Aug 09 2025 to Aug 09 2025 6:30 p.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

As global power dynamics continue to shift, the Indo-Pacific sits at the heart of a rapidly evolving strategic and economic landscape. In this timely and wide-ranging session, Peter Varghese, former Australian Foreign Secretary and High Commissioner to India, offers a perspective shaped by decades of diplomacy and deep engagement with the region.

His address will explore the complex forces redefining the Indo-Pacific: from the sharpening rivalry between the US and China, to China’s expanding influence and the evolving policy direction in Washington. The session will also examine how key regional players (India, Japan, Korea, Indonesia) are shaping their own responses to these pressures, and what this means for the broader security of the region.

Alongside geopolitics, the conversation will turn to trade tensions, economic nationalism, and the slowing pace of globalization; factors that now cast long shadows over our economic future. Can traditional regional institutions hold, or will more agile, interest-based minilateral groups take their place?

Following his presentation, Peter Varghese will converse with Latha Reddy, Nitin Pai, and Ranjan Mathai. The evening concludes with an audience Q&A, inviting reflections on a region that will shape the 21st century.

Speakers

Peter Varghese
Former Australian Foreign Secretary & High Commissioner to India
Peter Varghese has served as Chancellor of The University of Queensland since 2016 and is now in his second term. His distinguished 38-year career in public service and diplomacy has encompassed senior roles in foreign affairs, trade policy, and intelligence. He was Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade from 2012 to 2016 and previously held key positions including High Commissioner to India and Malaysia, Director-General of the Office of National Assessments, and Senior Advisor (International) to the Australian Prime Minister.

He authored the India Economic Strategy to 2035, commissioned by the Australian Prime Minister in 2018. Mr. Varghese holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours and a University Medal in History from The University of Queensland, which also awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Letters. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2010.

He chairs the Asialink Council and serves on the boards of CARE Australia, North Queensland Airports, and the international governing board of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore. In 2019, he was awarded the Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop Asialink Medal for his contributions to Australia-Asia relations. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs.

Nitin Pai
Author & Director, the Takshashila Institution
Nitin Pai is co-founder and director of the Takshashila Institution, an independent centre for research and education in public policy. His current research includes information warfare, high tech geopolitics and the Indo-Pacific. He teaches international relations, public policy and ethical reasoning at Takshashila’s graduate programmes.

His most recent books are The Nitopadesha – Moral Tales for Good Citizens (Penguin Random House 2023) and India’s Marathon: Reshaping the Post-Pandemic World Order (ed) published in 2020. He is currently a columnist with Mint. He is an adjunct senior fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, Singapore and serves on the board of WaterAid India.

Pai spent over a decade in the Singapore government as a technology policymaker, and has worked in the undersea cable, satellite and mobile communications sector. He was a gold medalist from the National University of Singapore’s LKY School of Public Policy, an undergraduate scholar at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and an alum of National College, Jayanagar, Bangalore.

Ranjan Mathai
Former Indian Foreign Secretary & Indian Ambassador to Israel
Ranjan Mathai, is a former Foreign Secretary of India (2011-13). Mr. Mathai joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1974, and retired in 2013. He served as the Ambassador of India in Israel, Qatar and France, and post-retirement was appointed High Commissioner to the UK. (2013-5).

Mr. Mathai completed his education with an M.A in Political Science from the University of Pune in 1974. He is an alumnus of the National Defence College in Delhi. He is in analyst and commentator on international affairs and energy security.

Latha Reddy
Co-Chair, Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace
Latha Reddy served in the Indian Foreign Service from 1975 to 2013. The highlights of her career were her postings as Consul General in Durban, South Africa, Ambassador to Portugal, and later to Thailand, and serving as Secretary(East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, and finally, as the Deputy National Security Advisor of India.

Since her retirement in 2013, she has been based in her hometown Bangalore. Here she has worked intensively on Cybersecurity and served on two Global Commissions on the subject. She has served on the Boards of a Microfinance company, a bank, and a Telecom industry body.

She also heads and works actively on several NGOs and Trusts in the fields of heritage, theatre, international affairs, creative arts, classical dance and music.

She is a Fellow of the Observer Research Foundation and is on the Adjunct Faculty of the Takshashila Institute.