The India China Institute’s 20th Anniversary symposium is an occasion for us to reflect on two decades of groundbreaking work addressing critical global issues. This event will bring together scholars, practitioners, and stakeholders to discuss the evolving trajectories of India and China and chart a path for our future initiatives. The Asian Leadership fellows of ICI have been at the forefront of shaping discourse in fields such as urbanization and globalization, prosperity and inequality, and sustainable development. The symposium will explore and expand ICI’s research agenda, provide a platform for these thinkers to reconnect, share insights, and to inspire the next generation of scholars and policymakers. We will  bring prior fellows to Penang, Malaysia on August 15-17, 2024. A second event will take place at The New School on April 25, 2025. 

The India China Institute’s 20th Anniversary Symposium (I)

Venue: Penang,  Malaysia

Thursday, August 15   Symposium Day 1

Wednesday, August 14: Arrival Day 

7:00pm     Informal dinner at the Hotel 

Thursday, August 15: Symposium Day 1

8:45am Welcome and Opening Remarks

9:00am Roundtable 1: India, China, and the US in Shifting Global Orders

Moderator:  Mark Frazier

Presenters: Nimmi Kurian, Pratap Mehta, Aromar Revi, Yao Yang, Kanti Bajpai 

How are the global engagements of China and India over the last two decades shaping new institutional arrangements in politics, security, and economic relations? How are these new arrangements challenging an older putatively liberal international order?

11:00am Tea/Coffee Break 

11:30am     Roundtable 2: Digital Governance

Moderator: Manjari Mahajan

Presenters: Hiren Doshi, Victoria Marshall, Chakrapani Ghanta

Unlike in the West, where large technology corporations have spearheaded digital transformations, India and China have been marked by the dominance of state-driven data infrastructures that are increasingly foundational to governance. What are the opportunities, debates, and dystopias of the vast data worlds being produced in these two countries?

1:30pm Lunch

2:30pm Roundtable 3: Cities and Citizenship 

Moderator:  Selina Ho

Presenters: Amita Bhide, Brian McGrath, Nidhi Srinivas, Wu Xiaobo, Yang Zuojun

Urbanization in the past twenty years in China and India has rekindled debates over migration, belonging and citizenship. How has urbanization influenced older categories of class, caste, gender and religion while offering new forms of identity? How do urban public spaces, infrastructure and housing shape create new forms of belonging and conceptions of citizenship? 

4:30pm          Break 

5:30pm Convene in the hotel lobby

6:00pm Dinner

8:30pm Return to hotel

Friday, August 16   Symposium Day 2

9:00am  Roundtable 4: Prosperity and Inequality 

Moderator:  Ashok Gurung

Presenters: Milind Murugkar, Partha Mukhopadhyay, Guo Yukuan, Mahendra Lama

Over the last two decades, India and China have seen rapid economic growth and dramatic inequality. Both governments have sought to redress various forms of poverty and deprivation through social policies, including education, housing and employment schemes. How have the growth trajectories and welfare policies in China and India altered older forms of inequality and produced new ones?

11:00am Tea/Coffee Break

11:30am Roundtable 5: Environment, Sustainability and Climate Change

Moderator: Sanjay Chaturvedi (TBC)

Presenters: Jayanta Bandyopadhyay, Li Bo,  Sze Ping Lo, Dong Shikui 

India and China have encountered unprecedented environmental challenges from their own development trajectories as well as from global climate change. As they articulate new developmental models that foreground sustainability, how are both countries shaping global discourse around energy transitions and other strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change? 

1:30pm   Lunch 

2:30pm Wrap-up Session: Future Agendas and Questions (one hour)

3:30pm Break

4:30pm George Town UNESCO Heritage, Temple and Culture Walking Tour 

8:00pm Dinner 

Saturday, August 17: Departure Day

Optional:  Morning informal group discussions