Carnegie trust opens centre in India

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a unique global network of policy research centers, today announced the launch of Carnegie India, its sixth international centre.

Carnegie now has centres in Russia, China, Europe, the Middle East, India, and the United States.

''Our mission, dating back more than a century, is to advance the cause of peace through analysis and development of fresh policy ideas and direct engagement and collaboration with decision makers in government, business, and civil society,'' William J Burns, members of Carnegie's board of trustees, said.

In a meeting with Burns and Carnegie India staff in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed Carnegie's initiative to open the center, saying that it is reflective of democratic traditions and liberal thinking in the country.

Prime Minister Modi expressed hope that the center would further promote the climate of research in India, especially among youth, and would strengthen the strategic partnership between India, the United States, and the rest of the world.

Carnegie India's research and programmatic focus will include the political economy of reform in India, foreign and security policy, and the role of innovation and technology in India's internal transformation and international relations.

''Led and staffed by Indian experts, it will build on decades of scholarship on India and South Asia across Carnegie's programmes, while placing special emphasis on developing a cadre of young, up-and-coming Indian scholars,'' Carneige stated in a release.

''India's rise is a significant and dramatic feature of today's evolving international landscape,'' Burns said. ''I am convinced that Carnegie India will make an enormously important contribution to helping thinkers and doers around the world understand Indian perspectives and that it will add an important global perspective to India's own domestic and international evolution.''

The center's founding director, C Raja Mohan, has been a non-resident senior associate at Carnegie since 2012. He has also served as a distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, a visiting research professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore, and a member of India's National Security Advisory Board.

''I am deeply honored to serve as the center's founding director and to work even more closely with longtime Carnegie colleagues across the world,'' Mohan said. ''I am confident that Carnegie India will add to Carnegie's global reputation for quality, integrity, and independence.''

The center's creation has been supported by Carnegie India's Founders Committee, a group of Indian and international donors co-chaired by former cabinet secretary and Indian ambassador to the United States, Naresh Chandra, and former United States ambassador to India, Frank Wisner.

Ahead of a dinner to celebrate the launch of Carnegie India, chairman of Bharti Enterprises and Carnegie board member Sunil Mittal said: ''As India emerges as a global economic force, a think tank of Carnegie India's caliber will enrich the policy debate in India and increase the connection of ideas between New Delhi and the other capitals of the world.''