Public Lecture to mark the Relaunch of the New Zealand India Research Institute

Lecture title: Where is the Pacific in India's Indo-Pacific?

Synopsis

Today, India is far more interested in Oceania and in the Pacific than it has ever been before. In a little over a decade, New Delhi has forged a strategic partnership with Australia, aiming to deepen defence and security cooperation, boost trade and investment, access resources, collaborate on critical and emerging technologies, and align diplomatic agendas across the Indo-Pacific. With New Zealand, India has recently agreed a trade deal, and sustains dialogue and cooperation in defence, cyber security, and education. New Delhi has used platforms like the Forum for India–Pacific Islands Cooperation and the International Solar Alliance, as well as high-level visits, pursue economic interests, build development partnerships, and extend influence among Pacific Island Countries. Some of this new interest is driven by geostrategic anxieties about Beijing's growing influence in the region, but not all: India's burgeoning need for natural resources and concern for the Indian diaspora are also playing their parts. But as this lecture discusses, there are also limits to the role that India can play and wants to play in the Pacific, given the pressures New Delhi must manage in other parts of the Indo-Pacific.

Biography

Professor Ian Hall is the Acting Head of the School of Government and International Relations at Griffith University, Queensland, Australia and an Academic Fellow of the Australia India Institute at the University of Melbourne. He is the author of Modi and the Reinvention of Indian Foreign Policy (2019), and his research focuses on India's international relations and Indo-Pacific security.

Location

Hunter Council Chambers, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, Kelburn Campus, Wellington.

Time

The event begins at 5 pm, to be followed by a reception at 6.30 pm in the Hunter Council Foyer.

Registration

RSVP information is required for catering purposes. To register for the lecture, fill out the registration form.