event
Carnegie India

Lived Reality: A Journey through India-Pakistan Relations with T.C.A. Raghavan

Tue. September 8th, 2020
Zoom Webinar

India and the World

The history of India-Pakistan relations has been, as T.C.A. Raghavan describes it, “curious” to say the least. Marked by the memories of partition, a shared but repudiated common ancestry, deep political rivalry, and a contested border, the two neighbors’ past and present are reluctantly intertwined. Indo-Pak conversations have mostly been conducted across tables or provided fodder for political grandstanding; but for T.C.A. Raghavan, the contours of these contentious dynamics have been a lived reality. Having served in Pakistan as India’s Deputy High Commissioner from 2003 to 2007, as High Commissioner from 2013 to 2015, and as former Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs in the Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran (PAI) division, T.C.A. Raghavan brings a vital first-person perspective that extends beyond security, military, and political issues.

Join us on September 8 for the next India and the World webinar, in which T.C.A. Raghavan will sit down with Rudra Chaudhuri to share his rich observations, and experiences, as one of the foremost experts on India-Pakistan relations.

To submit a question for the event, please email carnegieindia@ceip.org. Participants may also submit their questions through the Q&A box in the Zoom webinar or the comments section on our YouTube livestream.

 
Foreign PolicySouth AsiaPakistanIndia
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
event speakers

T.C.A. Raghavan

Dr T.C.A. Raghavan retired from the Indian Foreign Service in December 2015 while Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan (2013-15). He had earlier served as Deputy High Commissioner in Pakistan (2003-2007) and High Commissioner to Singapore from 2009 to 2013. During his last posting in New Delhi (2007-09) in the Ministry of External Affairs Dr Raghavan was Joint Secretary dealing with Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. He has also served in Kuwait, the United Kingdom, and Bhutan. Posts earlier held in the Ministry of External Affairs include Director of the Office of the External Affairs Minister (2000-2003). He was awarded a PhD by the Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1992 for his dissertation relating to the economic history of India. His current interests are historical research, strategic analysis and the diplomatic and intellectual history of modern India. He writes, lectures and participates in discussions on issues relating to Indian and South Asian diplomatic history, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and South East Asia. He is the author of (i) Attendant Lords, Bairam Khan and Abdur Rahim- Courtiers and Poets in Mughal India, awarded the Mohammad Habib Memorial Prize by the Indian History Congress in December 2017. (ii) ‘The People Next Door- The Curious History of India’s relations with Pakistan’. (Harper Collins, 2017). His latest book is entitled "History Men: Jadunath Sarkar, G.S. Sardesai, Raghubir Sinh and their quest for India's Past" (2019). He assumed charge as Director General, Indian Council of World Affairs on 24th July, 2018.

Rudra Chaudhuri

Director, Carnegie India

Rudra Chaudhuri is the director of Carnegie India. His research focuses on the diplomatic history of South Asia, contemporary security issues, and the important role of emerging technologies and digital public infrastructure in diplomacy, statecraft, and development. He and his team at Carnegie India chair and convene the Global Technology Summit, co-hosted with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.