Courtesy: AP
Two weeks after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced the Union Budget 2016-2017, it continues to be a hotly discussed topic. This pro-farmer budget has laid down great plans, but in a nation where Mars Missions and farmers suicides occur simultaneously, aspirations will have to take a backseat until the way forward has been paved.
Courtesy: Pixabay
What should the 2016-17 Union Budget in the pipeline propose for India’s fiscal stance? Is there a growth-oriented case to raise public investment and the deficit target above the planned fiscal consolidation? A review in the right global and regional context.
Courtesy: Gateway House
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s extensive foreign visits have drawn $214 billion in new investment commitments into India. Gateway House has meticulously tracked these financial commitments, which have come from three sources: foreign government investments, private foreign investments and multilateral investments.
Courtesy: Wikipedia
Despite major political change in Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela due to global economic tumult, it may be premature to speak of a rightward shift in Latin American politics. Yet, developments in these democracies need to be monitored carefully as India has a stake in their political stability.
Courtesy: Wikimedia
French President Hollande was the chief guest at the Republic Day parade on 26 January 2016. India-France relations, post President Hollande’s visit, are promising, and will have a positive impact on Prime Minister Modi’s scheduled visit to Brussels later this year including India's trade with the EU. Informed citizenry should appreciate the huge stakes involved.
Courtesy: Pixabay
China’s stock market has tanked over 20% in January 2015. More than the fall in the stock market, it is the reaction of the Chinese authorities that suggests bigger problems.
Courtesy: Wikipedia
Is China actively building up its maritime presence in the Arabian Sea, to dominate vital sea lanes and perhaps encircle India with a chain of naval bases? There can be little doubt that China views Gwadar as a potentially useful asset. China, however, will know better than anyone that Gwadar has two considerable limitations.
Courtesy: Wikipedia
Low GDP growth numbers and the tumbling Shanghai Composite are not enough to judge China’s economic management strategy. It is the long-term, structural, and geoeconomic challenges that will determine the country’s economic future
Courtesy: Pixabay
India’s merchandise exports have now contracted for 13 months in a row, reflecting the global slowdown and impact of China’s economic recalibration. But, therein lay new opportunities and challenges for India’s economic diplomacy
Courtesy: MEA / Flickr
If India enters the Afghanistan-Pakistan Trade and Transit Agreement, as external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said at conference in Islamabad in December, it will boost regional trade and connectivity—both priorities of the Modi government. But Pakistan stridently opposes India’s entry into the agreement. What are the alternatives?