The United Service Institution of India was founded in 1870 by a soldier scholar, Colonel (later Major General) Sir Charles MacGregor. The story of its growth is the story of the growth of the Indian Armed Forces. It was founded for ‘furtherance of interest and knowledge in the art, science and literature of the Defence Services.’
On 12 Dec 2023, the Centre for Strategic Studies and
Simulation (CS3), United Service Institution (USI) of India organised a Round
Table Discussion with the National Institute for Defence Studies (NIDS), Japan.
The Japanese delegation was headed by Prof Masayuki Masuda,
Head, Asia and Africa Division, NIDS. The
topic of discussion was ‘Indian and Japanese Perspectives on Geopolitics in the
Indo-Pacific Region’. The welcome remarks were delivered by Maj Gen RPS
Bhadauria, VSM (Retd), Director CS3. The first session commenced with a brief
presentation on the relations between the ‘US-China Strategic Competition and
Geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific Region’ and speakers for this session were Vice Adm AK Chawla, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, NM, PhD (Retd) who highlighted the Indian perspective and Prof Masayuki Masuda who provided a look
into the Japanese perspective. The second session delved into ‘South Asian
Regional Politics’ discussed by Maj Gen RPS
Bhadauria, VSM (Retd) and Dr Roshan Khanijo, Assistant Director (Research), CS3, USI highlighted the ‘Nuclear Dynamics in the Evolving
Geo-political Environment’. The third session
delved into ‘India-Japan Relations’ and the speakers for this session were Amb
Yogendra Kumar, IFS (Retd), who provided the Indian perspective and Dr Masahiro
Kurita, Senior Fellow, Policy Simulation Division, NIDS, who gave the Japanese
perspective. The session was followed by an interactive question and answer
round. The concluding remarks were given by Maj Gen RPS
Bhadauria, VSM (Retd). Serving and retired military officers and research
scholars attended the discussion.
