Webinar Link

Meeting No: 2517 623 9606
Password: brics

Certificate of Participants

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Short Bios

Amb. Ashok K. Kantha

Ashok K. Kantha is an Honorary Fellow and former Director (2017-22) of the Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi; a Distinguished Fellow at Vivekananda International Foundation, New Delhi; and Chair of the Core Group on China of the Confederation of Indian Industry. A career diplomat, he was Ambassador of India to China until January 2016. Prior to this, he was Secretary (East) at Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) His previous assignments include High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, High Commissioner to Malaysia, Joint Secretary (East Asia), MEA, Consul General in Hong Kong, Deputy Chief of Mission in Nepal, Director (China), MEA, and Director (Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan), MEA. Earlier,Ashok K. Kantha served in different capacities at Indian Missions in Singapore, China and the USA, and at headquarters in New Delhi. In his diplomatic career spanning over 38 years, Kantha specialised in India’s neighbourhood and extended neighbourhood with a particular focus on China and South Asia. He has an advanced certificate in Chinese language from National University of Singapore.

Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn

Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn is an American public intellectual, investment banker, and renowned China expert who serves as the chairman of The Kuhn Foundation.He was awarded the“China Reform Friendship Medal”by President Xi Jinping on the 40th anniversary of China's historic reform and opening up (December 2018). The medal, China's highest award, honors 10 foreigners who contributed to China over the four decades; five are living; Dr. Kuhn is one of two Americans. For 30 years, Dr. Kuhn, with his long-time partner, Adam Zhu, has worked with China's leaders and advised the Chinese government. He is a commentator on CNN, BBC, CCTV, CNBC, Bloomberg, Fox Business, and a columnist in South China Morning Post and China Daily. He is the author of over 30 books, including How China's Leaders Think (featuring President Xi Jinping) and The Man Who Changed China: The Life and Legacy of Jiang Zemin (China's best-selling book of 2005). He is the host and co-producer of Closer to China with R.L.Kuhn (CGTN) on China politics, econom-ics, society and foreign affairs. He is an international corporate strategist and investment banker; chairman of The Kuhn Foundation; and creator/writer/host of Closer To Truth, the long-running PBS / public TV series on science and philoso-phy. He has a Ph.D. in anatomy/brain research (UCLA) and an MBA (MIT).

Prof. Geeta Kochhar

Dr. Geeta Kochhar is Senior Assistant Professor at the Centre for Chinese Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. She is also Fudan FDDI Ambassador to South Asia. Founder and Host "Nation-State Dialogue" series. She received her Doctorate from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. She was awarded Asia Fellowship for research at CASS, China; and Government of India MHRD "India-China Bilateral Cultural Exchange Scholarship" for advance studies in China. She was a Visiting Professor in FDDI, Fudan University, China; Visiting Professor, Institute of Indian and Southwest Asian Studies, Vietnam; Visiting Professor, University of São Paulo, Brazil; and Visiting Professor, Indian Institute of Management Shillong, India. She has edited Modern China: Society, Culture, and Literature (2019); China's Foreign Policy and Security Dimensions (2018); co-edited Unique Asian Triangle: India, China, Nepal (2016); India-China-Nepal: Decoding Trilateralism (2016); and Nepal's Foreign Policy and Her Neighbours (2016). She has also co-authored 1000 Powerful Chinese Lexicon: Chinese, English, Hindi (2017).