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India-Russia economic and energy cooperation: The way ahead
Indian Foreign Policy | Economic Diplomacy Jun 07, 2017

India-Russia economic and energy cooperation: The way ahead

Economic ties were the cornerstone of Indo-Soviet relations. Even the 1971 Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation, which was essentially of a political-security nature, stressed upon “economic, scientific and technological cooperation”.[1] Although the India-Russia ties in general survived the upheavals of the early 1990s, economic relations ...

Examining the limitations of India’s online visa regime
International Trade and Investment | Sustainable Development May 30, 2017

Examining the limitations of India’s online visa regime

In November 2014, India introduced a visa facility allowing foreign travellers wanting to come to India for recreational purposes, casual visits with friends or relatives, short-duration medical treatment or business visits, to apply for their visa online. Since then, the government has taken specific initiatives ...

The enduring relevance of India-Russia relations
Indian Foreign Policy | Great Power Dynamics May 25, 2017

The enduring relevance of India-Russia relations

The impact of Indo-Russian relations on the domestic and foreign policies of India from the 1960s is difficult to underestimate. The USSR was instrumental in helping independent India industrialise, develop its scientific potential, and defend its territorial integrity. The Indo-Russian relationship developed a level of ...

The four faces of 21st century Asian geopolitics
International Affairs | Great Power Dynamics May 11, 2017

The four faces of 21st century Asian geopolitics

As global geopolitics enters a multipolar era, there is a need to assess the extent to which strategic concepts from the bipolar era remain valid and useful. In this brief, the notion of a ‘strategic triangle’, which became prominent during the Cold War, is extended ...

War on drugs: Challenges for the Punjab government
Domestic Politics and Governance May 09, 2017

War on drugs: Challenges for the Punjab government

Most analysts agree that a dangerous mix of demand, supply and currency is responsible for Punjab’s drug menace. Punjab is both a transit point and a market for the drugs smuggled from the so-called Golden Crescent that is Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. While the heroin ...

Privacy and security risks of digital payments
Privacy & Data Protection May 09, 2017

Privacy and security risks of digital payments

Digital financial services have benefits but pose privacy risks that harm consumers, merchants, markets, and nations alike. Some payments systems in India suffer from vulnerabilities because they were not prospectively designed on the basis of the ‘privacy by design’ principle. At the back-end, the centralised ...

Price-cap is after all just a new price: The case of cardiac stents in India
Healthcare | Sustainable Development Apr 27, 2017

Price-cap is after all just a new price: The case of cardiac stents in India

The February 2017 order by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) for fixing the price ceiling for cardiac stents—a device that normalises blood supply to the heart—brings to fore the old debate on the influence of business in healthcare in India. In view of the ...

Political and policy lessons from Thailand’s UHC experience
Healthcare | Development | Sustainable Development Apr 25, 2017

Political and policy lessons from Thailand’s UHC experience

Thailand is one of the few developing countries in the world that have successfully implemented Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Beginning three decades ago, Thailand’s UHC first covered the poor, then the near-poor, the formal sector employees, and the children and the elderly, through various publicly ...

Blue economy: Beyond an economic proposition
Indian Ocean | Maritime Security Mar 03, 2017

Blue economy: Beyond an economic proposition

Blue economy’ is the integration of ocean economy development with values of social inclusion and environmental sustainability, along with dynamic and innovative business models. For India, however, blue economy extends beyond being merely an economic and environmental proposition. It presents India with an unprecedented opportunity ...

The case against weaponising water
Defence and Security Feb 10, 2017

The case against weaponising water

With growing water scarcity across many parts of the world, competition over access to this vital resource has been known to spark conflict. Following the September 2016 Uri attack in India, the government made plans to retaliate against its neighbour by exercising its right to ...