ORF-Hindu Policy Conclave is a uniquely crafted event in the University of Delhi circuit, which witnesses a discursive coalescence of domain experts and public intellectuals on a single platform at a grand scale and substantive depth. The event germinated as an idea in the confabulations between Samir Saran (President, Observer Research Foundation), Harsh V. Pant ( Vice-President, Observer Research Foundation) and Chandrachur Singh (Professor, Dept. of Political Science, Hindu College) when they conceived of something along the lines of Raisina Dialogue to take policy nuances from the higher echelons of diplomacy to the younger generation that continually strives and stretches for newer avenues of learning and engagement.
In essence and spirit, it serves as a major policy summit that aims to take the pedagogic discourse beyond the confines of classrooms and help students grapple with the world's current socio-political affairs. A one-of-a-kind program, it brings celebrated policymakers and scholars together on a single stage and provides students with an opportunity to participate in dialogue and deliberation. It gives the students a platform to learn from and pose questions directly to the stalwarts of research and academia. This interaction and cross-pollination of ideas injects dynamism into policy affairs and nurtures the intellectual growth of young learners.
There is a particular kind of clarity that emerges only after the collapse of illusion. The post-Cold War world was, in many ways, a sustained act of collective imagination - a faith, earnest if not always warranted, that liberalism had prevailed not merely as a political arrangement but as a civilisational verdict. The institutions assembled in that aftermath; the WTO, the Washington Consensus, the architecture of multilateral diplomacy, were less neutral administrative structures than expressions of a specific ideological confidence. History, it was said, had ended. What remained was only its orderly administration.
It is within this unsettled landscape that the 2026 Hindu–ORF Policy Conclave finds its occasion and its urgency. The theme, Pax Transactional: The World, As It Is, is both a diagnosis & provocation. The qualifier ‘transactional’ is chosen with deliberate care. It gestures not toward cynicism but toward candour: an acknowledgement that the grammar of contemporary international relations is no longer being written in the language of shared norms or universal values, but in the harder, more contingent vocabulary of interest, leverage, and calculated exchange. States bargain. Alliances are conditional. Solidarity is situational.
The world, as it is, operates less on principle than on the calculus of advantage — and any serious intellectual engagement with global affairs must begin by accepting, rather than lamenting, that condition.
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09:00 - 09:30 (IN)
Lamp Lighting
Welcome Remarks by Prof Anju Srivastava, Principal, Hindu College,
Prof Harsh Pant, Vice-President, Observer Research Foundation, and
Dr Chandrachur Singh, Professor, Dept. of Political Science, Hindu College
Inaugural Address by Prof K. Ratnabali, Dean, Academic Affairs, University of Delhi
Keynote Address by Dr Samir Saran, President, ORF
09:30 - 10:45 (IN)
The rules-based order and multilateral institutions underpinning global stability are facing a structural crisis. The prolonged war in Ukraine and the US-Israel-Iran war in the Middle East have exposed the UN’s diminished role in international peace and security. Simultaneously, the US President has increasingly followed iconoclastic policies, marked by erratic commitments and pressure tactics, signalling the collapse of the rulesbased international order. Powerful nations are increasingly relying on the ‘might is right’ doctrine, while bringing chaos to affected regions and the world at large.
This moment forces sharp strategic questions: Can legacy multilateral institutions survive this turbulence? What form will global leadership take as Washington steps back from its historic moderating role while actively generating chaos? How should the Global South respond when global politics shifts toward deeper fragmentation and contestation?
Speakers:
Indrani Bagchi, CEO, Ananta Aspen Centre
Gaurie Dwivedi, Executive Director, NDTV
RKS Bhadauria, Former Chief, Indian Air Force
Sreeram Chaulia, Professor and Dean, Jindal School of International Affairs; Director General of the Jindal India Institute, O.P Jindal Global University
Moderator: Naghma Sahar, Senior Fellow, ORF
Student Presenters: Avni Drolia, Rishi Raj Sharma
10:45 - 12:00 (IN)
The post-COVID global recovery remains subdued. China, despite repeated stimulus rounds, confronts stubborn unemployment, deepening involution, and global pushback against its industrial overcapacity. Trump’s tariffs have further unsettled the global trading system, while Europe faces its own stagnation. The near closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the war in the Middle East are destroying regional economies and may sow stagflation in the global economy.
Against this backdrop, can free trade, globalisation, the WTO, and the Bretton Woods order endure sustained political and even military conflicts? Could alternative economic structures, driven by BRICS, the SCO, and other international financial institutions, challenge Western-led frameworks? How will US–China economic relations shape the contours of the evolving geoeconomic order? How should countries like India proceed in an era where dependencies are weaponised?
Speakers:
Amb Mohan Kumar, Professor & Dean, Strategic and International Initiatives, Jindal School of International Affairs, JGU
Petros Sourmelis, Head of section, Trade and Economic Affairs, Delegation of the European Union to India
Renu Kohli, Senior Fellow, Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP)
Rajat Sethi, Political Commentator & Advisor
Moderator: Gautam Chikermane, Vice-President, ORF
Student Presenters: Aastha Pant, Gaurav Kohli
12:00 - 13:00 (IN)
13:00 - 14:15 (IN)
Resurgent nationalism, ideological polarisation, wars and intensifying rivalry are recasting global climate and energy politics. As major powers adopt transactional energy strategies and portray decarbonisation as elite or culturally divisive, the foundations of collective climate governance are being undermined. The US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and its turn toward fossil expansion, regulatory rollbacks, and reduced climate justice funding reflect this shift.
In addition, wars in Europe and the Middle East have intensified the global energy shock. Disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz and the disappearance of Gulf oil and gas from international markets have tightened supply and driven price volatility. For those in the Global South, the shock has deepened economic strain and exposed persistent energy insecurity.
By framing climate action as a “woke agenda”, has the environmental discourse shifted from scientific inquiry into the realm of culture wars? Is climate denial, masked as economic pragmatism, endangering the planet’s future? Could prolonged disruptions in Gulf energy supplies accelerate a strategic shift toward alternative energy sources and suppliers? How can Global South states mitigate their dependence on vulnerable energy chokepoints and strengthen climate governance?
Speakers:
Adrian Haack, Director, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), New Delhi
Shuva Raha, Fellow and Lead, International Cooperation, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW)
Balawant G. Joshi, Founder & Managing Director, Idam Infrastructure Advisory Private Limited
Kedar Sawant, Senior Portfolio Manager, Energy Transition, French Development Agency (AFD)
Moderator: Aparna Roy, Fellow and Lead, Climate Change and Energy, ORF
Student Presenters: Ishita Kanyal, Suryansh Gupta
14:15 - 15:30 (IN)
President Trump’s imposition of sweeping tariffs last year, exceeding 50 per cent and among the highest in the world, signalled a sharply extractive and unilateral turn in US–India economic engagement. Trump further added a US$100,000 surcharge to H-1B visas, a measure that has hit Indian professionals squarely. To top this off, Washington provides scant clarity on defence technology collaboration or long-term economic commitments.
Its military adventures in the Middle East and beyond are impacting the Indian economy, the Gulf’s Indian diaspora, and broader markets, imposing significant hardship and enduring strain. These moves raise a pressing question: Is the US still India’s strategic partner? Can India shield its growth as its principal trading partner adopts increasingly uncertain and coercive instruments?
How will the US manage defence engagements and technology transfers? And must India recalibrate its strategic posture within the QUAD and BRICS to secure broader regional resilience?
Speakers:
Pramit Pal Chaudhari, India Practice Head, Eurasia Group
Priyanka Chaturvedi, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Manu Pubby, Senior Editor, Economic Times
Akshay Mathur, Senior Director, Asia Society Policy Institute
Moderator: Rachel Rizzo, Senior Fellow, ORF
Student Presenters: Navodita Sharma, Vishakha Kumari
15:30 - 16:45 (IN)
Global technological advances are reshaping political and regional dynamics, as states deploy artificial intelligence, cyber capabilities, satellite reconnaissance, and advanced robotics. Technology has emerged as a decisive instrument in projecting power, shaping narratives, and influencing diplomatic outcomes. India navigates a complex technological landscape marked by regional security challenges, cyber threats, and competition with China and Pakistan, while seeking to enhance its strategic autonomy. Beyond geopolitics, technology permeates everyday life, from economic transactions and social interactions to media consumption and public discourse, redefining how citizens engage with information and governance.
What are the ethical, economic, & strategic implications of this technological transformation? How does technology empower societies to reshape regional balances and generate new vulnerabilities for India and the world? How do digital platforms, data flows, and algorithmic systems construct narratives, amplify ideological divides, and influence policy decisions, while also transforming modern warfare and regional security calculus?
Speakers:
Anushka Kaushik, Senior Research Fellow & Cyber Lead, GLOBSEC Policy Institute, Slovakia
Meghna Bal, Director, Esya Centre
Pranit Mehta, Co-Founder, GalaxEye
Aakash Guglani, Senior Manager, Digital India Foundation
Moderator: Basu Chandola, Associate Fellow, ORF
Student Presenters: Srishti Saharia, Vivaan Menon
16:45 - 17:00 (IN)
Closing remarks by Team ORF-Hindu Policy Conclave
Anchors: Anshu Chowdhary, Sneha Prasad
17:00 - 18:00 (IN)
