On 31st October, 2019, the Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social Sciences, organized a one-day workshop on “Mapping Indian Ocean Studies: Emerging Research Agenda.” This was the inaugural workshop of the “Maritime South Asia & the Indian Ocean” research workshop series. The series seeks to realize SAU’s endeavour to develop a “regional consciousness” that facilitates knowledge production of “Knowledge without Borders.” Specifically, the workshop series aims to spur the designing of interdisciplinary courses on maritime challenges facing South Asia, identifying innovative research areas, and brainstorming innovative themes for annual international conferences to be held in partnership with other institutions in the region. The 31st October workshop sought to take stock of the existing scholarship on Maritime South Asia and the Indian Ocean and identifying potential thrust areas for research and collaboration.
Dr. Kavita Sharma, the-then President of SAU delivered the Welcome Address, with Opening Remarks made by the-then Vice President of SAU, Prof. Santosh Panda. Professor Sanjay Chaturvedi, the Convenor of the workshop and the Series, provided an Introduction to the Workshop. The Opening Keynote panel saw impressive interventions on the subject by eminent thinkers like Ambassador Yogendra Kumar, Dr. Vijay Sakhuja, and Prof. P.V. Rao. The first session speakers – Prof. Subramanyam Raju, Dr. Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury, and Ms. Ruchita Beri – discussed human security, maritime order and connectivity in the Indian Ocean, and India and the Western Ocean, respectively. This was followed by a Keynote Address by Prof. S. K. Mohanty on the Blue Economy. The second session involved a panel discussion on International Economic Law and the Blue Economy convened by Dr. Prabhash Ranjan of the Faculty of Legal Studies, SAU. Mr. Amit Sinha from Delhi University and Ms. Pallavi Arora from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade were the other speakers, in addition to Dr. Ranjan. The last session was a roundtable consisting of all the faculty members of the Department of International Relations, SAU. It reflected on the future research agenda on Maritime South Asia.