Ambassador Rajiv Bhatia is Distinguished Fellow, Foreign Studies Programme at Gateway House. He is a member of CII’s International Advisory Council, Trade Policy Council and Africa Committee. He is theChair of FICCI’s Task Force on Blue Economy, and served as Chair of Core Group of Experts on BIMSTEC. He is a founding member of the Kalinga International Foundation and a member of the governing council of Asian Confluence. As Director General of the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) from 2012-15, he played a key role in strengthening India's Track-II research and outreach activities. During a 37-year innings in the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), he served as Ambassador to Myanmar and Mexico and as High Commissioner to Kenya, South Africa and Lesotho. He dealt with a part of South Asia, while posted as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs. A prolific columnist, he is also a regular speaker on foreign policy and diplomacy in India and abroad. He was Senior Visiting Research Fellow during 2011-13 at the Institute of South East Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore. He holds a master’s degree in political science from Allahabad University.His first book India in Global Affairs: Perspectives from Sapru House(KW Publishers, 2015) presented a sober and insightful view of India’s contemporary foreign policy. His second book, India-Myanmar Relations: Changing contours(Routledge 2016) received critical acclaim. His third book, India-Africa Relations: Changing Horizons (Routledge 2022) has also been receiving positive reviews.
Expertise
Foreign Policy, Quad & Indo-Pacific, South & South-East Asia, Africa, Blue Economy
The recently concluded CII-Exim Bank Conclave on the India-Africa Project Partnership elicited in-depth discussions on how to increase economic cooperation between the two countries. Three themes emerged, the infrastructure deficit continuing to be one of Africa’s greatest preoccupations
Maldives’ new president, Ibrahim Solih, has had two election wins in a span of six months – his own in September 2018 and his Maldivian Democratic Party’s landslide victory in the Majlis elections about three weeks ago. An analysis of what this win says about democratic politics in Maldives, improved relations with India and the complex equation it shares with China
Canada, which has been slow to respond to a changing trans-Pacific neighbourhood, can join India and the ASEAN member states to embark on a trilateral dialogue on the Indo-Pacific’s importance in terms of political, strategic and other domains. An alignment in outlook can strengthen the security and prosperity of a region, currently mired in U.S.-China rivalries
This lecture, which covers the genesis and much larger profile of the Act East Policy (AEP) in relation to its predecessor, also explains its defining points of divergence and emphasis
Philippines, Cambodia and Lao PDR face a range of development challenges at home even as they respond dynamically to shifting priorities in external relations. With U.S.-China competition increasingly shaping this part of the world, will India provide some balance? An insider’s account of how three less noticed ASEAN countries are coping with geopolitical changes
The following is a summary of a speech given by Ambassador Rajiv Bhatia, Distinguished Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies, Gateway House at a conference on 'Values in Foreign Policy: Interests and Ideals', organised by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi on March 1, 2019
Bangladesh faces several major challenges in its external relations. It showed humanitarianism in receiving the fleeing Rohingyas, but its diplomatic efforts to repatriate them have not succeeded. It must also maintain a balance between relations with India and China and show proactive leadership in garnering regional cooperation
The key global powers are redefining their roles in the Indo-Pacific to promote national interest. China’s rise and increased activism in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region is an uncontested reality even as Asian countries worry about the new cold war in which the U.S. and China are locked. The Quadrilateral Dialogue has reemerged to prevent a unipolar Asia — these are some of the trends unfolding in this arena
Rodrigo Duterte, President of the Philippines, is a popular, yet controversial figure in a complex country, battling a mix of challenges. In external relations, he has followed a careful balancing policy, giving primacy to China, U.S. and the ASEAN
The following speech was given by Rajiv Bhatia, Distinguished Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies, Gateway House, at a roundtable discussion at the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies in New Delhi, on 7 February, 2019
Courtesy: Gateway House
Courtesy: Dying Regime / Flickr
Courtesy: Pacom
Courtesy: Gateway House
Courtesy: The Diplomat
Courtesy:
Courtesy: The Daily Star
Courtesy: MEA Flickr
Courtesy: GMA Network
Courtesy: