Distinguished Lectures

India Japan Relations - Past Present and Future

  • Amb (Retd) Dr Aftab Seth

    By: Amb (Retd) Dr Aftab Seth
    Venue: IIT Roorkee
    Date: March 04, 2014

Date of birth : 17.09.1943
Place of birth : Patna, Bihar, India
Father’s name : Late T. N. Seth
Mother’s name : Late Venetia Seth
Spouse’s name : Mrs. Nilima Seth
Children : Ishaan Seth, Son
Priyanka Seth, Daughter

Education

  • The Doon School Dehra Dun 1954-1959
  • Certificate of enrollment with distinction in the Japanese Language and History, Keio University, Japan, 1963.
  • B.A. (Hons) in History from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, 1964. First Class and ranking first in the University in the merit list.
  • M.A. in History and Politics, Constitutional History from Christ Church College, Oxford University, 1967.
  • Rhodes Scholar from India, 1965, at Oxford University.
  • Doctorate of Laws, 1993, American College of Greece, Athens.

Language

Mother tongue: Hindustani
Foreign language: Japanese (Fluent)
Vietnamese (Fairly fluent)
German (Fairly fluent)
Indonesian (Elementary)
French (Elementary)

Work

1968 Joined the Foreign Service
1970-72 Served as Third Secretary and Second Secretary, Embassy of India, Tokyo, Private Secretary to the Ambassador
1972-75 Under Secretary in-charge of General Administration and Personnel Administration, Ministry of External Affairs, Delhi
1975-76 First Secretary, Embassy of India, Beirut
Head of Chancery & Charge d’Affaires & Deputy High Commissioner, Cyprus
1976-79 First Secretary, Head of Chancery & Head of the press and Cultural Wing, Embassy of India, Cairo
1979-83 Consul General of India, Hamburg, with commercial consular Jurisdiction over Bremen Bremerhaven Schleswig-Holstein and lower Saxony
1983-85 Deputy Chief of Mission, embassy of India, Jakarta
1985-88 Consul General of India, Karachi, Pakistan
1988-92 Spokesman of the Foreign Office and Joint Secretary in-charge of External Publicity, New Delhi, India
1992-96 Ambassador of India, Athens, Greece
1997-2000 Ambassador of India, Hanoi, Vietnam
September 2000 - September 2003 Ambassador of India, Tokyo, Japan; also concurrently accredited as Ambassador of India to Federal States of Micronesia
June 2004 - March 2006 Professor and Director of Global Security Research Institute, Keio
April 2006 - March 2009 Chairman of the International Advisory Committee, Keio University
April 2009 - March 2010 International Advisor, Keio University
Present Chairman & CEO, India Global Link Co., Ltd.
Chairman, Japan-India Partnership Forum
Chairman, Sun Link Co.
Chairman, Sun and Sands Advisors
Chairman, Global Indian International School of Tokyo
Visiting Professor, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Interests

Reading, writing, poetry, swimming and walking

Other major activities

  • Honorary President of "English Speaking Union of Japan”
  • Honorary Patron of "Tokyo International Players” (Amateur Dramatic Club)
  • Honorary Chairperson of "Dr. M.S. Swaminathan Foundation in Japan” (Asia Initiatives)
  • Advisor to the "Okinawa-India Friendship society”
  • Chairperson of the "Satya Sai Education Association”
  • Advisor to the "Bird Life International in Japan”
  • Honorary President of "Japan Student Fund”
  • Member of "World Parliament of Cultures” (Ankara, Turkey)
  • Member of the Board of the worldwide body of "Global Indian Cultural Foundation”, Singapore
  • Chairman of "The Global Indian Cultural Centre in Tokyo”, Japan
  • Co-Chairman of the 4th "Global Top Seminar”, The Japan Productivity Center for Socio-Economic Development (JPC-SED)
  • Former Member of the Board of Management, "Indian Institute of Foreign Trade”, India
  • Chairman of the International Advisory Board, "World Peace & Development Association”, People's Republic of China
  • Foreign Investment Adviser, Golden Elephant Corporation, Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam

Publications

  • Articles and Reviews in newspapers and magazines
  • A Volume of Poems-"Pillars of Landscape”, 1995: This volume has been published bilingually, in English and Japanese, in March 2002
  • Published a book in Japanese in December 2001:”How Much Weight Can an Elephant Lose?” 2002: Awarded the Mahatma Gandhi-Martin Luther King Daisaku Ikeda Award
  • Published a book in 2005 : If an elephant loses weight it is still an elephant” [Keio University Press, Tokyo]