ICWA’s activities through the past year notwithstanding the disruptions of the pandemic.
The Vice President noted with satisfaction that ICWA has continued its efforts to address issues that are at the top of the foreign policy agenda and to make its dialogues, discussions and research outputs more policy effective. He was happy to note that there has been continued high-level participation of MEA in ICWA’s programmes and both continue to work closely on issues such as maritime affairs, India-Pacific Oceans Initiative, Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), India’s non-permanent member of the UN Security Council 2021-22, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, India-Japan-Russia Cooperation in the Far East.
Naidu also expressed his appreciation for ICWA’s efforts to work with other like-minded institutions, think-tanks and universities to build complementarities and explore synergies including the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, Centre for Public Policy Research, Kochi, Asian Confluence, Shillong, and Rashtriya Raksha University, Gujarat.
On this occasion, the Vice President also launched the book titled “Sapru House: A Story of Institutions Building in World Affairs” authored by Dr. TCA Raghavan, DG, ICWA and Dr. Vivek Mishra, Research Fellow at ICWA. He congratulated the authors who have provided a history of the ICWA, the country’s oldest foreign policy think tank, and a glimpse of how the serious study of international affairs and debate on foreign policy began in India fostered by a consciously non-partisan institution building process of the ICWA. He also welcomed the decision of the concerned ICWA Committees to set up an ‘ICWA Archives Unit’ to properly catalogue and conserve historical and archival record found in the process of writing this book, according to a PIB release.
Naidu was happy to note that ICWA has commissioned a short monograph on India’s bilateral relations with Bangladesh written in simple language and without any technicalities. He stated that similar monographs may also be taken up for other countries.
Former Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs, Ms Vijay Thakur Singh was appointed as the next Director General of the ICWA at the meeting as the term of Dr. TCA Raghavan will come to an end on July 23,2021. The ICWA Act of 2001 read with the Amendment Act of 2003 prescribes a three-year term for the DG and ex-officio Member Secretary of ICWA and the procedure for the appointment of the new DG.
The virtual meeting was attended by the three Vice-Presidents of the Council – Dr S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister, P P Chaudhary, Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, and Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, Niti Aayog.