The rise of India has been a major preoccupation for the Lowy Institute ever since the think tank was set up in 2003. The Institute’s first major research paper anticipated India as the world’s ‘next economic giant’. Subsequent Lowy publications and events have been at the leading edge of thinking about Australia-India relations, India-China relations, India as an Indo-Pacific maritime power, nuclear issues, Indian students in Australia, and the role of civil society, media and business in shaping Indian foreign policy.

 The Institute convenes the Australia-India Roundtable – the premier unofficial dialogue between the two countries – with the Public Diplomacy Division of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and with the support of the Australia-India Council. The Institute also hosts a quarterly India Forum and an annual India Strategic Lecture, and is a recognised centre for informed analysis and policy advice on engaging with a rising India.

In 2012, a priority for the Institute’s work on India will be the first Lowy India opinion poll, conducted in partnership with the Australia-India Institute. This poll will look at Indian attitudes to regional security issues and to Australia. This year the Institute will also continue the India-China Workshop series of meetings that it began in late 2011, with partner institutions in India, China, Singapore and Australia. Additionally, the Institute will continue to deepen the Australia-India Roundtable process, the next round of which will be held in New Delhi.