Sri Saurav Sarmah

Sri Saurav Sarmah is an Assistant Professor in the School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Chanakya University, Bengaluru. He specialises in Sinology, International Politics, Political Philosophy and Comparative Religion, having obtained his postgraduate education and research from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi and religious training from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). He received the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund Merit Award for securing 1st position in the MA exam in 2009 and UGC NET-JRF in International and Area Studies in 2010. He has pursued research on China’s soft power, public diplomacy and civilisational aspirations. He was a part of an Indian think tank delegation to China in 2015. Currently, he is developing a Swayam Prabha course on “Introduction to Chinese Studies” at IIT Kanpur.

Sri Sarmah received his UGC NET in Political Science in 2016 and served as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law (RGNUL), Punjab from 2017 to 2022. During this period, he developed interest in Indian perspectives on political philosophy and comparative civilisational studies. At Chanakya University, he is a co-investigator in a project sponsored by the IKS division of the Ministry of Education at AICTE on “Political Concepts in Ramayana, Mahabharata and Arthashastra: An Analysis of Sovereignty, Kingship, Market, Welfare, Diplomacy and War”.

Educational qualifications: MA (Politics with specialisation in International Relations) and MPhil (Chinese Studies)

Hobbies/Interests: Cycling, Table Tennis and Chess/ Philosophy, History, Religion and Geopolitics

Courses Taught at Chanakya: Political Science and International Relations

Publications:

Journal Articles

1. “Transition of the People’s Republic of China from Mao to Market: An analysis of the political dynamics in the Chinese Communist Party-state (1976-1989)”, Intellectual Quest, June 2019, 11: 56-73. ISSN 2349-1949
2. “Causes of the Failure of Camp David Talks 2000”, JONER (Journal of North East Region), April 2018, 6 (3): 219-228. ISSN 2321-0583
3. “Illegal Immigration and Insurgency in Assam: Understanding the Role of Bangladesh and Their Impact on India’s Strategic Interest in the Region”, Pooja Sharma (co-author), Research Journal of MDKG, April 2016, 5 (1): 53-62. ISSN 2278-1064
4. “China’s Soft Power Dilemma”, World Focus, September 2012, XXXIII (9): 65-72. ISSN 2230-8458

Book Chapters/Conference Proceedings

1. “Cafeteria Method in Contemporary Course Design”, Siddhartha Fuller (co-author), in Paramjit S. Jaswal, G.I.S. Sandhu and Manoj Kumar Sharma (eds.), An Introduction to Teaching Methods in Higher Education, 2018, Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law (RGNUL), Punjab, pp. 81-89. ISBN 978-93-84166-29-8
2. “The Druze of Levant: An Analysis of Historical and Contemporary Issues”, in Rajeev Mohan and Mriganka Choudhury (eds.), Perspectives: A Collection of Essays on Language, Ethnicity and Identity, 2018, Dept. of English, Tinsukia College, Tinsukia, pp. 757-765. ISBN 987-93-80247-79-3
3. “Understanding Caste in India: Roots and Dynamics”, Ranandra Khaund (co-author), in Nani Gopal Mahanta (ed.), Society and Politics in North-East India, 2007, Proceeding Volume of XVI^th Annual Conference, North East India Political Science Association (NEIPSA), pp. 59-64.

Online Articles

1. “Belt and Road Initiative: A Civilisational Perspective – Part 1”, FINS Website, Mumbai, 22 May 2018.

(Re-published) FINS Journal of Strategy and Diplomacy, 13 February 2019, 2 (2). ISSN 2581-6586

2. “A Report on the Indian Think Tank Delegation to China, December 2015”, BRICS Institute Online, New Delhi, 11 February 2016.
3. “China’s Soft Power Strategy”, FINS Bulletin, Mumbai, 4 January 2016.

Blogs/Videos

1. “The Concept of Dharma”, Artha Darshana, 19 July 2021.

2. “What is a valid query and what is a self-evident truth? A critical analysis”, Medium, 10 May 2021.

3. “The Republican Tradition in India”, Mayank Goel (co-author), The Criminal and Constitutional Law Blog, 28 July 2020.

4. “2018 SCO Summit at Qingdao: An Indian Perspective”, Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict, New Delhi, 15 June 2018.

5. “Age of Reason: Imperialism and Vedic Wisdom”, 16 Rounds to Samadhi, San Diego, California, 12 December 2012.
6. “Arrows of Kama”, Dandavats, 30 September 2011.