On Thursday, June 6, 2024, Asia Society Northern California will host a half-day conference in Silicon Valley on the topic of envisioning India. Top leading voices across the fields of business, government, technology, academia, and entrepreneurship will analyze and envision the critical role of India in our rapidly changing world. The conference agenda will include sessions on India’s 2024 elections, public health in India, India’s technological and economic advancement, and U.S. and India’s bilateral relationship. 

We will be offering limited virtual options to members and non-members. The panel discussion on The Emerging U.S. & India Partnership will be livestreamed. 

Exactly one year ago, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Washington, D.C., cementing the critical partnership that lies between the U.S. and India. From the activism in the QUAD in creating a free, open, inclusive, and resilient Indo-Pacific, to the continued work on iCET (U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology), the U.S.-India partnership has flourished. With increased turbulence in geopolitics and rising U.S.-China competition, the panel will analyze the challenges and prospects that lie for the U.S.-India partnership in the realms of foreign policy, security, economics, and trade. Features speakers include Mukesh Aghi, President and Chief Executive Officer of US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF); Arzan Tarapore, Research Scholar at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) at Stanford University; and Asha Jadeja Motwani, Silicon Valley-based venture capitalist and philanthropist. 

Registration and confirmation of registration are required for all sessions. Space is limited. Confirmed guests will receive the Zoom link 24 hours before the program.

Non-members should email [email protected] for membership inquires. 

SPEAKERS

Mukesh Aghi is the President and Chief Executive Officer of US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF). USISPF is the largest, independent not for profit entity based out of Washington DC. It focuses on building strong partnership between the US and India, focusing on geo-political, trade, technology transfer, innovation, investment and legislative issues. Mukesh Aghi has extensive experience working with business and government leaders in the U.S. and India to promote trade and strengthen ties between the two countries. Last four years USISPF has been instrumental in investing over $50 billions in India. Currently Mukesh Aghi is a board member and former Chair of the Compensation Committee at DXC Technology (NYSE) a $15 billion IT Services company. He is also member of the board at HT Media and Trustee at Claremont Graduate University in California.

Asha Jadeja Motwani is one of Silicon Valley’s most highly respected venture capitalists. She has invested in over a 100 well-known technology startups in the Valley such as Paypal, Mimosa, AppDynamics, Meraki, and Pinterest. As founding stake holders in Google, Asha & her late husband Prof Rajeev Motwani played a critical role in building & crafting the DNA of Google the startup. Asha continues to work closely with Google Ventures and Google Foundation on various joint investments.

As an active philanthropist, Asha helped create MakerFaire Africa in 2009 and later launched dozens of MakerFests in India with the objective of showcasing alternative means of learning and earning through local problem solving. Asha set up India’s most advanced Fablab at Cept University (her Alma mater), and placed key engineers and architects from MIT and CEPT in it, to integrate Fablab into course curriculum.  The results have been spectacular.

Her long term vision is to A. create opportunities for students of all ages to pursue self driven peer based learning in small groups, as opposed to institutionalized learning in mediocre schools and colleges. B. Empower women and girls with technical skills and C. Enable a deep scrutiny & scholarship about India as a civilization through the lenses of history, culture & art. Currently she is supporting 12 Indian history scholars full time as they embark on their research & writing journeys.

Arzan Tarapore is a research scholar at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) at Stanford University, and a non-resident senior fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.Prior to his scholarly career, he served for 13 years in the Australian Defence Department in various analytic, management, and liaison positions, including operational deployments and a diplomatic posting to the Australian Embassy in Washington, DC.

His academic work has been published in the Journal of Strategic Studies, International Affairs, The Washington Quarterly, Asia Policy, and Joint Force Quarterly, among others, and his policy commentary frequently appears on platforms such as Foreign Affairs, the Hindu, the Indian Express, The National Interest, the Lowy Institute's Interpreter, the Brookings Institution’s Lawfare, and War on the Rocks.

Tarapore joined Stanford University in September 2020. Prior to joining CISAC, he led the South Asia Initiative at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at Stanford. He previously held research positions at Georgetown University, the East-West Center in Washington, the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, and the RAND Corporation. He earned a PhD in war studies from King's College London, an MSc from the London School of Economics, and a BA (Hons) from the University of New South Wales.