Top geopolitical experts to discuss India's pivotal role in shaping new world order at MPAGD 2025

New Delhi, Jan 8 Leading geopolitical experts, policymakers, scholars, and diplomats will participate in the 4th Maharana Pratap Annual Geopolitics Dialogue (MPAGD 2025), being jointly organised by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Usanas Foundation, in Jaipur next month.

The annual event will be organised with the theme of 'Building Tomorrow: Shaping the Future' aiming to promote insightful discussions and present India's vision and roadmap for the future world order.

While Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh will deliver the keynote speech, Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar will also address the audience during the two-day event.

Other distinguished dignitaries who have confirmed their attendance at the conference include Lt. Gen. Arvinder Lamba, Vice Chief of Army Staff and President of the IPCS; Andrey Kortunov, Academic Director of the Russian International Affairs Council; Zhang Weiwei, Professor at Fudan University, Director of its China Institute, and a Senior Research Fellow at the Chunqiu Institute in Shanghai; Rohan Gunaratna, Professor of Security Studies at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and Head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research; Michael Rubin, Senior Fellow, the American Enterprise Institute and former Pentagon Official; Nikos S. Panagiotou, Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Media Communication at Aristotle University; Ambassador Sujan Chinoy, Director General of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) and former Ambassador to Japan; and, Ambassador D.B. Venkatesh Varma, former Ambassador of India to the Russian Federation and Distinguished Fellow at the VIF.

According to Abhinav Pandya, Director, Founder and CEO of the Usanas Foundation, an Udaipur-based security and foreign policy think tank, the geopolitics dialogue will address critical issues including how will the emergence of a multipolar world order influence global alliances, regional conflicts, and the role of international institutions in maintaining stability besides also how Artificial Intelligence (AI) will reshape the future of warfare and global security.

With the current global order undergoing significant change, characterised by palpable shifts across various domains, including the economy, society, culture, technology, defence, environment, development, geopolitics, and geoeconomics, the ongoing period of uncertainty and instability is marked by geopolitical strife, armed conflict, and the apprehensions related to the impact of disruptive technologies on employment, privacy, and safety.

"Such factors are indicative of a transitional phase. However, at this critical juncture, there is a pressing need to prepare for a future that is equitable, prosperous, and conducive to human happiness. India, with its extensive civilizational legacy of over 10,000 years, its prominent leadership within the Global South, and its status as a dynamic geopolitical entity and economic powerhouse, is poised to play a pivotal role in shaping the new world order," Pandya told IANS.

Under the central theme, there will be a range of brainstorming sessions on various sub-themes during the two-day event to make sense of the ongoing transitional phase of the world order and brainstorm policies rooted in the civilisational wisdom to shape the future.

"The MPAGD initiative aims to address these pertinent questions and articulate India's vision for the future amidst the prevailing chaos. It is also a humble initiative to pay gratitude to Maharana Pratap, a great diplomat, administrator, statesman, and warrior of Rajasthan who refused to accept Mughal suzerainty," he added.