Audi 1 – Session 2 : 11.45 am
Vikram Sood and Prashanth Vaidyaraj
The second session of the first day was titled Art and Craft of Building and Dismantling Narratives, and was delivered by panelist Vikram Sood, Former R&AW agent, and was moderated by Prashanth Vaidyaraj.
Mr Vikram Sood said that for the past 200 years the West ruled the world unopposed, and that there was no limit to the instruments used for narrative building, like tv, radio etcetera.
He said that the Viceory’s house, now Rashtrapati Bhavan, was symbol of power with tall Indian soldiers placed outside and we accepted it. He said that our peaceful stance after independence was good for diplomacy but not for statecraft. We need to learn this tactic too, he said.
He told that the youth of this generation in our nation are confident. The youth which goes to America now is different, one that contributes to their growth, compared to the old times when Indians who went there didn’t go with any skill or anything to provide. He said governments cannot provide jobs, they can only provide conditions for jobs; but only private sector can provide, and the government should not be in that business as well.
After this, there was a Q and A discussion between the panelist and moderator, after which it moved to the audience.