Round Table Discussion with Dr. David Lai and Ambassador RS Kalha at USI

On October 22, 2014 — A Report

The USI held a Round Table Discussion with Dr. David Lai (Research Professor of Asian Security Studies at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College) and with Ambassador RS Kalha, former Secretary, Indian Ministry of External Affairs, on 22 October 2014. The participants included distinguished strategic experts and USI council members.

Dr. Lai made a presentation on ‘Chinese Way of War and Diplomacy in Cultural Perspectives’. Born and raised in China, Dr. Lai has a unique bi-focal perspective on the respective strategic approaches of the US and China. During his presentation, he highlighted the difference in strategic cultures of the US and China by analysing their varying outlooks on the nature and conduct of wars, approach to strategy, operational codes, etc. He also covered the influence of Confucianism, Sun Tzu and Mao’s doctrines on Chinese strategic culture, as well as the impact of the ancient Chinese game of Wei Qi or Go on Chinese strategic thinking. Dr. Lai explained the application of ‘Go’ thought by China in shaping the strategic space in the Asia Pacific vis-a-via the Rebalancing Strategy of the US.

Thereafter, Ambassador RS Kalha, IFS (Retd) delivered his presentation on India-China Security & Foreign Policy Issues & Role of US. During the discussion following the presentations, experts exchanged views on geostrategic issues related to India, China and the ‘US Rebalance’ to the Asia Pacific. It clearly emerged that India as an emerging power should devote more attention to understanding China’s strategic culture and its way of war fighting.