Ravi Shankar Prasad to address Harvard India meet

Washington, Jan 30: Eminent Indians, including Union Minister for Communication and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad, movie superstar Kamal Hasan, Congress leader Sashi Tharoor and film director Karan Johar, will be addressing the 13th edition of annual India conference at the prestigious Harvard University.

The theme of this year's conference scheduled to be held on February 6 and 7 is "India in Transition: Opportunities and Challenges." The conference will bring together business leaders, entertainment professionals, government officials, philanthropists, and many other leaders to engage in a conversation about India's path to global leadership, a media statement said.

Prasad would deliver a key note address during a panel discussion on changes in Indian politics in the past two years. Other panelists, include columnist Ashutosh Varshney, Biju Janata Dal party member Jay Panda and Lok Satta Party founder Jayaprakash Narayan.

The former Indian Ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao would deliver a key note address on foreign policy. "The panel will examine the foreign policy achievements of India in the last two years, its key blind spots and will discuss an effective strategy that can not only initiate but also sustain the initial momentum that India seemed to have originally achieved," the organisers of the event said. Participants of the conference would also discuss other key issues like net neutrality, access to justice and women empowerment.

Hasan would address the conference on "Freedom of Speech" while Johar would keynote on "The Hashtag Democracy." While Chandra Kochhar of ICICI Bank, would deliver keynote address on "India's New Growth Paradigm", fashion designer Anita Dongre will share her journey of taking Indian crafts to global consumers. Tharoor would address the event on "the soft power of India."

PTI