Mumbai Courtesy: wikimedia
7 November 2014

BRICS headquarters in Mumbai

Globally, metropolitan cities are becoming powerful centres that sustain entire countries. In the case of Mumbai, the government can work backwards by stitching the infrastructure and governance together. The tried-and-tested technique is to host an international institution or event. Gateway House argues that Mumbai is most appropriate to be home to the headquarters of BRICS

mia-main Courtesy: wikimediacommons
31 October 2014

India needs an anti-tapering strategy

India faces heightened geoeconomic risks as the U.S. exits its unconventional monetary policy and the value of the dollar appreciates against major currencies. We can mitigate the risks with a multilateral safety net to provide liquidity, and by attracting FDI through the ‘Make in India’ programme

UN Courtesy: wikimediacommons
31 October 2014

Should India give up on the UNSC?

Despite staking a claim to permanent UN Security Council membership 60 years ago, India is no closer to that goal. While conflict zones remain in Africa and Asia, economic might has shifted eastwards. The West-dominated UNSC is becoming irrelevant. If India becomes a permanent member, can it influence the council’s ethos?

Yal Railway Line Courtesy: flickr.com/presidentrajapaksa
17 October 2014

India’s imperatives in Sri Lanka

India has tried to address the concerns of Sri Lankan Tamils through projects such as the recently-inaugurated railway between Jaffna and Colombo. But their aspirations for autonomy in the North and East remain unfulfilled, and New Delhi faces a dilemma—pushing Colombo on political issues can drive it closer to Beijing

DD paper cover Courtesy: Spenta Multimedia
10 October 2014

Taking Doordarshan global

News channels like China’s CCTV, Russia Today and Al-Jazeera have become definitive voices for their nations and for international views. Now, with the Modi government on a public messaging and public realations spree, it is the right time to re-configure our public broadcaster, Doordarshan, to showcase India’s growing global ties and the success of its democracy to the world.

Chinese-President-Xi-Jinping-with-chinese-soldiers-300x216 Courtesy: newshence.com
8 October 2014

Chumar incursion: a message to Xi?

The reason behind a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) contingent intruding into eastern Ladakh around the time of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India, still needs to be decoded. It is not unlikely that domestic rivals, including possible ‘rogue’ elements within the PLA, could have decided to embarrass Xi — angry with his historic crackdown on corruption among Chinese officials

kudankulam Courtesy: Wikimedia.org
1 October 2014

Decoding the India-U.S. nuclear deal

Bringing U.S. nuclear technology to India is a goal identified in the countries’ joint vision statement. Although public discourse on the India-U.S. nuclear deal has focussed on the liability clause, the pact’s success also depends on resolving other factors such as local sourcing, technology transfer and project delays

Modi obama Courtesy: Ministry of External Affairs
30 September 2014

India-U.S. must move past deal-led ties

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S. is unlikely to reset bilateral relations. The relationship remains determined by bickering over trade and investment deals, such as the impasse at the WTO and the disputes over IPR. To become real strategic partners, both countries must move beyond these transactional exchanges