12 Years of Intellectual Rigour and Actionable Ideas
On the occasion of our 12th anniversary on behalf team C3S, it is a great pleasure to extend our greetings to all of you who have been with us on this journey. Coming close on the heels of the 70th anniversary of India China Diplomatic relations, on this occasion, I would like to thank you for your constant support encouragement and guidance which has made our journey a challenging and rewarding one. With another year gone by, it is gratifying to note that we have scaled new heights not just in 2019-2020 but have been steadily adding to our worth as a think tank of repute since we started our journey on 04 April 2008. While making a mark amongst the global think tanks and retaining top rankings for three successive years is a phenomenal envious record, there is no way we would have reached there without all the support of our members, research team, the young minds and of course our readers.
New Initiatives: Strengthening Policy Research
We have added many new initiatives that have helped us to understand the complex nuances of India-China relations in the backdrop of the dynamic happenings in an ever-changing world. The process of keeping the stakeholders informed has been ensured by the conduct of regular lectures, roundtable discussions, seminars, conferences and youth programmes. These along with other initiatives have helped us to remain focused and updated on contours of changes in areas of interest.
To know a country learn the language
We started the Mandarin classes last year and three students have successfully passed the HSK exam with distinction and we are about to launch the next classes this month. The lockdown has provided us with an opportunity to embrace the digital world and use it proactively, to achieve our objectives. Am also to happy to inform you that amongst the think tanks assessed, C3S was the only think tank in India that was graded for digital social outreach. We started the Mandarin Classes last year and 3 of them have successfully cleared their Level I of Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK)/Chinese Proficiency Test with flying colours.
Engaging the Young Minds
Engaging the youth has been a priority area and this has been achieved by the Young Minds of C3S- a youth forum in which we have over 260 young bright minds engaged in a virtual platform. Many of the young members have gone through C3S’ successful Internship Programme aimed at mentoring the youth and honing their skills in research and analysis. Since the commencement of the internship programme in 2015, over 75 interns from India and abroad have benefited from the exposure to the rigours of intense study and research. It is again a matter of pride that, those who have done their internship under the umbrella of C3S have excelled in their future chosen areas of study or career. The fact that many of the interns and research officers have been selected for the Ph.D. programme and higher study abroad is a testimony to the success of the programme in C3S.
Publications
C3S has made it a point to publish peer-reviewed articles on our website ensuring high quality. We have also published books, monographs and occasional papers last year and they have been well received.
C3S would like to acknowledge the support by MEA and also the liberal contribution by the members both monetarily and intellectually to keep up the tempo of the only South-based think tank specializing in China Studies. By and large, C3S has achieved “Much more with much less”. This has been possible entirely because of the voluntary support by the members to whom we are indebted and the wholehearted support by a dedicated team of young researchers who have put in their best efforts to serve our mission and vision. This has also been complemented by C3S reaching out to other institutions and colleges to conduct joint programmes with the objective of reaching out to the youth who look for quality inputs on China-related issues.
MoU and Event Partners
The list includes ICWA, SICCI, NMF, Madras University, Center for Soft Power, MCC and others. We also signed an MOU with ICWA and are hopeful of joining hands in our future endeavours. We would like to thank all these institutions for partnering with us to reach out to the generation next of not just India but the rest of the world.
The newsletters and other regular updates through our websites are being received by a large number of readers and the feedback has been very good. This has encouraged us to add many more features to our website. The new addition of Issue Briefs and China Watch have brought a new dimension to the knowledge base The social media is being well utilized to remain focused and relevant as we reach out to the netizens interested in bilateral and multilateral dimensions of India-China relations. We continue to be interested in the feedback on our work to ensure that we are able to meet the expectations of our readers whose numbers are growing.
Think Tanks and Civil Societies Programme (TTCSP) Rankings 2019
The fact that C3S was ranked 29th best think tank in 2019 amongst 98 think tanks considered from Japan, South Korea, China and India in a Think Tank survey conducted by Think Tanks and Civil Societies Programme (TTCSP), University of Pennsylvania, is very encouraging to those involved with the activities of C3S. In the same year, C3S was also ranked 47th independent global think tank amongst 144 Independent think tanks around the world. This is definitely the recognition of the outstanding work being done by the think tank with limited staff and budget. Of the six categories in which C3S figured it is the only think tank to find a mention in the use of Social media and outreach. It is also the only think tank that finds a mention in the think tanks that are operating with a budget of less than 5 million USD. Amongst the think tanks in India which were graded in 2019 in 3 categories, C3S has stood first way ahead of many big think tanks with bigger budget and manpower resources.
Driven by Youth Power
The young researchers and interns with us now are doing a splendid job and are leaving no stone unturned to keep our flag flying high. It is this young brigade that has worked hard to ensure that there we do not compromise on our goals set and ensure the highest standards in achieving our objectives.
Remembering the Founders of C3S
It is also a day to fondly remember our founding members who are no more with us. Our salutations to stalwarts Sri B Raman, the chief architect of C3S, Mr R Swaminathan, Mr PNG Subramaniyan and the one and only Mr DS Rajan from whom I took over nearly six years ago.
Our Patron needs special mention. He defies age and immediately responds to any request. He is almost the first one to respond to any effort by the youngsters. On his own, he has batted for C3S while dealing with the concerned ministry. We are most grateful for his constant support and encouragement. The young minds look up to our Patron as a role model and by interacting him have gained in an immeasurable manner. I am personally indebted to him for holding our hands and guiding us whenever needed.
All this would not have been possible but for the support of the readers and the regular feedback which makes us strive for excellence. We are committed to maintaining the highest standards to contribute to the process of promoting India China relations.
All of us in C3S and the Young minds look at this day as an occasion to rededicate ourselves to the vision and mission of C3S and am hopeful that we will continue to get the support of our readers by way of feedback and suggestions to ensure that we continue to provide high-quality inputs and analysis based on our charter.
Jai Hind. Commodore R. S. Vasan IN (Retd.) Director and Team C3S
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