SIPEC: Raising Leaders of Tomorrow
Should Indian leaders of tomorrow reclaim the civilizational identity of Bharat or save the country’s liberal space that is dwindling due to lack of leadership? Such were the weighty questions, among others, raised during “Stanford India Dialogue – The Leaders of Tomorrow”, an endeavor to inform and inspire students in the U.S. to nurture relations between the world’s largest democracies. Organized by Stanford India Policy and Economics Club (SIPEC), in partnership with the Motwani Jadeja Foundation, on a wet, Bay Area Saturday, the event was anything but gloomy. Packed to its periphery with over 200 participants on March 2, the ornate Stanford Faculty Club was brimming with young minds and a diverse group of industry luminaries from India and the Indian diaspora.
SIPEC co-founders and Stanford University students Arman Sharma and Devansh Sharma, along with faculty advisor Dr. Anurag Mairal, kicked off the day by reaffirming their vision for a healthy, proactive, and impactful student engagement in India-US partnership.
India’s growth offers opportunities for partnerships
The event commenced with opening remarks by the San Francisco Consul General of India, Dr. K. Srikar Reddy, and the Indian Ambassador to the U.S., Sripriya Ranganathan. Both officials highlighted India’s tremendous economic growth catalyzed by a pervasive digital economy, and the hard work and passion of India’s youth, who comprise 65% of India’s population. They also highlighted Indo-US collaboration across industries, with a special mention of the ISRO-NASA partnership in the Chandrayaan 3 mission. They pointed out that collaborations between the two countries extended to all fields of engineering, such as AI, robotics, defense, biomanufacturing, and semiconductors.
The day’s panel discussions kicked off with a student-moderated fireside chat with author and Supreme Court of India advocate, J. Sai Deepak, on the topic of “Navigating Civilization Narratives”. Deepak spoke about the growth of India – or Bharat, as he chose to call it – post the 1991 liberalization reforms, the need to redefine and preserve the identity of Bharat, and the role of religion in Bharat’s persona and society. “Bharat does not need to alienate its identity to accommodate other identities,” said Deepak. “Our identity has a religious component, which needs to be respected and preserved. Our political choices need to further this civilizational identity.”
Aditya Mahajan interviews J. Sai Deepak and Gurcharan Das
With growth come challenges
Author Gurcharan Das, however, was concerned about the slow demise of the liberal space in India. He was speaking at the fireside chat about “The Dilemma of an Indian Liberal.”
“Being a liberal today is a slippery slope,” said Das. “The problem for the liberal today is that there is no one left to vote for in India.”
Das also observed that the strong growth of the Indian economy had not translated to rapid job creation. He said India had jumped from the Green Revolution of the 1960s straight to the current digital revolution, without upskilling over 45% of its workforce.
Recounting personal experiences of the pre-liberalization ‘license raj’ period in India, Das surmised that India had lost at least 2-3 generations of leaders to opportunities abroad due to regressive economic policies.
He lauded the recent growth in India’s infrastructure, the positive impact of GST, and the tremendous growth fueled by a digital economy. He, however, expressed concerns about the law-and-order situation in India and the lack of civilian faith in the police.
The panel discussion on “Entrepreneurship and Innovation in India” was delivered by Dev Khare, Partner, Lightspeed India, Jishnu Bhattacharjee (Managing Director, Nexus Venture Partners), and Manthan Shah (Principal, Westbridge Capital). The panelists highlighted the emergence of India as the destination for software development, especially in B2B segments, with a multitude of development centers expanding to enable technology infrastructure globally.
The post-lunch roundtable discussions offered an opportunity to students to engage directly with individual panelists. At one table, Avinash Pandey, CEO of ABP News, addressed queries about the role of mainstream media in India. Pandey, along with Pranjal Sharma, Economic Analyst, WEF, later also addressed a panel on “Media Matters: Shaping Narratives and Influence in the World’s Largest Democracy”.
Speaking at the panel about “The Evolving US-India Partnership: A Congressional Perspective”, Congressman Shri Thanedar took questions from the audience on immigration laws and potential avenues for successful collaborations between the two nations.
Diversity of panelists in the future
While the panels aimed to highlight India’s strengths as a modern economy and the multiple avenues for student engagement to further the India-U.S. ties, the panelists were all of Indian origin, and the audience was predominantly South Asian. This is an area that SIPEC founders, Devansh Sharma and Arman Sharma, are looking to address in future conferences. The organizers said that including panelists from the U.S. and other strategic partners would further enrich this dialogue.
Other sessions included:
- “The Power of the Diaspora” – Panelists: Asha Jadeja Motwani, founder of the Motwani Jadeja Foundation, and Harshul Asnani of Tech Mahindra
- “Sustainable Futures: Navigating India’s Path to Environmental Resilience” – Panelists: Arun Majumdar, Dean, Doerr School of Sustainability, and Anil Kumar, Chairman, Greenko Cooperation
- “Civilizational Insights, Economic Realities: Charting India’s Future” – Panel led by Sanjeev Sanyal, Member, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister
- “Reimagining Healthcare Delivery: What India can teach the World” – Panel led by Dr. Devi Shetty, Chairman and Founder of Narayana Health