India’s Parliamentarians Focus on Global Issues and Leadership Challenges in Yale University Program

Global political-economic affairs and the challenges of leadership are the focus of the 3rd India � Yale Parliamentary Leadership Program that will be held June 20 to 27. Yale University, widely recognized for educating leaders in government, business, and civil society worldwide, launched the India � Yale Parliamentary Leadership Program in 2007, in collaboration with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the India � U.S. Forum of Parliamentarians. The 1st and 2nd India � Yale Parliamentary Leadership Programs were held in October 2007 and June 2008, respectively, with different delegations of Indian parliamentarians. In total, more than thirty members of India�s parliament have participated since the program was created.

The 2009 cohort of members of India�s parliament will come to the Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut on June 20 to begin a four-day leadership program with Yale faculty that will be complemented by a three-day program of meetings, discussions, and interactions with U.S. politicians, policy analysts, and senior U.S. government officials in New York City and Washington, D.C. Among the 2009 participants are Abhishek Singhvi, the national spokesperson of the Indian National Congress party; Prakash Javadekar, the official spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party; and six members of the parliament�s Lok Sabha newly elected in the recent national election.

Yale President Richard C. Levin stated that �The India � Yale Parliamentary Leadership Program underscores Yale�s longstanding commitment to educating our students for service and leadership. We have now gone a step further to include emerging and mid-career leaders. The program will provide the parliamentarians with opportunities to critically think about the challenges of leadership and to explore freely, away from the legislative arena, the issues facing India.�

FICCI Secretary General Amit Mitra stated that �The India � Yale Parliamentary Leadership Program encourages greater understanding of public leadership, accountability, transparency and parliamentary oversight amongst the parliamentarians. It is designed to provide the parliamentarians capacity building and skill development and greater engagement in public policy discussions. The program is aimed at making an important contribution to their leadership capabilities to prevent and manage challenges through effective parliamentary governance.�

Abhishek Singhvi, the Chairman of the India � U.S. Forum of Parliamentarians, stated that �The India � Yale Parliamentary Leadership Program is pioneering in the amazing diversity of topics explored; in the outstanding, cutting edge quality of the world- renowned lecturers; in the truly bipartisan nature of the multiparty delegation; in the unusual blend of the vibrant young and the experienced vets comprising the delegation; and, in the intense, disciplined and highly structured mix of academics and policy planning at our Yale and Washington, D.C. interactions. Most important, and perhaps most unquantifiable but clearly tangible, is the remarkable bonding between the members of the delegation over the course of the program�something not found easily even after years in Parliament!�

Yale has a long and distinguished record of educating government leaders. Since its founding in 1701, Yale has educated leaders and public servants for all sectors of American society and, increasingly, around the world. Yale�s tradition of leadership and public service is found in every branch of government in the United States. Yale�s graduates are leaders in all areas of human endeavor�the arts, business, law, medicine, science, and civil society, and have led or are leading hundreds of the most recognizable global brands.

Yale�s tradition of public service is exemplified by the large number of Yale alumni who have been appointed to serve in U.S. President Barack Obama’s new administration, and others who have served on his transition team. These appointments include Gary Locke ‘72, the 36th U.S Secretary of Commerce; Hillary Rodham Clinton LAW ‘73, the 67th U.S. Secretary of State; David Sandalow �78, the Assistant U.S. Secretary of Energy; and James Steinberg LAW �78, the Deputy U.S. Secretary of State. Earlier this month, President Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor LAW ‘79 to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court to join fellow Yale Law School alumni Samuel Alito Jr. LAW �75 and Clarence Thomas LAW �74. Seventeen Yale Law School graduates have been appointed to positions in the Obama administration and more than 40 Yale alumni and faculty members participated in the new administration�s transition team. Additionally, 8 alumni are sitting U.S. senators and 12 alumni currently serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In recent years, recognizing that the complexity and demands of geo-political and economic affairs during the twenty-first century will require that governments at all levels have inspired leaders, Yale has sought to engage the rising leadership of the world�s most consequential countries through leadership development programs in the United States. Yale has since 2004 held governmental programs for senior leaders from China, Japan, Kazakhstan, and the United Arab Emirates.

The India � Yale Parliamentary Leadership Program was developed in consultation with the parliamentarians and the India � U.S. Forum of Parliamentarians and reflects the belief that exposure to new fields and ideas can offer insight, perspective, and new ways of thinking for one�s own work. Lectures, discussions, and private meetings with renowned practitioners in their areas will complement the curricular activities of the Yale program. Faculty for the program are drawn from experts at Yale, as well as research institutes, government offices, and the private sector.

In Washington, D.C., the participants of the 3rd India � Yale Parliamentary Leadership Program will hold discussions on India-U.S. bilateral issues with senior U.S. government officials from the U.S. Departments of Defense, Energy, Treasury, and State, U.S. Trade Representative, and the U.S. Senate and Congress. They will also receive briefings and interactions on foreign policy issues from scholars and advisers with the Brookings Institution, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.

The topics covered in the 3rd India � Yale Parliamentary Leadership Program include U.S. Foreign Policy Toward Afghanistan-Pakistan; Religion and Politics; Economic Risks in the Global Economy; Poverty and Economic Development; India and Globalization; India in the Global Economy; India � China Economic Relations; Rule of Law and Governance in China; Reform of Higher Education in India; India�s Priorities in the United Nations Framework; Climate Change and Energy Security in South Asia; Obama Administration and South Asia; Innovation and Economic Progress in Emerging Markets; U.S. Response to the Global Financial Crisis; Negotiation and Strategy; Innovation; and Leadership Challenges.

The participating parliamentarians are Jayant Chaudhary (Lok Sabha � Rashtriya Lok Dal � Mathura, Uttar Pradesh); Shruti Choudhry (Lok Sabha � Indian National Congress Party � Bhiwani-Mahendragarh, Haryana); Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo (Lok Sabha � Biju Janata Dal � Bolangir, Orissa); Priya Dutt (Lok Sabha � Indian National Congress� Mumbai North Central, Maharashtra); Naresh Gujral (Rajya Sabha � Shiromani Akali Dal � Punjab); Prakash Javadekar (Rajya Sabha - Bharatiya Janata Party � Maharashtra); H. D. Kumaraswamy (Lok Sabha � Janata Dal Secular � Bangalore Rural, Karnataka); Mausam Benazir Noor (Lok Sabha � Indian National Congress � Malda North, West Bengal); Mohammad Hamdullah Sayeed (Lok Sabha � Indian National Congress � Lakshadweep); Anurag Singh Thakur (Lok Sabha � Bharatiya Janata Party � Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh); Ijyaraj Singh (Lok Sabha � Indian National Congress � Kota, Rajasthan); Abhishek Manu Singhvi (Rajya Sabha � Indian National Congress � Rajasthan). The parliamentarians will be accompanied by Ramesh Chandran (Executive Director, India � U.S. Forum of Parliamentarians, and Advisor, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry).

The India � U.S. Forum of Parliamentarians is a body of leading Indian parliamentarians representing the broad political spectrum of India from both Houses of Parliament � the Lok Sabha (Lower House) and the Rajya Sabha (Upper House). The Forum was formed six years ago with the support of FICCI. The Forum, constituted on the lines of �Senate Friends of India� Group and the �India Caucus� in the United States Congress, today, has more than 130 lawmakers cutting across party lines, with many of its members heading or serving in vital policy planning parliamentary committees. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, member of the Rajya Sabha and natinal spokesperson for the Indian National Congress Party is the Chairman of the Forum; Shobhana Bhartia, member of the Rajya Sabha is the Co-Chairman of the Forum.

Encompassing all aspects of Indo � U.S. relations, the Forum makes an effort to facilitate wider exchange of dialogue on crucial issues of bilateral and global concerns between parliamentarians of India and their counterparts in the U.S., senior U.S. government administration officials, business leaders, opinion � makers and the Indian � American community. The Forum through Track II initiatives adds an important parliamentary dimension to the bilateral relations.