Selected leaders and thinkers from India, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and activist Kiran Bedi, will attend a three-day conference to discuss a variety of issues and challenges facing India in economic, social and political realms.
The annual event starting October 31 is the third such conference organised by Australia India Institute (AII) and will be attended by Indian leaders, officials, scholars and well known journalists.
Besides Yadav and IPS turned activist Bedi, others scheduled to address the theme ‘The Argumentative Indian: Critical debates in the world’s lagest democracy’ include BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman, West Bengal Governor M K Narayan, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Member of Parliament of India Jay Panda and Planning Commission member Narendra Jadhav.
The conference would also include several eminent Australian leaders like Victoria Governor Alex Chernov, National President of Australian Institute of International Affairs John McCarthy, and former Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, among others.
“We, through this conference have got the most exciting panel of speakers in the most comprehensive conference on India to be held anywhere globally,” Amitabh Mattoo, inaugural director of AII, told PTI.
“This conference is vital as it is being held soon after Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s visit to India and there is simultaneously OZ festival which would run in over 18 places in India,” he said.