ICG Panel Discussion
India as a Rising Power: Opportunities and Constraints in the 21st Century
Professor T.V. Paul
Professor of International Relations, McGill University, Canada
&
Admiral Arun Prakash PVSM, AVSM, AvC, VSM
Former Chief of Naval Staff Former
Monday | 13 January 2020 | 11.00 am – 12.30 pm

Organised by The International Centre Goa

Entry Free & Open to all

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India as a Rising Power: Opportunities and Constraints in the 21st Century
In its 71-year existence as an independent state, India has achieved much in fulfilling the dreams of its leaders in obtaining a higher global status, but the quest is still unfinished in terms of achieving a great power status. Why do the Indian elite and many in the public believe that the country has a destiny to rise as a global power? What are the hard and soft power markers that encourage them to think this way? Despite their stated and unstated ambitions, why haven’t the larger bureaucratic and political elite worked hard enough to achieve this goal? What are the external and internal constraints in this pursuit and the opportunities that India may have both obtained and missed? Finally, what does the future hold for India’s status elevation? How do we explain/theorize India’s status seeking efforts?

T.V. Paul is James McGill Professor of International Relations in the Department of Political Science at McGill University, Montreal, Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He served as the President of International Studies Association (ISA) for 2016-17. Paul is the author or editor of 20 books and over 75 scholarly articles/book chapters in the fields of International Relations, International Security, and South Asia. He is the author of the books: Restraining Great Powers: Soft Balancing from Empires to the Global Era (Yale University Press, 2018); The Warrior State: Pakistan in the Contemporary World (Oxford University Press, 2013); Globalization and the National Security State (with N. Ripsman, Oxford University Press, 2010); The Tradition of Non-use of Nuclear Weapons (Stanford University Press, 2009); India in the World Order: Searching for Major Power Status (with B.R. Nayar Cambridge University Press, 2002); Power versus Prudence: Why Nations Forgo Nuclear Weapons (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2000); and Asymmetric Conflicts: War Initiation by Weaker Powers (Cambridge University Press, 1994). Paul currently serves as the editor of the Georgetown University Press book series: South Asia in World Affairs. For more, see: www.tvpaul.com

Admiral Arun Prakash was India’s 20th Naval Chief and served concurrently as Chairman Chiefs of Staff 2004-06. A naval aviator by specialization, he commanded a fighter squadron as well as a number of warships, including the aircraft-carrier Viraat. In flag-rank he commanded the Eastern Fleet, the Andaman & Nicobar Joint Command, and the Western Naval Command. He served on staff, as head of the navy’s Aviation and Personnel branches, and as the Vice Chief. Post-retirement, he served two terms in the National Security Advisory Board and headed the National Maritime Foundation. He writes and speaks on maritime and strategic issues and currently holds a Distinguished Chair in India’s Naval War College.