NEW ROAD TO MANDALAY: The promise and challenges of a new relationship

NEW ROAD TO MANDALAY:

The promise and challenges of a new relationship

Institute of Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Development (Ilead) is one of the premier Media and Management School of Kolkata in association with Aspen Institute India organized session on  "New Road to Mandalay" on 10th May at Ilead Campus.

The discussion headed by Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, Foreign Editor, Hindustan Times and Member of National Security Advisory Board, Government of India, and moderated by Dr. Kingshuk Chatterjee, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Calcutta University and guest faculty at the Institute of Foreign Policy Studies. Mr. Pradip Chopra, Chairman/President, ilead was also present on this occasion.

Myanmar’s gradual transition to democracy opens a new chapter of opportunity in Indo-Myanmar relations. With significant changes taking place in Myanmar which impacts its polity, economy, society and foreign affairs, its relations with the external world is also evolving steadily. It would be a truism yet paradoxical to say that the new Myanmar is not truly new. There is a complex transition underway in this nation. While the broad direction is set, the actual pace of change is yet to be gauged. Myanmar rejoining the global mainstream has also become the latest arena for Asia’s contentious geopolitical environment. With the world fast taking note of Myanmar, the window of opportunity is short for India to stamp its own footprint, vis-à-vis existing and emerging competition.

Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, Foreign Editor, Hindustan Times and Member of National Security Advisory Board, Government of India said on this occasion that Myanmar’s progress towards democracy and strategic relations to the mutual benefit of the two countries. It is thus most important that India’s promises in the area of infrastructure development, commercial and project-related investments are fulfilled in both quantitative and qualitative terms.

Dr. Kingshuk Chatterjee, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Calcutta University and guest faculty at the Institute of Foreign Policy Studies. views was on that India has historically had ties with Myanmar and the people to people contact has always remained despite political conflicts. India's record as a responsible democracy is unmatched by any other nation in Asia and this democracy can now be its biggest strength in order to make inroads into the Burmese nation. India can also bank upon its centuries old Buddhist heritage.Security is also big concern and we need the cooperation of the Myanmar government to stabilize our own North-Eastern region.

Mr. Pradip Chopra, Chairman/President, ilead said that we are sincerely thankful to the honorable speaker and this session is very beneficial to explore the opportunity in Myanmar. He further added that there is big scope in education and Health sector in Myanmar.

ABOUT: Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, Foreign Editor, Hindustan Times and Member of National Security Advisory Board of Government of India. Pramit Pal Chaudhuri is the Foreign Editor of the Hindustan Times and a senior associate at the Rhodium Group. He is presently serving as a member of the Indian government’s National Security Advisory Board and as a delegate for a number of track-two strategic and economic dialogues. These include the CII-Aspen Strategy Group India-US strategic dialogue, the Aspen Institute of India-China Reform School dialogue and the trilateral India-US-Japan dialogue. Pramit’s affiliations outside of India include being a member of the New York-based Asia Society’s Global Council, the Aspen Institute of Italy, the Institute of International Strategic Studies in London and the Mont Pelerin Society. In 2007-08 he was the Bernard Schwarz Fellow at the Asia Society in New York and a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow at the University of Maryland College Park in 1994-95. Pramit has also been a media fellow at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, South Asia Fellow at the Henry Stimson Centre, and Visiting Fellow at his alma mater Cornell University.

Dr. Kingshuk Chatterjee, Assistant Professor, Department of History, Calcutta University and guest faculty at the Institute of Foreign Policy Studies. Dr Kingshuk Chatterjee is an Assistant Professor in the department of history. His doctoral work was on the intellectual origins of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, at the Calcutta University. He currently offers optional courses on the history of Germany and that of the Modern Middle East at the department. He also shares the compulsory courses on the Making of the Modern West and International Relations since 1945, in the department of History. Dr Chatterjee is the Deputy Director, Centre for Pakistan and West Asian Studies and is guest faculty at the Institute of Foreign Policy Studies, Calcutta University. He began his career as a lecturer in the department of History, Scottish Church College, Calcutta (2000-06). He then became a fellow at the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Calcutta. During 2006-07, he served at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, as a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence. There he offered a course each on the Rise of India and its Global Role, and one on the International Relations of the Middle East Aspen Institute India is an independent and not-for-profit organisation, registered under Indian Trust Act. It facilitates and promotes open dialogue, and cross-sector outreach by engaging business, governments, nonprofits, and other stakeholders on issues related to India’s development. Aspen Institute India’s mission is twofold: to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues. Institute of Leadership,Entrepreneurship and Development (iLEAD) is one of the premier Media and Management School of Kolkata having world class infrastructure,excellent teaching and non teaching staff and is using latest educated technologies and is affiliated to West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT) and is located in the heart of the City. To know more about iLEAD one can visit www.ilead.net.in