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?

rajni 4 Courtesy: RajniBakshi
22 October 2014

Latin longing for non-violence

Rajni Bakshi, Senior Gandhi Peace Fellow at Gateway House, was recently invited to Brazil and Colombia to speak about Gandhi, her book ‘Bazaars, Conversations and Freedom’ and her forthcoming paper on Trusteeship. She reports on the longing for non-violence in these societies and the groups working to make it real

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

Policy Perspectives
WTO Courtesy: wikimedia
15 October 2014

India’s curious stand at WTO

India’s decision to block the Trade Facilitation Agreement at the World Trade Organisation in July was perplexing; the confusion was compounded because India was almost alone in its position. This policy perspective explains the reasons for India’s curious stand

DD cover 2 Courtesy: Spenta Multimedia
10 October 2014

Doordarshan Diplomacy

This report examines the current state of Doordarshan and formulates an agenda for transforming the channel into an effective foreign policy tool for India

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.

Sustainable gardening Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
10 October 2014

The UN and sustainability

The UN and the global finance industry are making gradual but concerted efforts to align business interests and ecological sustainability. A growing number of companies are combining profit-making with social responsibility. There is still a long way to go, but the UN system has created useful mechanisms of change

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