Penn Calendar Penn A-Z School of Arts and Sciences University of Pennsylvania

India: Two Decades of Transformation

CASI was founded in 1992, a year after India launched its historic economic reforms, with a focus on the study of contemporary India. Today, CASI is recognized as a national resource, addressing the urgent need for objective knowledge of India’s rapidly changing economy, politics and society, and the forces and processes behind them. Through its collaborative research initiatives, seminars, conferences, publications and outreach, CASI provides in-depth, policy-relevant analysis of the most pressing issues facing India and the India-U.S. relationship.

CASI’s 20th Anniversary coincides with two decades of major transformation in India’s economic, political and social landscape, and its external relations and global profile. This symposium will both celebrate and reflect on an extraordinary period of change and the unprecedented challenges and opportunities that India faces today. In doing so, the special event will exemplify CASI’s mission – to provide a forum for dialogue among the academic, business, government, civil society and foreign policy communities from India and the United States.

The event is hosted by Professor Devesh Kapur, Director, CASI, Professor of Political Science, and the Madan Lal Sobti Professor of the Study of Contemporary India at Penn.

Senior policymakers, dignitaries, academics, and business leaders from India and the United States will speak on major areas of transformation:

Economy

Society

External Relations

Symposium will be held at the Michael A. Fitts Auditorium, Golkin Hall, University of Pennsylvania Law School, 3501 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104.

INDIA: Two Decades of Transformation - CASI’s 20th Anniversary Symposium is made possible through the generous support from the Office of the Vice Provost for Global Initiatives, the Dean’s Office of the School of Arts and Sciences, Penn Law, CASI’s International Advisory Board, The Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation.


SYMPOSIUM AGENDA


2:00 p.m.
WELCOME

Michael A. Fitts, Dean, University of Pennsylvania Law School

Dr. Rebecca Bushnell, Dean, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania
and

Dr. Marshall M. Bouton, President, Chicago Council on Global Affairs (Chairman, CASI International Advisory Board)

 

2:15 p.m.
OPENING REMARKS

Devesh Kapur, Director, CASI, and Madan Lal Sobti Professor for the Study of Contemporary India

 

2:25 p.m.
PANEL I – ECONOMY and BUSINESS

Panel Chair:
Charles R. Kaye, Co-President, Warburg Pincus LLC (Member, CASI International Advisory Board)

Featured Speaker:
Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission

Speakers:
Zia Mody, Founder and Senior Partner, AZB & Partners

Deepak Parekh
, Chairman, Housing Development Finance Corporation

 

3:50 p.m.
PANEL II – BUILDING an INCLUSIVE INDIA

Panel Chair:
Shiv V. Khemka
, Chairman, The Global Education & Leadership Foundation, and Vice Chairman, SUN Group (Member, CASI International Advisory Board)

Speakers:
Wajahat Habibullah, Chairman, The National Commission for Minorities, India

S. Ramadorai, Adviser to the Prime Minister, National Council on Skill Development; Vice Chairman, Tata Consultancy Services

Arvind Subramanian, Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics; & Senior Fellow & Director of India Initiative, Center for Global Development (Member, CASI IAB)

 

5:15 p.m.
BREAK

 

5:25 p.m.
PANEL III – INDIA in the WORLD

Panel Chair:
Professor Francine R. Frankel, Professor of Political Science at Penn (Founding Director, CASI)

Speakers:
Marshall M. Bouton, President of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (Chairman, CASI International Advisory Board)

H.E. Nirupama Rao, Ambassador of India to the U.S.

Bruce O. Riedel, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution, former Senior Director for Near East & South Asia Affairs, National Security Council, 1997-2001

Ashley J. Tellis, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Member, CASI International Advisory Board)

 

6:50 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
RECEPTION:  The Haaga Lounge, Golkin Hall, University of Pennsylvania Law School

and at
7:15 p.m. 
Remarks by President Amy Gutmann, University of Pennsylvania

Directions to the University of Pennsylvania Law School

Public parking is available at the lot on the corner of 34th and Chestnut Streets.