You are currently viewing Jaipur Literature Festival 2023 to Feature a Range of Discussions on Geopolitics

Jaipur Literature Festival 2023 to Feature a Range of Discussions on Geopolitics

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  • Post last modified:December 28, 2022
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During its much-awaited 16th edition, to be held from 19th-23rd January at Hotel Clarks Amer, Jaipur the iconic Jaipur Literature Festival will explore and unravel a range of themes at panels curated with meticulous detail. The scale of programming remains as grand as ever. The ‘greatest’ literary show on Earth will feature relevant and pressing issues of the day, geopolitics being a key highlight.

Showcasing a stellar line-up of speakers, the Festival will host a session on India’s relations with Chin​a which has seen numerous highs and lows,​featuring journalist and commentator Manoj Joshi; India’s former foreign secretary & Ambassador to China, Vijay Gokhale; and former foreign secretary Shyam Saran, in conversation with journalist and foreign policy expert, Suhasini Haidar. During the session, Joshi will discuss the rising tensions at the unresolved LAC, and what that means for the region. At another session, Saran will be in conversation with the UN Resident Coordinator for India, Shombi Sharp; writer Tshering Tashi; Ambassador of the European Union to India and Bhutan, Ugo Astuto; former IFS officer and ambassador, Lakshmi Puri; and author Avay Shukla to discuss the climate crisis. During the session, this expert panel will critically examine the way forward post COP27 and the fundamental questions of accountability across and regardless of borders while bringing in sustainable development, climate progress, climate justice and the path ahead.

At the Festival, Saran will be also seen at a session featuring former IFS officer and ambassador Lakshmi Puri; and academic and environmentalist Jason Scorse, in conversation with former diplomat and ambassador Navdeep Suri. At a session titled ‘Governing the Depth: The Politics of the Ocean’, this group of geopolitical experts will overview the existing deep-sea governance arrangements, addressing the logistical challenges inherent in monitoring resource exploitation, and the need to protect one of Earth’s last true frontiers.

China and India have for centuries been the two greatest economic powers of the world, and in the 21st century, their joint superpower status is likely to return. But while their histories and civilizations have traditionally been closely intertwined, today they are almost strangers to each other, their relations enmeshed by misunderstandings and military tensions. Three of India’s most distinguished observers of China – academic Tansen Sen; former Governor of Arunachal Pradesh JJ Singh and former foreign secretary of India Shyam Saran – will deep dive into the past and look at the future with historian and Festival Co-director William Dalrymple.

A session titled ‘The Great Game of Tech Morality’, featuring academic and writer Toby Walsh and tech entrepreneur and writer, Anirudh Suri, in conversation with journalist Praveen Swami, will focus on Suri’s recent book, The Great Tech Game: Shaping Geopolitics and the Destiny of Nations, which explores the era of ‘digital colonialism’ and technology’s role in shaping our values and the trajectory of the modern era. Swami will also be in conversation with journalist and commentator Manoj Joshi; journalist Nishtha Gautam; and academic, journalist and foreign policy analyst C Raja Mohan for a session on the critical need for a national security strategy for India in hard times. They will discuss India’s major challenges and concerns in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic, the current world economic crisis, and the ways in which these can be addressed.

NOTES TO MEDIA PERSONS

For media enquiries on the Jaipur Literature Festival, please contact Edelman India and Teamwork Arts: IndiaJLF@edelman.com and manash@teamworkarts.com

About Jaipur Literature Festival:
Described as the ‘greatest literary show on Earth’, the Jaipur Literature Festival is a sumptuous feast of ideas.

The past decade has seen it transform into a global literary phenomenon having hosted over 5,000 speakers and artists and welcoming over a million book lovers from across India and the globe.

Our core values remain unchanged: to serve as a democratic, non-aligned platform offering free
and fair access.

Every year, the Festival brings together a diverse mix of the world’s greatest writers, thinkers, humanitarians, politicians, business leaders and entertainers on one stage to champion the freedom to express and engage in thoughtful debate and dialogue.

Writers and Festival Directors Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple, alongside producer Teamwork Arts, invite speakers to take part in the five-day programme set against the backdrop of Rajasthan’s stunning cultural heritage.

Past speakers have ranged from Nobel Laureates J. M. Coetzee, Orhan Pamuk, Malala Yousafzai, Muhammad Yunus and Joseph Stiglitz; Man Booker Prize winners Ben Okri, Douglas Stuart, Margaret Atwood and Paul Beatty; Sahitya Akademi winners Gulzar, Javed Akhtar, M. T. Vasudevan Nair, as well as the late Girish Karnad, Mahasweta Devi and U. R. Ananthamurthy; along with literary superstars including Amish Tripathi, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Vikram Seth. An annual event that goes beyond literature, the Festival has also hosted Amartya Sen, Amitabh Bachchan, the late A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Bill Gates, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Oprah Winfrey, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Stephen Fry, Thomas Piketty and former president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai.

The Jaipur Literature Festival is a flagship event of Teamwork Arts, which produces it along with over 25 highly acclaimed performing arts, visual arts and literary festivals across more than 40 cities globally.

Website: www.jaipurliteraturefestival.org

About Teamwork Arts:
Teamwork Arts is a highly versatile production company with roots in the performing arts, social action and the corporate world. For over 30 years, Teamwork Arts has taken India to the world and brought the world to India, presenting the finest of Indian performers, writers, change makers and visual artistes in the knowledge and arts space in India and abroad. Every year, we produce over 33 festivals in 42 cities and 17 countries in the fields of performing & visual arts and literature. We produce the world’s largest literary gathering: the annual Jaipur
Literature Festival; JLF international now travels to the US, UK, Canada, Australia and the Maldives and soon in Europe.

Even amidst the upheaval and unsettling times of 2020 and through 2021, Teamwork Arts successfully launched the digital series, ‘JLF Brave New World’ and ‘Words Are Bridges’, which were viewed by over 4.8 million people in their first season. Through its digital avatar, the Jaipur Literature Festival reached over 27 million viewers in January 2021. Our initiative ‘Art Matters‘ empowers artistes across India to collaborate across genres by commissioning them to create new works thereby effecting change & raising awareness. The digital series ‘Be Inspired’ was launched in 2021 – a series that crystal-gazes into the future with conversations on science,
technology, innovation, environment and more.

Website: www.teamworkarts.com

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