Kautilya Economic Conclave

The Kautilya Economic Conclave, held in New Delhi, India, was a prestigious policy-focused conference that brought together prominent researchers of the Indian economy and regional trade. The event was sponsored and organised by the Indian Ministry of Finance and the public policy think tank NITI Aayog.

The conference served as a unique platform for leaders from the region to engage in debates on the future direction of India’s development. Distinguished delegates included Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Tharman Shanmugaratnam (Senior Minister and Chairman, Group of Thirty, Government of Singapore), Mathias Cormann (Secretary General of the OECD), Suman Bery (recently-appointed Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog and international advisor to EABER), Shaktikanta Das (Governor, Reserve Bank of India), and T. V. Somanathan (Finance Secretary, Ministry of Finance), among others.

During the conclave, Professor Drysdale presented a paper focusing on the potential of export-led growth in India, drawing lessons from the success stories of East Asian economies. He also contributed to discussions on the future of the welfare state in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The conclave provided an invaluable platform for knowledge exchange and policy discourse among influential stakeholders in India’s economic development.