India Forum

With a population larger than one billion, an economy - in purchasing power parity terms - the fourth largest in the world, an improved trend growth rate performance in recent years, a flourishing democracy with a free press, potential as an emerging super power in information based industries as well as its strategic location, India stands apart from most developing countries. Although India faces many problems, its potential in the region (if not globally), particularly in view of various recent policy initiatives, is immense. India's varied cultural, religious and linguistic mosaic has attracted the attention of scholars for a considerable time, has thrown up several interesting questions and opened up scope for rethinking. In the past decade India has provided leadership addressing the challenges posed by cultural and technological globalisation, attracting renewed research interest across the world. The India Forum at the Australian National University (ANU) proposes to sharpen scholarly attention in Australia on to India and facilitate the creation of a critical mass of expertise in Indian studies.

For more detail, see the Forum's Background and Tentative Charter