From 20 to 23 February, IBEI hosted the first workshop of the project Global India.

Global India is an European Training Network funded by European Union's H2020 programme. The network brings together 6 leading European universities (Dublin City University (coordinator, (Dublin, Ireland), Heidelberg University (Heidelberg, Germany), King’s College London (London, England), KU-Leuven (Leuven, Belgium), Uniwersytet Warsawski (Warsaw, Poland) and Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals), with 6 leading Indian universities (Banaras Hindu University (Varanasi), University of Calcutta (Kolkata), Jadavpur University (Kolkata), Jamia Millia Islamia (New Delhi), Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi) and University of Mumbai (Mumbai)), and 6 non-university partners (Kimmage Development Studies Centre (Think Tank - Dublin, Ireland), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Leading Business Network - New Delhi, India), NIIT (Commercial Enterprise - Dublin, Ireland), Observer Research Foundation (Think Tank - New Delhi, India), People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (Human Rights NGO - Varanasi, India) and South Asia Democratic Forum (Think Tank - Brussels, Belgium)) to develop an integrated, multi-disciplinary and inter-sectoral PhD programme.

In the next 15 years, India is projected to become the world’s third largest economy and the next e-commerce giant. India as a key player in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), is facing territorial disputes and the impact of global environmental pressures on coastal and marine resources. India is also facing challenges to the development of its democracy – a radical shift in its political party system and ongoing major social challenges in the context of its rapid economic growth.

In spite of the potential importance of India for Europe, the European research community’s expertise on India is weak, with a shortage of PhDs in this area and with few modules on India being taught on either undergraduate or postgraduate programmes. The increasing importance of India as a world economic and political power means that Europe needs to train a new generation of experts who understand the political, economic and social developments in India, have experience of living and working in the country, and have the cultural awareness, languages and research skills necessary to observe and analyse how India’s engagement with the world is changing.

The network will create the knowledge and expertise required for the EU’s engagement with the new global India.

The workshop has included a round table at Casa Asia "A world in transformation: a vision from India" where the vision of India in this changing world has been addressed and has involved three experts from three universities in India.

📷 All the pictures are available here.