Asia Centre’s Dr. Robin Ramcharan carried forward the Centre’s ongoing global exploration for collaborations and partnerships, this time in Canada, during the months of July and August 2022. This follows similar outreach undertaken over the past five years in Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, France, India, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United States and New Zealand. In the course of his outreach, as Canada considers the development of a foreign policy strategy for the Indo-Pacific area, he spoke at the Royal Military College of Canada on regional governance matters in Asia, at the invitation of Associate Professor Ali Dizboni.
Intimately involved in the discussion on Canada’s foreign relations in the Indo-Pacific is the Macdonald Laurier Institute (MLI), one of Canada’s premier think tanks. He discussed future collaboration between MLI and the Centre with Jonathan Berkshire Miller, Director of the Indo-Pacific Program and Senior Fellow at MLI.
He also met with and apprised Charles Burton, Senior Fellow at MLI and Canada’s premier expert on their relations with China, regarding the progress of Asia Centre as it forged its reputation as a regional research hub over the past eight years.
The Centre’s outreach included discussions with Prof. Sorpong Peou of the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson) in Toronto who served previously on the Advisory Board of Asia Centre.
Discussions over potential collaboration were also held with Professor John Packer, Professor of International Conflict Resolution and Director of the Human Rights Research and Education Centre at the University of Ottawa.
Complementarities between the Centre and the Department of Political Science of the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM) were also explored with Dr. Chalmers Larose, Senior Lecturer at UQAM.
Dr. Ramcharan reconnected with the University of Toronto, where he has taught in the past, to explore collaboration. The university hosts many initiatives on Asia affairs.
The Centre looks forward to contributing to Canada’s exploration of its role in Southeast Asia and the wider region. Canada can and must play a strong role in Asia, where it has vital interests. Civil society in the region also looks to Canada to augment its presence in support of a strong and vibrant civic space. Towards this end, Asia Centre has engaged with the Canadian embassy in Bangkok in the course of its work.
With this aim in mind, the Centre will look to cement these relationships through joint research projects, workshops and events in Canada and in Southeast Asia.
