Global Trade, Security & Geopolitics- Panel Discussion

“A good discussion increases the dimensions of everyone who takes part”.

While an audience listens, a panel discussion is a technique to engage thoughtful leaders in dialogue about current themes in their business. Each panellist has a different perspective on the subject m

atter than the others, resulting in a thought-provoking and well-rounded discussion for the audience to learn from and enjoy.

On the afternoon of November 27th, 2021, The Bhawanipur Education Society College’s Department of Business Administration conducted its mesmeric ‘Panel Discussion’ in the Jubilee Hall at the Main Campus. Covid norms were rigidly followed, keeping the pandemic in mind.

The event’s emcee, Khushi Soni, introduced the moderator, as well as the panellists and their accomplishments in their domains. The event initiated with the formal march of the NCC cadets who accompanied the panellists. Thereafter, everyone in the audience stood up for the National anthem. There were four panellists and the moderator discussed on the ‘Global Trade, Security, Geo- Politics: Aukus Complements Quad 2.0’.

The Panel Discussion was moderated by none other than the Director General of The Bhawanipur Education Society, Professor Dr. Suman Kumar Mukerjee. He is a Research Scholar at the Delhi School of Economics and a St. Stephen’s College alumni. He was also invited to the President Clinton’s White House Small Business Washington Conference in 1995 as an International Observer. Fellow of the All-India Management Association, Environmental Fellow of the USAEP (under USAID), The Mother Teresa award in 2014 in the Field of Education and Member of the Indo British Scholars Association are some of the accolades he has earned.

The first panellist of the day was Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha who was the 24th Chief of the IAF. He is a National Defence Academy and Air Force Academy graduate. He is an alumnus of Defence Services Staff College & National Defence College. For three years, he was the Air Attaché of the Indian Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine. He was the CAS from 2014 to 2016. He was the CAS for three years and the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee for two and a half years. He was in head of Western Air Command and Central Air Command, two operational commands. He is currently the President of CENERS-K. For exemplary service, the President awarded him the Param Vishist Seva Medal, Ati Vishist Seva Medal, and Vayusena Medal.

Lieutenant General John Ranjan Mukherjee, a recipient of the ParamVishistSeva Medal, Ati Vishist Seva Medal, and Vishist Seva Medal, was the second panellist. He attended La Martiniere College in Calcutta, the National Defence Academy in Khadakvasla, the Staff College at Camberley in the United Kingdom, and the National Defence College in New Delhi. He was the Chief of Staff, Headquarters Eastern Command, when he retired from the Army in 2004. In addition, he served in the Eastern Theatre of the 1971 Indo-Pak War, commanding three battalions, the Indian Training Team in Botswana, Africa, a mountain brigade, a mountain division, and 15 Corps in J&K during the Kargil Conflict. He is a Member Emeritus of CENERS-K and is well-known for his knowledge of J&K and India’s North East, on which he has published.

Major General Arun Roye was the third panellist. Graduate of the National Defence Academy, he was commissioned in 1967 and has served in the MHA and MEA, as well as the Ministry of Defence. In 1971, he saw action on the front lines in Chhamb. His educational qualifications include a postgraduate in Defence Studies, an MBA from IIMM, Delhi, and a degree in Strategic Management. He is qualified in Higher Command from Army War College. Besides, he is a guest professor at a number of management schools and colleges across the country.He is the Vice President and a member of the Governing Council of CENERS-K, where he was a founding member.

The fourth and last panellist was Commodore PK Banerjee, a National Defence Academy alumnus. In 1984, he was commissioned into the Indian Navy. He holds a master’s degree and M. Phil in Defence and Strategic Studies from Madras University and is a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington and the College of Air Warfare in Secunderabad. He served as a Directing Staff member at the Staff College in Wellington and as the head of the National Defence Academy’s Training Division. He has extensive experience in war gaming and simulation as the director of the Maritime Warfare Centre in Visakhapatnam, where he was key in the planning and execution of the first expeditionary operations exercise with the US Navy.

The panel started with a brief note by the moderator on Geopolitics. He stated about the social and environmental causes on our economic performance over the years and about our GDP which went down up to 3. He also compared India’s growth with sunshine and downfall with sinking in the ocean. He then stared the discussion with the first panellist Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha and allotted a time of 8 minutes for each panellist.

Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha spoke on Geopolitics scenario between India and China. He also stated about the regressive ultra national revision policy of China. He went on with the 1962 Sino Indian War where India granted asylum to Dalai Lama. China being the Vindictive hegemonic power and the Massacre of 43 Students in Mexico was also stated by him in his words of wisdom. He also spoke about the neighbour country Pakistan which he called the ‘state terrorism sponsor country’. Pakistan’s relation with India was a hot topic which was discussed by him. He discussed about China being a nuclear developed country can make biological weapons for their benefits and how India is dependent on China’s trade and bringing Make in India products can be a big movement. He ended his speech by talking about the Afghanistan and US relations, Veto Nation in US, Japan & Vietnam’s relations in Indo pacific region.

Lieutenant General John Ranjan Mukherjee was the second panellist and he started with his love for North-East and the eastern states with complete insurgency due to less industries and minimal investments there. He spoke about the social and political acceptance in Manipur and Nagaland. He also said that northeast is full of resources and Horticulture including tea, bamboo, oil and fruits. He stated Myanmar is in China’s control and the fundamentals of Islam in Bangladesh.

Third panellist was Major General Arun Roye who started saying about how Malakka Strait can choke trade in all over the World. He also said that money rules the world and in today’s world you can have anything with those paper notes. He spoke about the international rivalry and Competition Cooperation Nationalism. He went on speaking about how Germany and Japan gave biological technologies to China to grow and rule the world. China is strong with military and economy and is ruling the world. He ended his speech with asking the audience as future generation to be good citizens of India.

The last panellist of the day was Commodore PK Banerjee who started to discuss about the importance of ocean to the world with PowerPoint Presentation which helped the audience to gain more knowledge. He said oceans are the joined heritage and 97% of world trade is by ocean. He showed the choke points of Global energy supply over the boundaries of the Asian countries. He also said that whoever uses Indian Ocean for trade will rule in the 21st Century. He went on speaking about the disadvantages like smuggling of drugs, human trafficking, piracy robbery and many imbalances in sea. He spoke about pollution in the ocean where in the year 2050 there will be more garbage than fish. He also spoke about SSN submarine in Australia. In the end, he stated about Indo China relation possibilities.

The panellists concluded up the discussion by flawlessly responding to a few pertinent audience questions.The audience benefited equally from the conversation, as it is of great importance to have knowledge of such problems in today’s world.

In the end, each panellist was felicitated with gift hampers as token of remembrance for gracing the event with their presence. Devjyoti Banerjee, the student coordinator gave the vote of thanks to conclude the event.

The event was a massive success due to the unending efforts of Professor Kaushik Banerjee, the Event Management Teacher Coordinator, and the student presidents Devjyoti Banerjee and Madhav Mohta. The Event Committee Head of Panel Discussion, Mahek Bhaiya and Susmriti Gan along with their Sub-Committee Head, Anusha Akbar, Disha Rupani and Jhanvi H. Khandhadia worked equally to make the event memorable.