July 29, 2026 08:05 pm (IST)
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Report launch of Building Pan Asian Connectivity Conference
Kolkata, Jul 29 (IBNS): As a follow up to the Building Pan-Asian Connectivity Conference of March 2015, the U.S. Consulate General-Kolkata, the Center on American and Global Security at Indiana University (CAGS), and the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) launched a report/book Heading East: Security, Trade, and Environment between India and Southeast Asia, at the American Center -Kolkata, on Thursday.
Published by Oxford University Press, the book was launched by the U.S. Consul General Craig Hall along with Dr. Sumit Ganguly -- Rabindranath Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations and Director of the Center on American and Global Security, Indiana University, Bloomington, Dr. Karen Stoll Farrell -- Librarian for South Asian and Southeast Asian Studies, and the Head of the Area Studies Department at Indiana University Libraries, and other dignitaries.
The book contains reports on all the sessions of the two-day Pan Asian Connectivity conference organised last year.
The U.S. Consulate General-Kolkata, CAGS, and the ORF hosted the Building Pan-Asian Connectivity Conference in Kolkata in March 2015 to bring together business, academic, government, and civilian experts from the United States, India, and Southeast Asia to examine the opportunities and challenges as India and its neighbours take on greater roles in the region.
The conference examined India’s “Act East” policy, the United States’ rebalance to Asia, and the Indo-Pacific Economic Corridor (IPEC). It also emphasized the need to accelerate Regional Connectivity and Regional Economic Development Corridors in order to better develop India’s ties with South and Southeast Asia and assess United States’ role.
Launching the book, U.S. Consul General Craig Hall said, “As India's global role grows, its connections with regional neighbors and with Southeast Asia will expand. The United States fully supports the increased connectivity. Towards that end, the U.S. Department of State sponsored a Building Pan-Asian Connectivity conference in Kolkata in March 2015. An outcome of the conference is the timely and helpful collection of papers Heading East: Security, Trade, and Environment between India and Southeast Asia. It assesses the challenges and opportunities for building bridges between India and Southeast Asia and points the way towards more robust relationships that will define the future of the Asia-Pacific region.”
Professor Ganguly remarked, “This edited volume has brought together a substantial group of highly-regarded academics, policy practitioners and analysts from North America, South Asia and South East Asia to discuss matters related to trade, connectivity and security issues involving India’s northeast and South East Asia. The chapters in this volume also provide critical, up-to-date assessments of India’s Act East policy. It should be of considerable interest to academics, journalists and policymakers interested in these subjects.’
Public Affairs Officer Andrew Posner welcomed the guests.
Images: Souvik Das/IBNS
#U.S. Consulate General Kolkata
#Building Pan-Asian Connectivity Conference
#Dr. Sumit Ganguly
#American Center
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