Webinar on ‘Indo-Pacific Future Forum 2024'

A two-day Webinar organized by the Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement (NIICE) on the theme of ‘Indo-Pacific Future Forum’ was held on 15th and 16th December 2024. The Webinar saw nineteen different sessions being conducted, with the active participation of a 130 number of academics and scholars as chairs and guest speakers and 10 reputed partners including Institute of National Security - Sri Lanka.

Colonel Nalin Herath RSP Overlooking Director General and Acting Director (Research) - Institute of National Security Studies Chaired the 7th Session of the event conducted under the theme ‘Non-Traditional Security Threats in the Indo-Pacific’. Further, Prof. Brendan M Howe, Dean, Graduate School of International Studies, Ewha Woman’s University, South Korea, Second-tier Actor Leadership and New Cooperative Models in NTS Promotion, Dr. Pavithra Jayawardena, Senior Lecturer, Department of International Relations, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Mr John J Vachaparambil, Associate Fellow, National Maritime Foundation, India, Ms. Harriet Njoki Mboce, HSC, Advocate, Faculty of Law, University of Nairobi, Kenya and Dr. Chime Youdon, Associate Fellow, National Maritime Foundation, India contributed as guest speakers.

The 7th session drew insights into different subject areas of Non-Traditional security threats with the panel of participants delving deep into thematic discussions on following topics,

    1. Climate Change and Environmental Degradation.
    2. Cybersecurity Threats.
    3. Maritime Security Challenges.
    4. Pandemics and Public Health Threats.
    5. Terrorism and Extremism.
    6. Human Trafficking and Transnational Crime.
    7. Food and Water Security.
    8. Geopolitical Instability and Great Power Competition.
    9. Migration and Refugee Crises.
    10. Non-State Actors and Hybrid Warfare.
    11. Economic Vulnerabilities.

This session also included a Q & A session where the participants from diverse backgrounds raised a number of interesting and thought provoking questions.