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.’
The inaugural dialogue between Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP) and USI was held on 10th October 2022. The topic of discussion was ‘The Ukraine War: NATO, Indo-Pacific, and the Emerging Geo-Political Calculus’.
The introductory remarks were given by Maj Gen BK Sharma AVSM, SM**(Retd), Director, USI and Dr Niklas Swanstrom, Director of ISDP. Dr Swanstrom further elaborated on ‘The Ukraine War: What it means to NATO and Europe at Large’. He gave an overview of Russia’s behaviour especially Russia’s actions in Europe in the past, the general mistrust and the expansionist policy of Russia. He talked about Sweden’s stance in the war and also reiterated NATO’s role and the support to the Ukrainians.
Dr Jagannath Panda, Head of Stockholm Centre for Indo-Pacific Affairs, ISDP, shed light on the effects of the war on the Indo-Pacific and China’s stance in the Russia-Ukraine war. Further he elaborated Europe’s concern about China’s economic growth, the growing competition with China and the opportunity for India to increase the economic and security cooperation with Europe.
Maj Gen Rakesh Bhadauria, VSM (Retd), Head of CS3 highlighted that countries should be watchful of China’s strategic behaviour and said that India has emerged as a major player in the world and an important member of organisations like QUAD.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was then signed with a note of deeper collaboration in the future.
Panel Discussion
Signing of MOU