India Initiative

Expanding its repertoire on Asia, the Sigur Center launched a new India Initiative in October 2007 with an exclusive reception and discussion, drawing guests from academia, business, government and the community. The panel discussion focused on "Opportunities for India as a Rising Power: Views from the United States and Japan," featuring two Sigur-affiliated faculty members: Ambassador Karl Inderfurth and Mike Mochizuki, authorities on U.S. foreign policy and Japanese politics, respectively.

According to Deepa Ollapally, associate director of the Center, "The India Initiative is a natural development for the Sigur Center for Asian Studies — a recognition that the rise of India is helping to redefine what is Asia. We believe that the Center's well-known programs on China, Japan and Korea will provide an ideal framework for studying contemporary India in Asia and on the global scene." Mochizuki, a former Sigur Center director, said that "India-China relations and India-Japan relations are shaping the dynamics of Asia as a whole. Therefore, the Sigur Center's India Initiative highlights the emergence of this new Asia."

Located in the nation's capital, the India Initiative aims to place the Sigur Center for Asian Studies at the forefront of scholarship and analysis of U.S.-India relations and U.S. foreign policy on the subcontinent. Ollapally notes, "It can also help shape future policy, whether the Democrats or the Republicans come to power."