New Delhi conclave to dissect the promise of South Asia

South Asia faces challenges of infrastructure, security, healthcare, education and livelihood | Jeff Holt, Bloomberg

The conclave organised by Oxford University Press aims to introduce new ideas on modern South Asia to the larger public

New Delhi: Home to roughly a quarter of the world’s population, South Asia’s significance as a culturally diverse region with a promise of impressive economic growth is a top theme on the agenda of global policymakers and thinkers.

While the region continues to project a rise in growth in 2019, it has to simultaneously carry the burden of providing over 12 million jobs every year.

As climate change, strained diplomatic relationships, and a sweeping global wave of hyper-nationalism pose significant risks to the physical and political landscape of the 21^st century, South Asia needs to develop a clear understanding of its role and responsibility moving forward.

The region still faces challenges related to security, healthcare, education and livelihood available to its citizens. Its politics continues to be dominated by identities rather than programmes focused on substantive socio-economic outcomes.

Policymakers, bureaucrats, academicians and senior editors will come together in New Delhi Wednesday to discuss these and other key issues pertaining to South Asia, at the second edition of the ‘South Asia Conclave’, organised by Oxford University Press.

The theme of this year’s conclave is ‘Exploring contemporary research and ideas on modern South Asia’. ThePrint is the digital partner of the conclave.

The list of speakers includes minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha, Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Gowda, Business Standard chairman T.N. Ninan, ThePrint’s editor-in-chief Shekhar Gupta, founding editor of The Wire, Siddharth Varadarajan, founder-editor of The Health Collective, Amrita Tripathi, and associate editor of The Indian Express, Sushant Singh, among others.

With sessions on ideology and identity, civil-military relations, healthcare, business and politics, the conclave aims to become a major platform to develop a deeper understanding of issues relevant to South Asia today.

Poised at the intersection of economy, politics, policy, business and culture, the conclave is also an attempt to introduce new ideas on modern South Asia to the larger public.

The conclave will also see an open dialogue between panel members and participants.

The conference will be chaired by Ashutosh Varshney, professor of political science and director of the Center for Contemporary South Asia, Brown University, and co-chaired by Pradeep Chhibber, professor of political science and director of the Institute of International Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.