This panel discussion will examine the bilateral relationship between India and The United States both from an historical perspective and with a look ahead to the future. The panel will discuss and debate what the past seventy years has meant for the India-US partnership and will look ahead to prospects and challenges for the future.

Panelists:

Ambassador Shivshankar Menon is an Indian career diplomat and well-known strategist, who served as National Security Adviser of India under Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh. He had previously served as the Foreign Secretary, the top diplomat in India. Prior to that, he was Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan, and Sri Lanka and ambassador to China and Israel.

Ambassador Meera Shankar served as India’s Ambassador to the United States of America from 2009 to 2011. She was India’s second female ambassador to the United States of America. She was also India’s Ambassador to Germany and spent nearly four years in the prime minister’s office under Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Mary Kay L. Carlson is a member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister Counselor. She currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.

Lieutenant General Chenicheri Satish Nambiar is an Indian general. He was the first Force Commander and Head of Mission of UNPROFOR, the United Nations Protection Force in the former Yugoslavia during 1992-93.

Swapan Dasgupta is a renowned Indian writer, journalist and television commentator and Member of Parliament, being a presidential nominee to the Rajya Sabha.

Arvind Virmani is an Indian economist who was appointed India’s representative to the International Monetary Fund in 2009. Prior to that, he was the Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India.

This discussion will be moderated by Ambassador Surendra Kumar who served as India’s ambassador to Libya, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo and Eritrea and High Commissioner of India to Kenya and Swaziland, and Consul General in Chicago. He is the founding President of the Indo-American Friendship Association. Recently, he launched the Uttar Pradesh International Foundation.

This event is free; registration is required. For more information and to find out how to RSVP, click here.  

This event is held in collaboration with International House at the University of Chicago, the Indo-American Friendship Association, India Habitat Centre, and the UChicago Delhi Center.