AIDIA hosts CAF second lecture on India, China, future of the Asian order
Prof Amitabh Mattoo outlines India’s strategic vision, China’s rise and Nepal’s role in a changing Asia
LALITPUR: The Asian Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs (AIDIA) — Think Tank and Graduate School — hosted the second lecture in its Centre for Asian Futures (CAF) series on October 15. Professor Amitabh Mattoo delivered a talk titled 'Asian Futures: India’s Strategic Vision, China’s Rise and the Future of the Asian Order.'
The lecture covered shifting power dynamics across Asia and the strategic choices likely to shape the region’s future, including China’s rise, India’s pursuit of strategic autonomy and evolving India–China relations. Professor Mattoo urged students to view Asian futures as plural rather than predetermined, emphasising that multiple actors, competing interests and strategic choices will determine outcomes rather than a single trajectory.
Ambassador Dr Durga Bahadur Subedi, Executive Vice-Chairman of AIDIA and Principal of the Master in International Affairs, Economy and Diplomacy (MIAED), opened the session, welcoming participants and introducing Professor Mattoo. “Asia’s future will be shaped by the choices, ideas and institutions that countries bring to an evolving regional order. Through the CAF, AIDIA seeks to nurture the next generation of strategic thinkers who can look beyond immediate geopolitical shifts and help shape the futures of Asia, including Nepal’s role in them,” Amb Subedi said.
The event was organised for the inaugural cohort of the MIAED programme, run by AIDIA in partnership with Kathmandu University, and gave students an opportunity to connect academic perspectives with contemporary challenges in international affairs.
Speakers highlighted Nepal’s potential to move beyond conventional roles as a buffer or bridge and to act as a strategic broker through diplomacy, institutional cooperation and regional engagement. The discussion stressed the importance of strategic diversification, robust institutions and the capacity of smaller states to exercise meaningful agency amid great-power competition.
The session formed part of the CAF’s wider effort to promote strategic foresight, critical inquiry and policy-oriented dialogue.
