The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, has strengthened its international presence by linking up with the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations.

HPAIR is Harvard University's student outpost in Asia, an internationally visible forum in which students discuss the most pressing issues facing the Asia-Pacific region.

IIMs: Triumphs & Tribulations

The first ever Indian affiliate of HPAIR was opened at IIM-A last week.

"Over four decades ago, a group of Gujarat based industrialists, along with the Indian government, joined hands with the Harvard Business School to set up the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Forty three years after its inception, students at IIM-A are strengthening their linkage with some of the topmost international institutions by opening the first ever Indian affiliate of HPAIR," Parag Jhawar co-president, HPAIR Association India (IIM-A) said on Tuesday.

"We crafted a vision of an organisation that would bring together university students from across India to make the voice and thoughts of Indian intelligentsia meaningfully heard on a global platform and thus HPAIR Indian Association (IIM-A) came into existence," said Jhawar.

"Spreading the HPAIR network to prominent Indian university campuses, starting with the premier institutes like IIMs and Indian Institutes of Technology, is at the core of the mission of this organisation," said Hemant Bakhru, one of the two co-founders of the body.

The board of advisors of the association comprise two faculty members from IIM-A -- Ajay Pandey and Sebastian Morris -- and two faculty members from Harvard University -- Gowher Rizvi, director, Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation, John F Kennedy School of Government, and Devesh Kapur of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.

"With increasing number of companies spreading their roots in the Asia-Pacific region, forums like HPAIR would keep the students abreast of the market scene and empower them to make informed decisions as future managers," said Sharad Singh, a second year PGP student at IIM-A.

Founded in 1991, HPAIR's primary activities include conferences throughout Asia focusing in international relations, business, political economy, culture and technology, supporting core research in these areas, and organising events for general public and specialists from Harvard.

The HPAIR flagship conference has become the largest Harvard event in Asia and the largest annual student forum in the Asia-Pacific region.

HPAIR has its presence in various countries in Asia, North America, Europe and the Middle East. HPAIR has network clubs in the London School of Economics, University of Toronto, National University of Singapore, Fudan University in Shanghai, Nagoya University in Japan and EM Lyon in France.