Hyderabad: Institute of Indo-Pacific Studies opened at Osmania University

Hyderabad: Ambassador C Rajasekhar of the Ministry of External Affairs said that the Indo-Pacific region is a dynamic area with significant developments taking place, and every nation is focusing on it. He emphasised that the Asia-Pacific region has now transformed into the Indo-Pacific with the rise of Southeast and East Asian countries, along with China and India. This oceanic space connects all these countries, and most of their trade takes place through the Indian and Pacific oceans. He highlighted how India and China had contributed to the highest global GDP 300 years ago and how colonialism had changed it all. As India's civilization and values promote peace and mediation between parties to avoid wars, he urged that India must play the game differently.

He stated that the newly inaugurated Institute of Indo-Pacific Studies at Osmania University has the potential to conduct research and put the university on the global map through its work. The Institute can avail opportunities that are increasingly available in the present-day dynamic world. Rajasekhar shared that the Ministry of External Affairs will support the university in its work.

The Vice-Chancellor of Osmania University, Prof. D. Ravinder, who chaired the inaugural function, outlined the efforts being made to give shape to the institute. He explained that the Telangana Planning Board Chairman Vinod Kumar pitched the idea and followed it up with MEA officials. Following a committee of senior professors from Jawaharlal Nehru University and Osmania University recommendations, and other stakeholders had made the new institute possible.

Prof. P. Laxminarayana, Registrar of Osmania University, said that the new centre of research is the only one in India after Jawaharlal Nehru University with a focus on the Indo-Pacific covering areas such as security, trade, culture, diaspora, science, and technology with the idea of pooling human and financial resources across institutions, organizations, and borders.

Vinod Kumar asked the Vice-Chancellor of OU to start an institution to study the developments in the Asia-Pacific region. Teachers MLC Surabhi Vani Devi and Director of the Institute of Indo-Pacific Studies, Prof. J.L.N. Rao, also spoke at the inaugural session.