Session on:  “India – Singapore Ties in a Changing Global Environment”
EVENT DETAILS
DATE		Thursday, March 23, 2017
TIME		10:30 AM  - 12:00 PM (Registration: 10:00 AM )
LOCATION		WWF Auditorium, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi
CO-CHAIRS		Ambassador Tommy Koh, Co-Chair, India-Singapore Strategic Dialogue, and Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore Ambassador S K Lambah, Chairman, Ananta Aspen Centre and Former Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of India
SPEAKERS		Ms. Indrani Bagchi, Diplomatic Editor, The Times of IndiaAssociate Professor Tan Khee Giap, Chairman, Singapore National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation & Co-Director, Asia Competitiveness Institute, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Mr. Vikram Nair, Member of Parliament  & Partner in Rajah & Tann (S) LLP Mr. B J Panda, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
ABOUT THE EVENTThe global strategic environment is undergoing a major flux. Starting with Brexit, rise of protectionist policies around the world and the weakening of western order, we are currently witnessing a re-balancing of global power equations. The simultaneous rise of China, India and ASEAN is unprecedented in world history.  At the same time, we are challenged by the rise of populism in the US and Europe.  Are we seeing the end of the post-World War II World Order?   Keeping the global environment in mind, it is crucial to analyse the current strategic relationship between India and Singapore. Singapore has always supported a greater role for India in the Indo-Pacific region. Singapore would like to see PM Modi’s “Act East” policy implemented with concrete action and initiatives. It is important that India and Singapore keep nurturing these relations especially in the changing global scenarios where there is a sense of growing protectionism and geopolitical uncertainty in the world. The public forum will focus on these and various other aspects about the future of India- Singapore ties in these changing times.
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CO-CHAIRS
		Ambassador Tommy Koh, Co-Chair, India-Singapore Strategic Dialogue, and Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs SingaporeTommy KOH is currently Ambassador-At-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Special Adviser to the Institute of Policy Studies; and Chairman of the Governing Board of the Centre for International Law at the National University of Singapore (NUS).  He is the Chairman of the International Advisory Panel of the Asia Research Institute (NUS) and Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Master’s Degree on Environmental Management (NUS).
He is also the Co-chairman of the Asian Development Bank’s Advisory Committee on Water and Sanitation.   He is Rector of the Tembusu College, at NUS, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the SymAsia Foundation of Credit Suisse. He had served as Dean of the Faculty of Law of NUS, Singapore's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Ambassador to the United States of America, High Commissioner to Canada and Ambassador to Mexico. He was President of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea and the Chairman of the Preparatory Committee for and the Main Committee of the UN Conference on Environment and Development. He was the founding Chairman of the National Arts Council, founding Executive Director of the Asia-Europe Foundation and former Chairman of the National Heritage Board. He was also Singapore's Chief Negotiator for the US-Singapore Free Trade Agreement. He acted as Singapore's Agent in two legal disputes with Malaysia. He has chaired two dispute panels for the WTO. He is the Co Chairman of the China Singapore Forum, the Japan-Singapore Symposium and the India-Singapore Strategic Dialogue. In 2006, Prof Koh received the Champion of the Earth Award from UNEP and the inaugural President's Award for the Environment from Singapore.   He was conferred with honorary doctoral degrees in law by Yale and Monash Universities.  Harvard University conferred on him the Great Negotiator Award in 2014.
		Ambassador S K Lambah, Chairman, Ananta Aspen Centre and Former Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of India Ambassador Lambah was the Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of India from 2005-14 with the rank of Minister of State from 2010 onwards. He was also the Co-Chairman of the Task Force on National Security 2011 – 2012. A distinguished diplomat, Ambassador Lambah was the President of Association of Indian Diplomats in 2005. He was also a Convener of the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) in 2004-05 and the President of the Federation of Indo-German Societies in India from 2005-2014.
He was also the Special Envoy of the Government of India for Afghanistan and led the Indian delegation to the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan in 2001-02. In 2001, Ambassador Lambah Chaired a Committee on the Re-organization of Ministry of External Affairs and Indian missions abroad. Ambassador Lambah has served in several Missions abroad including as the Ambassador of India to the Russian Federation, Ambassador of India to the Federal Republic of Germany, High Commissioner of India to Pakistan, Consul General of India, San Francisco, and Ambassador of India to Hungary. He was Deputy Secretary General of the 7th Non Aligned Summit held in Delhi in 1983 and later Coordinator of the Commonwealth Heads of Governments meeting in India. His specializations include Economic Diplomacy and dealing with India’s neighbours. During his tenure as Consul General of India in San Francisco (1989-91) he was conferred a "Trustees' Citation" by the University of California, Berkeley in 1991 for his initiating, coordinating, and spearheading the campaign which generated over US$2 million in a short span of four months for Indian Studies, resulting in the creation of two Chairs of  India Studies, a bi-annual lecture by a distinguished scholar from India, and an annual scholarship at the Graduate School of Journalism at U.C Berkeley. He is married to Nilima Lambah, author of "A Life across Three Continents - Recollections of a Diplomat's Wife".
SPEAKERS       Ms. Indrani Bagchi, Diplomatic Editor, The Times of India Indrani is Diplomatic Editor with The Times of India, where she reports and analyses foreign policy issues for the newspaper. Indrani covers daily news on foreign affairs in the foreign office, as well as interprets and analyzes global trends with an Indian perspective. She writes news stories as well as opinion articles, in The Times of India news features, and a blog, “Globespotting”. Her Twitter handle is @horror06. The subjects she covers are diverse India’s neighbourhood, US, China, Pakistan, terrorism, nuclear weapons, national security issues etc.  She joined the Times of India in 2004. Earlier, Indrani was associate editor, also covering foreign affairs for India Today. Indrani started her journalism career in The Statesman where she was the weekend editor, before moving to The Economic Times in Calcutta to edit the Metro Magazine. Having graduated from Loreto College, Calcutta University with English Honours, Indrani has been a Reuters Fellow, in Oxford University (1996). In 2010, Indrani was awarded the Chang Lin-Tien fellowship by the Asia Foundation to study US-China relations at Brookings Institution, Washington DC. She is a Fellow of the Third Generation Class of Aspen India’s Leadership Initiative     Associate Professor Tan Khee Giap, Chairman, Singapore National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation & Co-Director, Asia Competitiveness Institute, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy   Tan Khee Giap is Co-Director of the Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI) and Associate Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP), National University of Singapore (NUS). He is also the Chairman of the Singapore National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation. Upon graduating with a PhD from University of East Anglia, England in 1987, he joined the banking industry as a treasury manager.  He taught at Nanyang Technological University since 1993 and was Associate Dean, Graduate Studies Office from 2007 to 2009. Dr Tan has consulted extensively with government ministries and statutory boards of Singapore, and advised local governments of China, India and Indonesia. He was a consultant to international agencies and multinational corporations including the World Gold Council, Asian Development Bank Institute, The World Bank, ASEAN Secretariat, Kerzner International, CapitaLand, Las Vegas Sands and Marina Bay Sands. He currently serves as an independent director in four companies publicly listed in the Singapore Exchange. Dr Tan is the lead author of 27 books and published extensively in international refereed journals. His current research interests include econometric forecasting, competitiveness of sub-national economies of Asia, global liveable cities and ease of doing business index.     Mr Vikram Nair, Member of Parliament  & Partner in Rajah & Tann (S) LLP Vikram is a Member of Parliament for Sembawang Group Representative Constituency in Singapore and Vice-Chairman of the Sembawang Town Council.  He has been serving as an MP since 2011. He is Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the Parliamentary Friendship Group for India. Vikram practices as a lawyer and is qualified in both Singapore and English law and specializes in international arbitration and litigation. He is a Partner at Rajah & Tann Singapore and Heads the India Desk. Vikram has previously worked as a management consultant in McKinsey and at other law firms. As a student, Vikram was educated at Trinity College at Cambridge University and was Director of Debating at the Cambridge Union Society.      Mr. B J Panda, Member of Parliament in Lok Sabha   Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda is currently serving his second term as a Member of Parliament in Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament. Previously, he has also served two terms in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament. After finishing his education in engineering and management, he had started his career in the corporate sector. During this time, he was actively involved in industry organisations like the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and the International Chromium Development Association.  The transition to full-fledged public life came as a result of his desire to see a new and efficient style of politics and governance in India. As a parliamentarian, he has been recognised for his many contributions. In 2008, he was given an award for best parliamentary practices by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India. He has not only served as a member of several important committees, such as the parliamentary standing committees on Home Affairs, Finance, Energy and Urban Development, but also chairs the India-USA Forum of Parliamentarians. Within Parliament and outside, he has championed causes such as fighting the chronic malnutrition in India and tackling the human and social costs of tobacco consumption. A frequent presence in national television discussions and op-ed column sheets, he enjoys flying and adventure sports like skydiving and bungee jumping.