Rasha Omar, agricultural economist and Country Representative, Asia and the Pacific Division, International Fund for Agriculture Development, attended the Think20 Meeting in Mumbai. In an interview, she offers some prescriptions on how to reduce rural poverty in India
Gateway House co-hosted the Think20 Mumbai meeting on 12 March 2018. It brought together prominent experts, academics and senior government representatives. In a series of interviews conducted by Gateway House during the conference, Shaktikanta Das, India’s G20 Sherpa, spoke on India's role in the G20 process and its role in the multilateral institution
K.P. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship & Chairman, National Skill Development Agency (NSDA), Government of India, discusses the formidable task of upgrading India’s skills deficit swiftly and inclusively
Canadian Minister for National Defence, Hon'ble Harjit S Sajjan, discusses contemporary security issues, international peacekeeping, bilateral defence ties, and geopolitical arenas, relevant to India, Canada, and the world. More specifically, he converses about prospects of peace in Afghanistan, the geopolitics of and Canadian sovereignty over the Arctic, UN peacekeeping programs initiated by Canada, focus areas for India and Canada defence relations, and the Quad initiative.
In this special episode, Professor M.D. Nalapat joins us to discuss the current border stand-off between India and China, sharing a unique glimpse into the policy psyche of India, China and the United States.
Gateway House, in collaboration with the British Deputy High Commission, hosted a roundtable discussion with Sir Michael Fallon, Secretary of State for Defence, United Kingdom. After the discussion, Gateway House interviewed the Minister about the potential for India-UK defence cooperation in dealing with traditional and cyber threats, and hybrid warfare.
In his interview, Rear Admiral (Retd.) Ophir Shoham discusses Israel’s liberal cybersecurity policies and the high levels of export in the cybersecurity sector. According to him, transfer of technology is imperative for Digital India, as for a country to become digital, Infrastructure is most important which is protected by cybersecurity. In the defence space, he mentions the close relationship India and Israel share despite it being a sensitive area. He prescribes a collaboration between the two countries to build weapon systems that they can use to customize defense equipment for the Indian defense system and the Israeli defense system.
In Monica Bhatia's interview, she discusses the changes in the global financial sector in the wake of the Panama papers and the HSBC files, mainly the increase in transparency between banks and governments. She highlights her belief in the Automatic Global Tax Information Sharing Network in countering tax evasion and the success of the methods that governments have already undertaken to enable voluntary disclosures. Lastly, she illustrates the measures under the BEPS system on tax compliance.
In Alexis Dalem's interview he discusses areas on which Thales and India have collaborated in the past and can collaborate in the future, in the defense, security and aerospace spheres, and under the Make in India policy. He laid emphasis on Thales's policy of willingness for technology transfer and production in India and their ambition to co-develop products and export from India, since they have a strong belief in India's industrial competitiveness and skilled workforce. He further applauds Modi's recent FDI changes in India as it allows for this technology transfer, enables Thales to retain a certain level of control in their subsidiaries in India and creates an investment positive business environment.
In Amar Bhattacharya's interview he discusses the desperate need for additional finance to succeed in implementing measures for climate change mitigation. He stresses on the special need for countries like India to access capital, make this transition, and serve as an example for other emerging markets. He highlights the importance of the private sector in entering the green financing sphere as well as the need for the government to establish the blueprint and safety nets necessary to enable these private financiers to invest in green infrastructure.