31st IMF Anniversary & Inaugural Cmde Rajan Vir Memorial Lecture
The 31st Anniversary of the founding of the Indian Maritime Foundation was held on 7th December 2024 at Central Park Hotel, Pune. On this occasion, IMF also launched the ‘Commodore Rajan Vir Memorial Lecture’ series in honour of our late Founder-President, who sadly departed for his heavenly abode on 20 July this year. This lecture series will be conducted as a regular feature of IMF anniversaries henceforth.
Vice Admiral Pradeep Chauhan, AVSM & Bar, VSM (Retd), Director General – National Maritime Foundation, New Delhi, was the Chief Guest on the occasion and delivered the Inaugural Cmde Rajan Vir Memorial Lecture on the topic “Countering China’s Influence Operations”.
The Memorial Lecture opened with lighting of the traditional lamp by the Chief Guest, along with Mrs Nisha Chauhan, Capt Anand Dixit, President, Capt Ravindra Hajarnavis, Sr Vice President and Capt Ajay Chitnis SC, NM (Retd), Vice President of IMF. This was followed by the Welcome Address by Capt Dixit and then the Memorial Lecture itself.
A renowned speaker, VAdm Chauhan described the breadth and scope of China’s influence operations being undertaken across the world, using the DIME (Diplomacy, Information, Military, and Economics) concept, which he highlighted was not a Western paradigm as commonly (and mistakenly) assumed, but also used by ancient Indian rulers like the Mauryas during the conquest and expansion of their empires. He then went on to explain how these operations were used to shape narratives by China and offered some political and strategy options available to India to counter these influence operations. The speaker, in his inimitable style, kept the audience engrossed and absorbed throughout his talk, which was interspersed with anecdotes as well as asides on the lighter side.
The talk was followed by the presentation of the biography of Cmde Vir (written by Mr Vikram Nabar) to the Chief Guest and a bouquet to Mrs Nisha Chauhan. VAdm Chauhan also presented a memento to the IMF on behalf of the NMF.
On the occasion, Capt Ravindra Hajarnavis was presented a special Lifetime Achievement award for his exemplary and invaluable contribution to the Foundation in promoting its organisational goals.
Capt Ajay Chitnis, who was the MC for the Lecture, also delivered the Vote of Thanks.
The Lecture was followed by cocktails and dinner, which included the traditional IMF Anniversary Cake cutting ceremony.
The Lecture saw a full house attendance, with several senior dignitaries in the audience, including Ambassador MK Mangalmurti, President CASS, VAdm Jaywant Korde (Retd), President Navy Foundation Pune Chapter, VAdm AV Subhedar (Retd), former Chief of Materiel, IN, Capt SS Naphade, former Nautical Advisor to the Govt of India and Capt. Gajanan Karanjikar, Founder President- All India Marine Pilots Association amongst others. Mrs Naina Delvis, daughter of the late Cmde Vir also graced the occasion. A large number of young Sea Scouts and Guides also attended the function and presented a Guard of Honour to the Chief Guest on his arrival.
