The Roundtable : The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs Special Issue: "India @ 75" | Panel Discussion

 

The Department of International Studies, Political Science and History hosted a panel discussion on 30th August 2022 for the release of the special issue of 'The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs'. The guest speaker for the discussion was Dr. Venkat Iyer, Editor of the Round Table.

Dr. Ardra N G from the Department of ISPH welcomed the gathering and introduced the speaker for the day. Dr. Venkat Iyer, a barrister and academic based in Northern Ireland, is attached to the School of Law at Ulster University, where he teaches media law, constitutional law, and business law. Dr. Iyer has been in legal practice since 1981 and is a trained mediator. 

Dr Venkat Iyer started his speech by stating his objective to make more students write for his journal and to keep up the reputation it has created over the years. He also pointed out the less contribution from Indian scholars while India has a high number of talents. In part of this discussion, he shared the organization's 'capacity building workshop'. He also mentioned a JNU graduate from India who contributed immensely to the journal. With the benefits of getting published in a reputed journal, the journal rewards its scholarly writers well.

After the speaker's address, the panel discussion for the day started, where the experienced professors of the department analyzed selected articles from the journal. Dr. Manoharan, Professor, Department of ISPH, talked of the belief in Indian political stability. He addressed the working of four estates of democracy and their effectiveness in the Indian case. He questioned the stability as the four estates were still learning to establish themselves. He pointed to the anxiety of India by saying, "You can't fool all the people all the time". In his concluding remark, he stressed the importance of Quality education to increase employability in the nation. Dr. Madhumati Deshpande, the Department coordinator of ISPH, talked about Indian foreign policy. She analyzed three articles from the journal where she discussed the strategic autonomy of NAM, Great Game and its association with India, and the geo-political6  and Geo-economic policies of India. Following her, Dr. Anurag Tripathi presented his views on the journal article. He discussed the contemporary challenges of the Indian military. He mentioned the three functions of the Indian military such as external conflict, internal insurgencies, and other activities such as relief and rescue. He also added to the necessity of military research in the unconventional fields of military history, military sociology, and defense reforms. He then looked into the final article about India in the changing global world. 

Following the panel discussion, the floor was opened for a Q&A session. Panelists addressed the questions related to the articles raised by the students. Continuing, students asked questions about article publishing and the essential elements that Indian scholars lack. He pointed out the difficulty of the English language that exists among Indians and the requirement for conceptual sources in the article. After the Q&A session, Dr. Balu Sunilraj concluded the event by delivering the vote of thanks.