Most–read commentaries, 2018

The challenges of higher education | Harsh V. Pant

Status quo in higher education is not an option for India. India has to act now and act fast if it wants to salvage the future of its youth. Read more ►

---

The strategic logic of Modi’s Indonesia visit | Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan

The trip reinforced both the growing strategic alignment between New Delhi and Jakarta as well as its limits. Read more ►

---

India’s government will birth two major policies before 2019 elections | Gautam Chikermane

What is likely to go forward in the forthcoming elections would be two important policies: First, passage of the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill, 2017. The second policy is health insurance for the poor. Read more ►

---

A marine ecological crisis in South Asia | Abhijit Singh

Humanity’s growing footprint in the world’s oceans is primarily a product of increased fishing activity. Read more ►

---

ASEAN: Furthering India’s interests in Indo-Pacific | Harsh V. Pant

The Indo-Pacific region is now central to global politics and economics, and recent days have merely reinforced the trends that have been emerging for some time. Read more ►

---

Why did India and China sign their new security agreement? | Manoj Joshi

The recent signing of an internal security agreement by India and China is an indicator of the special nature of the countries’ relationship. The agreement features competition, conflict and cooperation. Read more ►

---

The COMCASA question in India-US military relations | Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan

Like the LEMOA, there have been heated debates on COMCASA too. Read more ►

---

The zero-poverty destination comes closer | Gautam Chikermane

Much needs to be done and our destination is still several countries away — the 73 million Indians living in extreme poverty today add up to more than the populations of Thailand, France and the UK. Read more ►

---

Zakir Naik’s ‘High Net Worth’ a low for India-Malaysia ties | Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty

Malaysia’s handling of the Zakir Naik issue may well be the lightning rod for some discord. Read more ►

---

Why CPEC could be the end of China-Pakistan relationship | Sushant Sareen

While CPEC might actually be a game-changer for Pakistan, nobody seems quite sure what the game really is. Read more ►

---

The challenge of education in India | Harsh V. Pant

India’s higher educational institutions churn out around 2.5 million graduates every year. However, this caters to just about 10 per cent of India’s youth and the quality of output is considered below par. Read more ►

---

BIMSTEC and BBIN — India’s highway to the east | Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty

The salience of BIMSTEC has grown for India to secure its strategic space in the neighbourhood and the Bay of Bengal region. Read more ►

---

After WTO what? | Jayshree Sengupta

If the WTO shuts down, big players like China, the EU and Japan will rule the roost without legal restraints. Smaller countries will resort to protectionism which will reduce their volume of trade and income. Read more ►

---

Our infrastructure must become climate resilient | Aparajit Pandey & Ritwik Sharma

A frustrating part about the Kerala floods is that the loss of life and economic devastation could have been prevented. Read more ►

---

Russia and India have to ride out some choppy waters | Harsh V. Pant

India-Russian relationship is passing through an interesting phase. There are bilateral challenges that need to be overcome, but the global environment has provided opportunities to New Delhi and Moscow to re-calibrate their ties. Read more ►

---

Modi government needs a fresh strategy for Jammu and Kashmir | Manoj Joshi

A plan is needed to deal with the changing nature of the militancy. Read more ►

---

How India, too, is on a quest for undersea dominance, to counter the Chinese navy’s growing presence | Abhijit Singh

As China and the US pursue development of unmanned underwater drones, the Indian navy is also adjusting its strategy to include autonomous vehicles in its armoury against China’s growing undersea footprint in the Indian Ocean. Read more ►

---

Together in an uncertain world | Harsh V. Pant

Where India’s relations with individual EU nations have progressed dramatically over the last few years and the EU’s focus on India has grown, it has become imperative for the two to give each other a serious look. Read more ►

---

PM Modi’s Africa tour decoded: A strong imprint in the continent | H.H.S. Viswanathan

PM Modi successfully leveraged the occasion of the BRICS Summit to expand India’s Africa Outreach Project. Read more ►

---

Modi-Putin summit: What’s on the agenda for India-Russia defense ties? | Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan

The summit process between India and Russia started way back in 2000 and since then, the relationship has been elevated to a “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership”. Read more ►

• Indian Economy
• Education
• Indian Defence
• China Military
• Connectivity
• Africa
• China
• India
• USA and Canada
• The Pacific, East and Southeast Asia
• ASEAN
• BBIN
• BIMSTEC
• China-Pakistan
• COMCASA
• CPEC
• ecology
• Elections 2019
• higher education
• India-US
• INDO-PACIFIC
• Narendra Modi
• poverty reduction
• WTO
• Zakir Naik

The views expressed above belong to the author(s). ORF research and analyses now available on Telegram! Click here to access our curated content — blogs, longforms and interviews.