As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears likely to return to power in April-May 2024 for a third consecutive term in the country’s consequential national elections, Canadians will be watching how voters in India – the world’s largest democracy – decide not only their domestic priorities but also the nature of their expanding regional and global influence. With a population of 1.4 billion people and an economy that is expected to become the world’s third largest by 2030, India is increasingly regarded as not just a counterbalance to China, but a self-assured global power.
On March 18th in Vancouver, Canada, our panel of leading experts explored the key dynamics of the upcoming elections and what India’s economic and geopolitical rise means for stakeholders in Canada and around the world.
Moderator:
Vina Nadjibulla, VP Research & Strategy, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
Speakers:
Michael Kugelman, Director of South Asia Institute, Wilson Center
Prof. Reeta Tremblay, University of Victoria
Prof. T.V. Paul, McGill University
Michael Kugelman is Director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. He is a columnist for Foreign Policy magazine and has also written for The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, and The Wall Street Journal. His current research focuses on the shifting geopolitics of South Asia, U.S.-India relations, and India's clean energy transition.
Reeta Tremblay is Professor Emerita of Comparative Politics in the Department of Political Science and former Provost and Vice-President at the University of Victoria. Her areas of research include secessionist movements in South Asia, the politics of subaltern resistance, democracy, and governance. She has authored several books, articles, reviews, and is widely considered the leading North American expert on Kashmir.
T.V. Paul is James McGill Professor of International Relations in the Department of Political Science at McGill University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Author of numerous books and scholarly articles in the fields of International Relations and South Asia, his forthcoming work explores India’s ‘status quest’ in world politics (The Unfinished Quest: India’s Search for Major Power Status from Nehru to Modi, Oxford University Press, 2024).
