The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) hosted the Flagship Seminar on “How Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine has Transformed the World”, on July 6th at 4.00 PM (IST). 

About the event:  

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a world-transforming event. In the short run, it has caused significant economic turmoil, especially in global energy and food markets. It has also caused the imposition of an unprecedented array of economic sanctions, especially the freezing of substantial Russian foreign currency reserves. Not least, it has re-unified the high-income democracies against Russia.  

Yet the longer-term implications will arguably be even more important. These include the end of the post-Cold War era and the emergence of a new Cold War between China and Russia and the West. What do these transformations mean for India and how should it respond? 

Presenter:  

Martin Wolf: Martin Wolf is Chief Economics Commentator at the Financial Times, London. He is an honorary fellow of Nuffield College and Corpus Christi College, Oxford University, King’s College London, and the Oxford Institute for Economic Policy. He is also an honorary professor at the University of Nottingham, a University Global Fellow of Columbia University, and a Senior Fellow in Global Economic Policy at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. He is a member of the World Economic Forum’s International Media Council and has served as a member of the UK government’s Independent Commission on Banking. He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in 2000 for services to financial journalism. 

Discussants:  

Shivshankar Menon: Shivshankar Menon is a Distinguished Fellow at CSEP, Visiting Professor at Ashoka University and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi. Previously, he served as the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of India (2010-2014) and as Foreign Secretary of India (2006-2009). In his career in India’s Foreign Service, he headed India’s missions to China, Pakistan, Israel and Sri Lanka. He is the author of Choices: Inside the Making of Indian Foreign Policy (2016). 

Montek Singh Ahluwalia: Montek Singh Ahluwalia is a Distinguished Fellow at CSEP and has been a notable figure in Indian economic reforms from the early 1980s onwards. He has previously served as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India, Finance Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, and as the first director of the Independent Evaluation Office of the IMF. He has written extensively on various aspects of development economics and is a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award for public service. He is the author of Backstage: The Story Behind India’s High Growth Years (2020). 

Shekhar Shah: Shekhar Shah is Vice-Chairman of the Academic Council at the Indian School of Public Policy and the former Director General of the National Council of Applied Economic Research. Prior to joining NCAER, he was the World Bank’s Regional Economic Adviser for South Asia in a career in which he also served as the Bank’s Deputy Research Administrator, the Sector Manager for Governance and Public Sector Management for Europe and Central Asia, the South Asia Governance Adviser, and the Lead Economist for Bangladesh. He was a principal author of the 2004 World Development Report, Making Services Work for Poor People. He was earlier the Ford Foundation’s Program Officer for Economics and International Relations for South Asia and before that worked in Washington DC consulting for the US Federal Reserve and other US financial regulators. He received his BA in Economics from St Stephens College, Delhi University and his MA and PhD in Economics from Columbia University. 

Moderator:  

Rakesh Mohan: Rakesh Mohan is President and Distinguished Fellow at CSEP. He is a member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. Previously, he was Senior Fellow at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, Yale University, Professor at Yale’s School of Management, and Distinguished Consulting Professor at Stanford University. Closely associated with the Indian economic reforms process since the late 1980s, he has served in senior roles including as the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Secretary, Economic Affairs, Chief Economic Adviser of the Indian Ministry of Finance, and Economic Adviser in the Indian Ministry of Industry. He has authored books on urban economics, urban development, monetary policy, and economic reforms. 

For event-related or media queries, please contact Trishna Wahengbam at TWahengbam@csep.org. 

All content reflects the individual views of the speakers. The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) does not hold an institutional view on any subject.