Beyond Nation & State with Smita Sharma

The curtains came down on a successful G20 summit hosted by India with a 100% consensus on the Delhi Declaration. The declaration saw watered down language on the Russia Ukraine war  to reach a consensus. The African Union has become the latest member of the grouping.  On the sidelines of the summit, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, UAE and India, among others, announced an ambitious infrastructure project...

18 months and counting…Russia’s full blown invasion of Ukraine continues with no political resolution in sight to the war. With the conflict prolonged and the battlefield unpredictable, what is the physical and economic cost of this war in Russia and Ukraine, Europe and beyond? Is there any challenge to President Putin in Russia, or has he emerged stronger with the top brass of mercenary Wagner gr...

The 15th BRICS summit  in Johannesburg South Africa saw a significant decision to expand the membership of the grouping that held its founding summit in 2009 in Yekaterinburg in Russia. For the first time since BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries accepted South Africa as a full member in 2010, expanding the forum to BRICS, consensus has been reached to invite six new countries as ful...

Cricketer turned politician, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan is behind bars. Dozens of cases against him- serious charges of corruption, incitement of violence, abuse of authority to leaking of official secrets. He has been barred from fighting elections for five years. Is this the end of the road for the outsider who challenged political dynasts in Pakistan - the Sharifs and the...

What is a Feminist foreign policy? Does inclusion of more women and application of a gender inclusive lens lead to more human and sustainable foreign policy outcomes? How are countries working on the subject?  As India celebrates its 77th Independence Year and chairs the G20 Presidency, how gender inclusive is the foreign policy of a country which has seen several woman diplomats lead the way sinc...

30th July is observed by the UN as the World Against Trafficking in Persons Day.  This year’s theme was ‘Reach every victim of trafficking, leave no one behind’. On Episode 10 of the Foreign Policy Podcast Beyond Nation and State on Suno India, we talk about the scale of this crisis in South Asia in particular where a quarter of the world’s population lives today.  Independent journalist and host...

Srilanka witnessed massive protests- called the Aragalaya movement last year against the government in the wake of the worst economic crisis the country faced since its independence. By July events unfolded fast with homes of lawmakers and politicians being torched. President Gotabaya Rajapksa was forced to flee Srilanka and resign. Six-time Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected the new...

Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a visit to the Eastern Theatre Command's headquarters on 6th July. This is the command in charge of the region around Taiwan. While there Xi warned about a 'new period of turmoil and change for the world’. This warning also came just days ahead of Taiwan’s main annual Han Kuang military exercises.  Has Xi upped the ante on Taiwan? Will China force a reunification...

657 days and counting- since the Taliban banned teenage girls from school. An Entire generation of young girls are getting scarred for life as they struggle for the most basic freedoms under the return of the Taliban to power in the war-torn country. On the 15th of August 2021, Kabul fell again to the Taliban for the second time just days ahead of the final withdrawal of the US led international f...

Since the  National Uprising of Tibetans in 1959 against the People’s Republic of China (PRC) tens of thousands of Tibetans found refuge in India as the  Tibetan Government-in-Exile came into existence. Today with an aggressive Chinese foreign, defence and security policy under President Xi Jinping, information and access to Tibet is extremely controlled with Tibetans saying they are dying a slow...

Pushp Kamal Dahal, or Prachanda was on his first official overseas visit to India in June this year in his his current term as Prime Minister of Nepal. There were some important outcomes from his meeting with Prime Minister Modi but also some controversies Ince he returned home including over the mural depicting Akhand Bharat including Nepal, on display in India’s new parliament building.  What ar...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold official talks with American President Joe Biden during his first State Visit to the United States on 22nd June.  Two key components are expected to be likely deliverables of the state visit - the iCET or the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies and a possible agreement authorizing joint production of GE F-414 jet engines in India to power indigen...

 21st June was declared as the International Day of Yoga on 10TH December 2014 by the United Nations. This was the result of an India led resolution mooted and supported by more than 175 member countries. This happened in less than 3 months of  Record time.   On Episode 3 of Beyond Nation and State season 2, senior journalist and host Smita Sharma speaks to retired diplomat Ambassador Asoke Mukerj...

India and the US today are working closely on critical and emerging technology. The US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) will be an important component in talks during the upcoming State Visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington DC. He will be only the third Indian leader after President Radhakrishan in 1963 and Dr. Manmohan Singh in 2009 to be hosted on a State...

In her debut episode today, senior journalist and host of this season of Beyond Nation & State, Smita Sharma is going to talk about a region which hardly finds mention or coverage in Indian mainstream media but it should. She was recently in Uzbekistan to cover a constitutional referendum under its strongman President Mirziyoyev. So why talk about Uzbekistan? Because the country is opening up...

Now tune into the new season of Beyond Nation and State with Smita Sharma, a seasoned journalist with experience reporting on foreign policy and global events. With her new role as a podcaster, she plans to explore the evolving world and India's position in it. She aims to uncover the behind-the-scenes diplomacy and decision-making that shaped Indian foreign policy in the past, interviewing key fi...