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Indo-Pacific

High-Level Forum

The 2024 Indo-Pacific High-Level Forum is an international conference that brings together policymakers and experts from countries within and outside the Indo-Pacific region to discuss key challenges and new opportunities facing the region.

Co-hosted by the Government of the Republic of Korea and Government of Australia, this forum will be held for the first time in December 2024 in Seoul. The forum will focus particularly on the maritime order and climate change as participants discuss building a more resilient and cooperative future in the Indo-Pacific region.

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OVERVIEW

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Indo-Pacific

High-Level Forum

Theme
Challenges and Opportunities in the Indo-Pacific :

Building a Resilient and Cooperative Future
Date
December 13 (Fri), 2024
Location
Grand Ballroom, Four Seasons Seoul
Hosted by
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ROK

- Australian Government, Australia
Program
- Opening Ceremony

- Session 1 : Rules-based Maritime Order of the Indo-Pacific

- Session 2 : Climate Change and Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific

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Gordon Flake

Perth USAsia Centre

Professor Gordon Flake is the founding Chief Executive Officer of the Perth USAsia Centre at The University of Western Australia. Professor Flake is one of the world’s leading authorities on strategic developments in the Indo-Pacific. Having spent twenty-five years in the US foreign policy community focused on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia and now nine years in Australia’s Indian Ocean capital he is an expert on key strategic relationships in the broader Indo-Pacific. He has authored many scholarly and policy studies on security developments in the region, and their policy implications for the US and its regional partners.

Since establishing the Centre in 2014, Professor Flake has worked to build stronger international relationships between Australia, the US and the broader Indo-Pacific. He has led the growth of several major international conferences in Australia and the region; and established a range of high-level diplomatic and policy dialogues on issues of shared concern for the Indo-Pacific. Professor Flake is a sought-after media commentator, particularly on strategic developments in the Indo-Pacific and change order issues to do with US politics and foreign policy. His work has appeared in many leading international outlets, including the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, as well as across the Australian media landscape.

Professor Flake holds a number of strategic leadership roles. He is a Governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia (AmCham) and serves on the board of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is a member of the Australian “Friends of Vietnam” group and a member of the international advisory board of the David M. Kennedy Centre at Brigham Young University.

Prior to joining the Centre, he was the Executive Director of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation, an Associate Director of the Program on Conflict Resolution at The Atlantic Council of the United States, and Director for Research and Academic Affairs at the Korea Economic Institute of America.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Korean) and Master of Arts (International and Area Studies) from Brigham Young University. He speaks both fluent Korean and Laotian.

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Anil Kumar Chawla

Council for Strategic and Defense Research

Vice Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla joined the National Defence Academy in Jan 1978 and was commissioned in the Indian Navy on 01 Jan 1982. On completion of his midshipman training he was awarded the `Sword of Honour’ for being the outstanding midshipman of his course. Over the course of his distinguished career, he has commanded five warships, including the aircraft carrier, INS Viraat and the Indian Navy’s Western Fleet. His prominent ashore appointments include: Defence Attaché in the Embassy of India, Jakarta; Senior Instructor (Navy) at the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington; Naval Assistant to CNS; Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Foreign Cooperation & Intelligence); Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Policy & Plans); Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet; Director General Naval Operations; Chief of Personnel (Human Resources); and the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Navy’s Southern Command, from where he superannuated on 30 November 2021, after four decades of distinguished service to his country. Vice Admiral Chawla attended the Royal Naval Staff Course at Greenwich, London, in 1995 where he was awarded the Pelican Prize for being the most outstanding student and also completed his MA in Defence Studies from King’s College. During his tenure in Jakarta, he authored a paper on the ‘East Timor Crisis – Opportunities for India’ and also catalyzed the signing of the India-Indonesia Defence Agreement in Feb 2001. He attended the Naval Higher Command Course in 2003 where he was awarded the inaugural CNS Gold Medal for his dissertation on the ‘Navy’s Role in Foreign Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Region’, based on which a dedicated Foreign Cooperation organization was instituted in Naval HQs. He was the coordinating author of ‘Freedom to Use the Seas – India’s Maritime Military Strategy’ in 2006, which was revised and re-issued under his guidance in 2016 as ‘Supremacy at Sea for Influence on Land – India’s Maritime Security Strategy’. He attended the 48th National Defence College course in 2008 and was awarded a book prize for his dissertation on ‘India’s Maritime Strategy 2025’. He completed his PhD on ‘The Role of Maritime Power in China’s Grand Strategy’ from Bombay University in 2022. He has also carried out a number of Joint studies and authored several significant reports for the Indian Armed Forces. He has participated in Op Pawan in Sri Lanka in 1989 while on board INS Arnala and was commended for gallantry. He was awarded the Nausena Medal in 2003 while in command of INS Kora during Operation Parakram. He was conferred the Vishisht Seva Medal on 26 Jan 13 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal on 26 Jan 2015 for distinguished service. He was conferred with the honorary title of Aide-De-Camp to President of India in 01 Dec 2019. He was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service of the highest order on 26 Jan 2020. A keen environmentalist, he was awarded the Golden Peacock Environment Management Award for 2020. An active contributor to various defence journals, he is currently an Eminent Resource Faculty for the Rashtriya Raksha University and a Council Member of the United Services Institute, besides being on the board of several other think tanks. He is also involved in various social and environmental initiatives. A prolific writer and speaker, he has penned several articles related to defence strategy, maritime and procurement issues in various national and international journals and speaks regularly at webinars and seminars related to maritime issues. His book titled “Maritime Power in China’s Grand Strategy” is under publication by Routledge Publishers.