Critics of the Indian government see inconsistency in its apparently contradictory posture over the WTO agreement and relations with Pakistan, but observers of Indian foreign policy and strategic thinking must pay closer attention to the underlying message emanating from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, writes Sanjaya Baru Read Here – Indian Express
It is not bad if the myths about the omnipotence of Mr. Modi scare bureaucrats into reporting to work at 9 a.m. or deter a potentially corrupt minister or a bureaucrat… If the myths about Mr. Modi get investments in the economy, deter the corrupt, prompt the lazy and enthuse the government, they aren’t particularly […]
With the passing of the bipolar international order and India’s own shift toward market economics, it was assumed that the traditional commonality of democratic values, complemented by an increasingly robust set of inter-societal ties, would accentuate a dramatic convergence of national interests between the two countries. Read Here – The National Interest
It is perhaps too soon to try and discern a distinctive “Modi doctrine.” But the wider arc of foreign and strategic policy is gradually coming into focus. The government’s early initiatives have been stamped with the Prime Minister’s style, yet the real challenges lie ahead. Read Here – The Hindu
After decades of pursuing Pakistan-centric war planning, the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force are recalibrating their sights towards the hitherto neglected northern frontiers with China, giving a hard push to improving its war-fighting capabilities against its more powerful neighbour and at the same time, increasing on-the-ground interaction with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). […]
China’s rising assertiveness and uncertainties about America’s response to it are causing middle powers in Indo-Pacific Asia to look beyond traditional approaches to security. India, Australia, Japan and some ASEAN countries are expanding security cooperation with each other. The next step should be the creation of ‘middle power coalitions’: informal arrangements where regional players cooperate […]
Will BRICS create a framework that is as democratic in sharing governance space with other investors and stakeholders? This will be something to watch for as the systems and structures evolve. The notion that the NDB has been “Shanghai-ed” is perhaps a shallow understanding of this exciting new initiative. Read Here – The Hindu
India offers America nothing of concrete strategic value that Washington cannot, currently, live without. Not only does it balk at an alliance of any kind, its political and intellectual elites are wedded still to nonalignment, that antediluvian credo from the years of the Cold War. Read Here – Daily Beast
As Mr. Kerry is in India for his mission of what he calls “realising the potentially transformational moment” between India and the United States, he may well find that and many issues do in fact need to be addressed further, before he can effect such a transformation. Perhaps the best way to avoid some of […]
With this election, the well-known notion of an enlightened India led by a Western-oriented urban elite has been overturned as Indians have voted to power politicians closer to their roots, politicians who represent small-town, socially conservative values. Read Here – Indian Express
looking beyond borders 