In October 2018 we welcomed one of India’s most eminent political, diplomatic and business figures, Ambassador Dr S Jaishankar, to deliver the India Institute’s inaugural Distinguished Lecture, ‘What India Means to the West.’
Ambassador Dr S Jaishankar is an Indian diplomat who was the Foreign Secretary of India from January 2015 to January 2018, having joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1977. He had previously served as Indian Ambassador to the United States (2014–15), China (2009–13) and the Czech Republic (2001–04), and as High Commissioner to Singapore (2007–09). Ambassador Dr Jaishankar also played a key role in negotiating the Indo–US civilian nuclear agreement. On retirement, he joined Tata Sons as President, Global Corporate Affairs. Ambassador Dr Jaishankar is a graduate of the University of Delhi. He has an MA in Political Science and an MPhil and a PhD in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), where he specialised in nuclear diplomacy. In his Distinguished Lecture, Ambassador Dr Jaishankar spoke about India’s relationship with Western nations, asserting that working with the West was an essential means for India to continue to flourish in an increasingly fragmented world, adding that our turbulent times could create new opportunities to find common ground.
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