chandigarh the department of the defence and national security studies panjab university organized two special lectures prof jeff schubert from the higher school of economics moscow spoke on the theme of china in south asia emerging scenarios which was chaired by professor rakesh dattaprof jeff spoke about the need for india to engage and develop friendly ties with china and how indias alignment with the united states against china and its involvement in the south china sea dispute is not a better strategic choice for india he also stressed that india is a natural aircraft carrier in the indian ocean region due to its strategic location jeff argued that there is a lot of potential for india to leverage its strategic location vis vis other regional and extraregional statevice admiral sandeep beecha commandant of the naval war college spoke on relevance of the indian navy in indias rise based on the premises of indias national interest and threat perceptions in his address he spoke about the role indian navy plays in wartime as well as how it also contributes by various actions in creating a safe and secure environment for indias overall growth he highlighted the modernization plans of the indian navy and its involvement in the antipiracy operations in gulf of aden he also spoke about the increased interaction of various navies of the world with the indian navy in the form of joint exercises and training with foreign navy personnel at indian naval training establishmentsthe chairperson of the department dr jaskaran singh waraich welcomed the dignitaries and guests and introduced the speaker as well as the theme of the lecture to the audience both the lectures were followed an interactive session