Deputy Director-General Julio S. Amador III of the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) presented a paper at the Building Pan Asian Connectivity (BPAC) Conference in Kolkata, India on 10-11 March 2015. The conference was organized by Indiana University’s Center on American and Global Security (CAGS) and the Observer Research Foundation (ORF).

Deputy Director-General Amador was invited as an expert on the conference’s security panel to present his paper “ASEAN-India Cooperation in Counter-Terrorism: Evolution and Future.” He also discussed trends and developments in regional security. He emphasized India’s role as an important partner to ASEAN and stressed that while a framework for counter-terrorism cooperation exists at the strategic or leaders’ level, the major challenge is the implementation of programs and projects that concretize these commitments.

The conference brought together business, academic, government, and civilian experts from the United States, India, and Southeast Asia to examine the opportunities and obstacles facing Asian countries as they take on greater roles in the region. At the end of the conference, practical recommendations were presented to key policy makers who were present during the conference.

Deputy Director-General Amador also visited Philippine Honorary Consul General to India D. K. Khemka to discuss issues and opportunities in Philippines-India relations.