Lowy Institute announces arrival of former Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, 2015 Telstra Distinguished International Fellow

The Lowy Institute is pleased to welcome Ambassador Shyam Saran to Sydney. Saran joined the Institute as its 2015 Telstra Distinguished International Fellow, and is in Australia for two weeks of events, meetings and media engagements.

Ambassador Saran will deliver the Owen Harries Lecture on Wednesday. The Lecture honours the enormous contribution Mr Harries, a Nonresident Fellow of the Lowy Institute, has made to the international policy debate in Australia and the United States.

In his speech, Ambassador Saran will look at the relentless dismantling of the post-Second World War global order created and dominated by the US and its Western allies, and India’s place in the new order. Saran says India “…has a sense of itself as a civilisational entity, with an area, population, resources and capabilities which assure it a global profile.”

He warns that ‘With China building artificial islands and bases in the South China Sea and asserting claims over virtually the entire ocean space, it would only be prudent to have a strong and credible counter force available” but that “India continues to advocate…an inclusive security architecture in the region”.

“Ambassador Saran is a distinguished career diplomat whose extensive career has been integral to India’s rise in the world. A former Indian Foreign Secretary with postings to Beijing, Tokyo, Myanmar, Indonesia, Ambassador Saran has served as the Prime Minister’s personal representative at G20, G8 and climate change summits,” said Lowy Institute Executive Director Dr Michael Fullilove. 

“As the Prime Minister’s personal envoy, he was integral to shaping the historic US-India civil nuclear agreement signed in 2006 ‘I’m pleased to welcome Ambassador Saran to Sydney as the Lowy Institute’s third Distinguished International Fellow.  I’ve no doubt he will make an important contribution to Australian public debate about the role of India in a changing world.” 

The Lowy Institute is delighted to continue to partner with its corporate member Telstra as sponsor of the Telstra Distinguished International Fellowship.

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Ambassador Saran is the Lowy Institute’s third Distinguished International Fellow. The inaugural 2013 Distinguished International Fellow was former US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Dr Kurt Campbell. Former US National Security Advisor Stephen J. Hadley was the Telstra Distinguished International Fellow for 2014.