Amb. Vijay Nambiar, Prof. Debasish Chaudhuri (Guru Nanak Dev University), Mr. Atul Aneja (India Narrative)

China has witnessed the emergence of a new political culture and social control mechanisms which has redefined China's 'core interests', brought every aspect of statecraft within the rubric of national security and has increased the intrusive role of the state and further restricted social aspirations and any possibility of dissent within communities. In the larger context of China's global outreach & Xinjiang's geo-strategic and geo-economic importance, the stability and growth of the region is directly linked with how China manages to shape the voices of the ethnic communities within the region as well as to contain the deeply rooted prejudices against ethnic minorities in general and against Islam in particular. The panelists will discuss a recently published ICS Monograph titled Countering Security Challenges in Xinjiang – Rise of the Surveillance State? which explores the situation in Xinjiang against a broader canvas of China's political environment under President Xi Jinping.