About JAIR

The JADAVPUR ASSOCIATION OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (JAIR)

About the Jadavpur Association of International Relations (JAIR)
The Jadavpur Association of International Relations (JAIR) occupies a unique and pioneering position in India’s foreign policy ecosystem. It is widely recognised as India’s first dedicated association of International Relations scholars and practitioners, created explicitly to bridge the longstanding gap between academic scholarship and diplomatic practice. Unlike conventional think tanks or university-bound academic bodies, JAIR was conceived as a national civil society platform, integrating universities, policymakers, diplomats, security professionals, and regional stakeholders into a sustained and structured dialogue on India’s external relations. Historical Origins and Foundational Vision JAIR was conceptualised in 2007 and formally launched on 28 February 2008, during the tenure of Pranab Mukherjee as India’s External Affairs Minister. Its formation coincided with a critical phase in India’s diplomatic evolution, when foreign policy discourse was expanding beyond elite bureaucratic circles to incorporate regional connectivity, economic diplomacy, civil society engagement, and public opinion.
The founding vision of JAIR was clear, deliberate, and unprecedented in the Indian context:

• To establish an association—not a closed think tank—open equally to scholars and practitioners

• To ensure regional diversity in foreign policy discourse, with particular emphasis on Eastern and North-Eastern India

• To institutionalise Track-II and Track-III diplomacy through sustained academic and policy engagement This vision sharply distinguished JAIR from institutions that were largely Delhi-centric or primarily driven by policy insiders.

Foundation Day and Formal Launch

JAIR’s first Foundation Day was observed on 20 July 2008, marking the commencement of its public institutional life. The Foundation Day event was launched by Prasad Ranjan, IAS, Principal Secretary, the then Department of Higher Education, Government of West Bengal, highlighting the Association’s strong grounding in the higher-education ecosystem of Eastern India.
The Jadavpur Association of International Relations was formally launched by Amit Dasgupta, then Joint Secretary, Public Diplomacy Division, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, underscoring JAIR’s early alignment with India’s emerging public diplomacy and Track-II engagement priorities.

Membership and Pan-India Network

JAIR today has more than 2,000 members across India, making it one of the largest and most representative associations in the field of International Relations in the country. A defining feature of the Association is the active participation of young researchers, early-career scholars, and doctoral students, who constitute a dynamic and intellectually vibrant segment of its membership. While JAIR maintains a pan-India footprint, it is consciously anchored in Eastern India and the North-Eastern region—areas historically under-represented in mainstream foreign policy debates. JAIR recognised early that:

• The North-East is India’s geopolitical gateway to South-East Asia, BIMSTEC, and the Indo-Pacific.

• Borderland perspectives are essential for understanding connectivity, migration, security, and neighbourhood diplomacy.

• Foreign policy cannot remain detached from regional political economy and societal realities .
As a result, a substantial proportion of International Relations scholars from universities and colleges across the North-East are active members of JAIR, making it one of the most regionally inclusive IR associations in India.

Institutional Collaborations and Policy Engagement
Since its inception, JAIR has worked closely with India’s core foreign policy and research institutions, including the Ministry of External Affairs (particularly the Public Diplomacy and Policy Planning Divisions), the Indian Council of World Affairs, the Indian Council of Social Science Research, the Observer Research Foundation, and the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies. Through conferences, lecture series, policy dialogues, and regional consultations, JAIR has functioned as a trusted interlocutor between academia and the state, without becoming an extension of government. This autonomy-with-access model remains one of its principal institutional strengths.

Academic Publishing and Knowledge Production

JAIR contributes to scholarly and policy debates through its academic publication, the Journal of International Relations (JIR), a peer-reviewed journal with an ISSN number. The journal provides a platform for rigorous research on international politics, regional studies, security, diplomacy, and global governance, and reflects JAIR’s commitment to sustained institutional memory and academic credibility.

Why JAIR Is Different

JAIR differs fundamentally from other academic associations and think tanks in several respects:
• Scholar–Practitioner Integration: Diplomats, governors, ministers, security officials, and scholars share the same platforms, encouraging reciprocal learning rather than hierarchical dissemination.
• Decentralised Foreign Policy Discourse: JAIR deliberately foregrounds regional voices, particularly from Eastern and North-Eastern India, thereby democratising foreign policy conversations.

• Civil Society Orientation: JAIR treats foreign policy as a public good, actively engaging students, teachers, journalists, and civil society actors.

• Track-II and Track-III Diplomacy: By engaging neighbouring countries, parliamentarians, and foreign missions through academic forums, JAIR institutionalised informal diplomacy well before it became mainstream.

• Sustained Institutional Memory: Operating continuously since 2008, JAIR has built a long-term archive of debates on India’s neighbourhood, Act East Policy, regionalism, terrorism, and connectivity.

Contemporary Relevance

In the 21st century—marked by multipolarity, Indo-Pacific competition, borderland insecurities, transnational challenges, and the rise of public diplomacy and digital narratives— JAIR’s role has become increasingly critical. It represents a non-state yet nationally embedded platform that translates policy into public understanding, brings regional insights into national strategy, trains future diplomats and policy professionals, and strengthens the democratic legitimacy of Indian foreign policy making. Its emphasis on Eastern India, the North-East, and neighbourhood diplomacy aligns closely with India’s Act East Policy, Neighbourhood First approach, and Global South outreach. The Jadavpur Association of International Relations is not merely an academic association; it is a civil society institution of sustained foreign policy relevance. By combining national reach with regional grounding, senior expertise with youth participation, and scholarship with practice, JAIR has established a model of inclusive, intellectually rigorous, and socially embedded engagement. In an increasingly complex international environment, this model remains both innovative and indispensable, positioning JAIR as one of the few institutions in India capable of credibly shaping informed and democratic foreign policy discourse.

Vision

To become a leading centre of academic excellence and informed dialogue in International Relations, advancing innovative and inclusive scholarship and contributing to a peaceful, just, sustainable, and cooperative global order.

Mission

The mission of JAIR is to:
*Promote high-quality teaching, research, and public awareness in International Relations and related fields.
Provide an inclusive platform for dialogue among scholars, students, diplomats, policymakers, professionals, and civil society.
*Encourage interdisciplinary and policy-oriented research on contemporary regional and global challenges. Bridge the gap between academic knowledge and the practice of diplomacy, governance, strategic affairs, and public policy. *Support young scholars through lectures, workshops, conferences, publications, mentoring, and research opportunities. Develop institutional partnerships with universities, research bodies, diplomatic missions, government agencies, and international organisations.
*Promote India’s intellectual and policy contributions to global debates, with particular attention to South Asia and the Global South. Uphold academic integrity, intellectual diversity, mutual respect, and peaceful international cooperation.

Narrative Summary of JAIR–MEA Engagement

The Jadavpur Association of International Relations (JAIR), has maintained a sustained and substantive engagement with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Government of India, particularly through the Public Diplomacy Division and the Policy Planning & Research (PP&R) Division. This engagement reflects a long-term commitment to advancing informed discourse on India’s foreign policy, regional diplomacy, and emerging international challenges through academically grounded yet policy-relevant forums. Beginning in the late 2000s, JAIR emerged as an important convenor of dialogues between scholars, diplomats, policymakers, and international delegations. Early initiatives included high-level interactions such as the 2008 engagement with South African Members of Parliament in Kolkata, organised in collaboration with the Public Diplomacy Division of the MEA, and national-level seminars addressing security concerns, including the 2009 National Seminar on the Challenge of Terrorism. These events foregrounded JAIR’s role in bridging academic analysis with practitioner perspectives on foreign policy and security. A major thematic focus of JAIR–MEA collaboration has been India’s engagement with its eastern neighbourhood and the strategic significance of the North-East region. Conferences such as From Landlocked to Land-Linked: North-East India and BIMSTEC (Shillong, 2010) and North-East in India’s Look-East Policy: Issues and Opportunities (IIT Guwahati, 2014) brought together senior diplomats, state leadership, and scholars to examine connectivity, regional integration, and sub-regional cooperation. The presence of Governors and senior MEA officials at these events underscored their policy relevance. JAIR also played a pivotal role in facilitating regionally anchored international conferences that addressed India’s bilateral and multilateral relationships. The 2012 International Conference on India and the Neighbours, co-hosted with Manipur University, featured participation by the Foreign Secretary of India and senior officials from Myanmar, reflecting JAIR’s capacity to convene cross-border diplomatic dialogue within an academic setting. Similarly, the 2017 National Conference on 70 Years of India’s Foreign Policy and the 2020 conference marking 50 Years of India–Bangladesh Relations demonstrated JAIR/JIRE’s continued engagement with milestone moments in India’s diplomatic history, with the presence of Ministers of State and Governors further reinforcing institutional credibility. Complementing these conferences, JAIR has regularly supported distinguished lecture programmes aligned with the objectives of the PP&R and Public Diplomacy Divisions of the MEA, thereby contributing to sustained policy outreach, strategic reflection, and public engagement. Collectively, these initiatives position JAIR as a significant academic partner in India’s foreign policy ecosystem—one that integrates scholarly rigor with policy dialogue, regional outreach, and diplomatic engagement."