Jagannath Panda moderated a session at the 20th ABCD (Annual Baltic Conference on Defence) organized by the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS)

September 23, 2026: Dr. Jagannath Panda, Head of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs, moderated a session titled “A Sea of Troubles: Japan Between Two Revisionist Powers” at the 20th ABCD (Annual Baltic Conference on Defence) organized by the International Centre for Defence and Security (ICDS), Tallinn, and the Ministry of Defence of Estonia from 22-23 September 2026. This session discussed the most recent Russia-China military activities around Japan, how the U.S.-Japan have responded, and what the future holds for regional security. The speakers at this session were Dr. Kristi Govella, Associate Professor at the University of Oxford and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Mr. Masafumi Iida, Director of the Department of Advanced Domain Studies at the National Institute for Defense Studies; and Mr. Yu Koizumi, Associate Professor at the University of Tokyo.

For two decades, ABCD has been a prominent regional forum bringing together policymakers, military leaders, and academics to discuss key issues in transatlantic, European, and regional defence. The Annual Baltic Conference on Defence (ABCD) is conceived as a regional forum for intellectual debate among members of the security and defence community – policymakers, military officials, academics, analysts, and media representatives – on defence issues pertinent to NATO and the EU. Dr. Panda also attended the Estonian Defence Expo that was organised on the sidelines of the 20th ABCD conference.