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The agriculture sector’s contribution to India’s GDP and employment makes it crucial to the country’s growth. At the same time, the sector’s massive greenhouse gas emissions pose a threat to India’s green transition. The ongoing farmers’ protests also highlight the need for a climate-smart agriculture strategy that will address fundamental issues like income support. This brief outlines a framework for India’s “new green revolutio

Muhammad bin Salman will be the youngest in line to become king and bucks the trend of senior and aging princes ascending the throne.

Xi Jinping's foreign policy gives acute emphasis to the development of silk roads. The closer Moscow and Beijing get, the more Russia will have to adjust to China's interests. It is important to understand that while Moscow depends heavily on Beijing, the situation is not true in the reverse.

Limited liability partnerships among nations will constitute the geometry of politics. This is a gritty, realist world. We may not like it, but it’s here to stay

India’s northeast region (NER) features prominently in its Indo-Pacific vision and strategic calculations. The vast natural resources of NER and its geographical proximity to neighbouring countries in the Indo-Pacific region make it attractive for increased involvement of industry and the development of trade linkages. Socio-cultural affinities found across the borders of the region also carry potential for synergy in cooperation endeavours. Th

New Delhi’s policies towards Israel and Palestine are shifting from mere symbolism towards one driven by substantial outcomes

On the eve of his recent visit to India, in an interview to an Indian newspaper, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia remarked that "India should have an observer status in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference similar to that held by Russia." He added it would be "beneficial" if India's entry was proposed "by a nation like Pakistan."

This brief explores some of the deeper, and more troubling, effects of the pervasive spread of the logic of technology on social, cultural, and political life. The author critiques the predominant tech-utopian perspective, which frames ever further and faster technological development as critical to continuing social progress, using Neil Postman’s concept of the ‘technopoly’. The brief uses as an example the influence of the logic o

Education in India is compulsory and free for primary and middle school, yet about 20 percent of children aged 6-14 remain absent. Analysts offer various explanations for India’s continued challenges in ensuring universal basic education, including lack of access to schools and poor educational environment. In this context, an index measuring the health of the early education system can be a valuable tool. This paper devises a Performance, Infr

The top-down, rushed approach of the government in reaching out to farmers is likely to end in failure

Transboundary water politics in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin areaffected not only by inter-government relations between India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh,but also by dynamics on different scales, including the hydropolitics between Indian stateswithin the basin. At the same time, the disputed issues, and the patterns of power dynamicsbetween actors, are similar in transboundary interactions in the basin as well as in inter-stateinteracti

Strategists in New Delhi would have to factor in that a two front confrontation with Pakistan and China cannot be ruled out. US response in this case is an uncertainty. We need to remember that in the ultimate analysis, China is the resident power and the US is a distant power.

The real American dilemma is to find allies in Islamabad who reduce and not multiply anti Americanism

As India, Japan, Australia and the United States renew their quadrilateral cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, there are suggestions to expand the ‘Quad’ into a ‘Quad-plus’ grouping to include the countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). This brief argues that the Quad will not have much to offer to ASEAN; it has, in fact, the potential to dilute ASEAN centrality which is the pillar of the regional bloc.  India, too

The group’s big challenge is to define the security dimension of its agenda more robustly even as economic talks get underway

The President of Pakistan had expected his handpicked Prime Minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, to perform his bidding and strengthen his position. But President Musharraf was disappointed. He, therefore, felt that a change was essential in order to secure his own place and keep the other power players content.

This is a partnership that has been forged amid common challenges and shared strategic objectives

India’s position made others buy into the idea and incorporate it in their security outlooks

Once the US successfully built and used nuclear weapons to devastating effect to end the Second World War, other great powers of the time realized that the acquisition of nuclear weapons was essential to maintain their status. In 1970, after three decades of hectic developments,

The first part of this effort documented the various acts of omission and commission by the non-proliferation ayatollahs that led to the 1998 nuclear weapons testing of India, followed by Pakistan. However, the stark reality of the consequences of the dubious policies adopted by the NPAs towards Pakistani and Chinese proliferation came to light recently in the exposé of the Pakistan¿s ¿nuclear father¿ Dr.A.Q.Khan and his nuclear smuggling rin

Differences remain, but the gains on the positives and negatives of the ledger can be built upon

The effective total emissions, social costs, higher electricity prices, and loss of energy caused by production, transport and storage of electricity need to be included in any calculation.

At some point in the near future, everyone will have a smart digital device. The new digital divide will be of those with access to interactive digital content and those without.

New Delhi should be confident that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is willing to accord primacy to bilateral ties

With its higher speeds, ultra-low latency, and massive connectivity capabilities, 5G technology represents a new era in telecommunications that promises to redefine industries and everyday life. Chinese telecom companies have taken the lead in developing and commercialising 5G technology, threatening the commercial prospects of Western telecom firms and giving rise to fears of surveillance and espionage. The open radio access network (O-RAN) is a

This paper analyses historical trends in women’s participation in Indian democracy as voters, contestants, and legislators, using data on state assembly elections between the first one in 1951, and 2019. The paper finds that India is witnessing a strengthening of its democracy as measured in terms of an unprecedented growth in the political participation of women in these three roles. In these 73 years of Indian democracy, the turnout of women

As India places the Mekong sub-region among its priorities under the country’s ‘Act East’ policy, the ongoing India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway project––currently the only land connectivity project between India and the Mekong countries and the wider Southeast Asian region––could prove to be a game changer. It is imperative to explore ways to ensure early completion of this strategic communication link. This paper focuses on

The mass exodus of the Rohingyas from Myanmar to Bangladesh in 2017 has caused ramifications in the two countries’ bilateral relations. The underlying currents between the two nations have become more apparent following two failed repatriation efforts since the exodus. The public display of dissatisfaction and blame-game have only fuelled the tensions. This brief examines how far the Rohingya issue has affected the connectivity, trade and secur

The BRICS+ bloc, accounting for over 40 percent of the world’s population and a substantial share of its forest area, can play a critical role in shaping responses to climate-related health threats. The grouping’s leadership in harmonising policies across the domains of climate action and healthcare can have profound implications for global strategies to manage pandemics and protect planetary health. This brief makes a case for BRICS to champ

This brief evaluates the capabilities of the Chinese-origin frigates acquired by Pakistan, and explores the potential implications of their induction on the operational approach of the Pakistan Navy. The brief argues that the Pakistan Navy’s acquisition of Chinese-origin frigates must be viewed as part of its attempted transformation from a force adopting an offensive sea-denial strategy to one gearing towards enhanced regional

India and Taiwan have historically maintained ‘unofficial’ ties. There have been notable shifts in recent years, as seen in the creation of representative offices in both that serve de facto as embassies. Today the two are aiming to foster more robust economic ties. The COVID-19 pandemic, China’s assertive behaviour, and the growing significance of Taiwan in regional geopolitics, have prompted India to pay greater attention to the island na

India and Russia are showing an appetite for continued economic engagement. Bilateral trade increased exponentially from US$12.34 billion in 2022 to US$65 billion in 2023; the target is US$100 billion by 2030. To achieve such a level of economic cooperation, the private sector in both countries will need to increase their participation. This brief assesses the presence of India’s private sector in Russia and evaluates the potential for enhanced

Energy storage is key to both effective integration of renewable energy systems with the electricity grid, and accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). This brief discusses the technological trends in lithium-ion (Li-Ion) batteries, and assesses the energy storage needs of the Indian power and transportation sectors. It looks at the geographic distribution of lithium and cobalt in onshore and offshore locations across

India and Germany, on their own, are important countries in their respective regions. Together, they have developed and diversified their partnership since the end of the Cold War. Yet, popular perceptions have historically failed to match what the governments are doing. This paper argues for better perception-building between the two countries, given its proven role in nurturing international relations, especially for countries like Germany wher

The UN Sustainable Development Goals aim to “leave no one behind”, and developed countries are being urged to increase aid to poor countries. While this is a worthwhile effort, however, the key to genuine and sustainable development of poor countries lies not in aid, but in the development of their private sector.  Unlike aid which is limited in scope and time, a well-performing private sector puts a country on a more sustainable development

The COVID-19 pandemic has had widespread global economic impacts, and countries are gearing up for recovery. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be crucial. Given that the SDGs incorporate the four pillars of capital — human, social, natural and physical — these targets will be useful in the post-pandemic economic recovery process. This brief utilises econometric analysis to illustrate how the implementation of the SDGs is a stat

The role of the state is paramount in incentivising and facilitating a continental-scale indigenous technology and intellectual property development ecosystem in India. The world's two largest economies, US and China, have amply demonstrated the payoffs of this approach through tangible socio-economic development. This paper documents successful strategies from both economies that India can emulate in its own context. It argues that multi

It has become fashionable to forget the support that Hamas received from Israel during its formative years in the 1980s.

The lead-up to the Pakistan visit by Navjot Sidhu et al has been bizarre. How do we understand this? What could now follow?

The problem is that there is ambiguity on which rules and whose rules