New Delhi: 1. The 2017 edition of the annual Dilli seminar on ‘India and Southeast Asia – Maritime Trade, Expedition and Civilisation Linkages’ commenced this morning at the Indian Naval Academy (INA). Vice Admiral Anup Singh, PVSM, AVSM, NM (Retd), Advisor Naval History Project to Integrated Headquarter Ministry of Defence (Navy) and former Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command delivered the keynote address in the inaugural session. The two day seminar is being attended by a large delegation of serving senior Naval and Coast Guard officers, eminent academicians, distinguished luminaries, representatives from Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and cadets of INA.
2. The seminar proceedings commenced with an introductory movie on the theme of the seminar followed by an opening address by Vice Admiral SV Bhokare, AVSM, YSM, NM, Commandant, INA. Vice Admiral Anup Singh (Retd) in his inaugural session deliberated that the peninsular geography of our country facilitated links of commerce, culture, and comity with our extended neighbourhood. Prof (Dr) Ruby Maloni, Head of History Department, University of Mumbai, deliberated on how Gujarati mercantile and maritime activity played a significant role in the formation of intricate patterns of trade practices, traditions and routes operating in the Indian Ocean in her paper ‘Maritime Commercial Connections between Gujrat and Southeast Asia in the early modern period’.
3. The cadets and distinguished audience present during the seminar were visibly influenced by the papers that were presented during the first day. The five papers that were presented on the inaugural day largely elucidated and provided a detailed insight on the impact of historic maritime trade that existed between India and Southeast Asian countries on their society, religion, spirituality, art, architecture, language, literature, administration and other areas of civilization.
4. On the concluding day of the two day seminar tomorrow, Friday, 13 October 2017, Prof Ajay Pratap Singh, Head of Department, History and Faculty of Social Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, would deliberate on the ‘Economic background to India’s early maritime trade, Mr Kailash Negi, Deputy Inspector General, Indian Coast Guard will deliver a paper on the topic ‘Look East to Act East policy of India – Vision and Prospectus’ and a syndicate of cadets of INA would present a paper on ‘The Chola Naval Fleet – Shipbuilding, Navigation and Maritime Campaigns’
5. The Dilli seminar 2017 edition, continues to serve its purpose of apprising the Indian Naval Academy cadets about the rich maritime history and heritage of the nation and promises to remain prominent in the calendar of maritime history studies / seminars of the country.
