The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada Podcast

In this episode of Asia Pacific Conversations, Professor T. V. Paul, Distinguished James McGill Professor of International Relations at McGill University and a Distinguished Fellow with APF Canada, unpacks his latest book, The Unfinished Quest: India’s Search for Major Power Status from Nehru to Modi.

In a wide-ranging conversation with the Foundation’s Vice-President Research & Strategy Vina Nadjibulla, Prof. Paul traces India’s postwar trajectory and its rise as a global power. More than a decade in the research and writing, The Unfinished Quest charts the external and internal constraints India has had to contend with in its pursuit of major power status, its accommodation (or lack thereof) in international politics as a new power, and the challenges ahead, including current strains in Canada-India relations.

The recording follows an APF Canada partner book launch event at the University of B.C. with the Liu Institute of Global Issues.

In this episode of Asia Pacific Conversations, we turn a spotlight on Taiwan following two recent APF Canada interactions with Asia’s high-tech powerhouse – the Taipei Security Dialogue in Taiwan on September 12 and an APF Canada event in Vancouver with Taipei Economic and Cultural Office Canada Representative Dr. Harry Tseng on September 9.

Featuring a conversation with our Vice-President Research & Strategy Vina Nadjibulla, who participated in the security dialogue in Taipei and moderated our public event with Dr. Tseng, this episode explores Taiwan’s security amid the global security challenges posed by China’s rise, the island’s competition for leadership in advanced chip and emerging technologies, the geopolitical implications of that competition, Taiwan’s quest for international partnerships and support, and opportunities for future Canada-Taiwan co-operation.

This episode of Asia Pacific Conversations features an encore audio presentation of our special event with Canada’s Minister of National Defence, Bill Blair.

At this public event in Vancouver on August 8, 2024, Minister Blair discussed Canada’s contributions to peace and security in the Indo-Pacific with our Vice-President Research & Strategy, Vina Nadjibulla.

In his opening remarks, Minister Blair outlined the shape and size of Canada’s renewed commitment to the Indo-Pacific, discussed our country’s evolving relationship with China, which has become increasingly assertive in the region, and underscored the importance of multilateral engagement with partners in the region.

In the moderated Q&A that followed, Minister Blair discussed the shifting security dynamics in Asia and outlined opportunities for Canadian collaboration with allies in the Indo-Pacific through an approach he described as ‘Strength in Unity.’

This episode of Asia Pacific Conversations features a discussion about the dramatic events in Bangladesh over the past several weeks with Michael Kugelman, Director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center.

In this episode, Michael and Vina discuss the “trigger point” that set this mass uprising in motion, the violence and repression that rocked the country of more than 170 million, India’s response to the crisis, and the future of an interim government that must now navigate a political and security vacuum at the heart of South Asia.

In this episode of Asia Pacific Conversations, Vina Nadjibulla, APF Canada’s Vice-President Research & Strategy, shares her experiences – and international security takeaways – as a ‘distinguished visitor’ at Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024, the world’s largest combined joint maritime exercises held every two years in and around the Hawaiian Islands.

Hosted by Canada’s Department of National Defence aboard the USS Carl Vinson, the US Navy’s nuclear-powered Nimitz-class supercarrier, Vina had a front-row seat at RIMPAC 2024, where 29 allied nations, 40 surface ships, three submarines, 14 national land forces, 150 aircraft, and more than 25,000 personnel participated in the maritime exercise throughout July 2024.

In this episode of Asia Pacific Conversations, Vina Nadjibulla, APF Canada’s Vice-President Research & Strategy, discusses her takeaways and concerns following a multi-country visit to the Indo-Pacific in May/June that included meetings, summits, and dialogues in the Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, and Mongolia, where she participated in the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asia Security.

Touchpoints in this episode’s conversation include the ramifications of a new and enhanced security partnership between Cold War allies Russia and North Korea, the current and future state of Canada-India relations following India’s national elections (and on the anniversary of both the Air India Bombing (1985) and the murder in Canada of Hardeep Sing Nijjar (2023)), and rising tensions between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea.

Southeast Asia boasts a population of 660 million and, as a region, represents Canada’s fourth-largest merchandise trading partner, with trade reaching $40.7 billion in 2022.

In this episode of Asia Pacific Conversations, APF Canada’s Program Manager, International Trade & Investment, Anastasia Ufimtseva, chats with Noel Navin, the Director of International Sales (Southeast Asia) for Agropur. Agropur is a dairy co-operative based in Québec and represents some 3,000 dairy farmers and producers in the province. Ten years ago, Agropur established a sales office and innovation centre in Southeast Asia, with headquarters in Singapore. In this podcast episode, Noel discusses the challenges and successes of his company’s journey into Asia that began a decade ago.

India is a rising regional and global power and a champion of peace and security across the Indo-Pacific. Its growing economic might and strategic influence place India in a unique position as it navigates expanding great power rivalries at its doorstep and beyond.

India is also currently in the late stages of its 2024 national elections (April 19 to June 1), the largest in world history with nearly one billion people eligible to cast their ballots.

Against this backdrop, in APF Canada’s latest episode of Asia Pacific Conversations, The RAND Corporation’s Senior Defence Analyst Derek Grossman chats with the Foundation’s Vice-President Research & Strategy Vina Nadjibulla about India’s rise and influence. They discuss the elections and their potential outcomes, including for Canada. They explore India’s policy of strategic autonomy and the South Asian giant’s geopolitical dance between the U.S., China, and Russia. And they evaluate India’s domestic and foreign policies, including the current irritants and strains in Canada-India relations.

As international attention has turned to the devastating wars in Europe and the Middle East, the escalating civil war between the military junta and pro-democracy forces in Myanmar rages on. Since the military seized power in a February 2021 coup d’etat, tens of thousands of people have been killed, and some 2.5 million people have been displaced as the junta attempts to thwart a growing civilian resistance.

In this episode of Asia Pacific Conversations, recorded on the sidelines of our May 18 townhall discussion in partnership with the University of B.C.'s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (Institute of Asian Research), UBC Myanmar Initiative, and Canada's International Development Research Centre, APF Canada’s Vice-President Research and Strategy Vina Nadjibulla talks with Aung Myo Min, Minister of Human Rights with the National Unity Government, Myanmar’s government in exile.

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Alors que l’attention internationale se tourne vers les guerres dévastatrices en Europe et au Moyen-Orient, l’escalade de la guerre civile entre la junte militaire et les forces pro-démocratiques au Myanmar fait rage. Depuis la prise du pouvoir par les militaires lors d’un coup d’État en février 2021, des dizaines de milliers de personnes ont été tuées et quelque 2,5 millions d’autres ont été déplacées, la junte tentant de contrecarrer la résistance civile grandissante.

Dans cet épisode de Conversations Asie-Pacifique, enregistré en marge de notre discussion ouverte du 18 mai en partenariat avec la School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (Institute of Asian Research) de la University of B.C., la UBC Myanmar Initiative et le Centre de recherches pour le développement international du Canada, Vina Nadjibulla, vice-présidente de la recherche et de la stratégie de la FAP Canada, s’entretient avec Aung Myo Min, ministre des Droits de la personne au sein du gouvernement d’unité nationale, le gouvernement en exil du Myanmar.

In this special episode of Asia Pacific Conversations, Santiago Alba-Corral, Director of the International Development Research Centre’s Climate Resilient Food Systems Program, discusses the ongoing work of this Canadian institution in supporting research and researchers in developing countries to find solutions to the “global challenges of humanity.”

Santiago – a key speaker and participant at the Climate Solutions conference that was part of APF Canada’s Canada-in-Asia Conferences in Singapore in February 2024 – discusses what he sees as the two major global challenges of the current era: increased inequality and the climate crisis. With 47 active projects across 17 Asian economies, Santiago further explains the work of IDRC in the interconnected global ecosystems of food production and security.