Interpreting India

 With the conclusion of the first in-person QUAD leaders’ summit, the 76th Session of the UNGA, the SCO summit, and the AUKUS alliance, the last two weeks have been momentous for world politics. In this episode of Interpreting India, Gautam Bambawale joins Deep Pal to discuss the major foreign policy events of the last two weeks and India’s contribution to them. How will the AUKUS alliance impact...

In this episode, Rumi Aijaz joins Anirudh Burman to discuss Delhi’s new Draft Master Plan, 2041.  How has it improved upon the shortcomings of the preceding master plans? How does it compare with the planning process across other cities in India?   In July, the Delhi Development Authority released the draft Master Plan 2041, making it the fourth master plan released for the city since the start of...

In this episode of Interpreting India, Avinash Paliwal and Thomas Ruttig join Deep Pal to analyze the present situation in Afghanistan, what the implications of the U.S. withdrawal might be, and what this might mean for India and other countries involved.   -- Episode Background: The withdrawal of the United States and its NATO allies from Afghanistan has led to concerns over the Kabul government’...

In this episode, Rajeswari Sengupta joins Suyash Rai to evaluate the health of India’s financial sector. Together, they assess the impact of the second wave on India's financial sector. What measures can be taken to address some of its main issues? And finally, what does the health of the financial sector mean for the broader economy?  -- EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS Rajeswari Sengupta is an Assistant Pro...

Zaha Hassan and Nicolas Blarel join Carnegie India's Shibani Mehta to discuss the Israel-Palestine conflict. On May 10th, a raid on the Al Aqsa mosque by the Israeli police left hundreds of Palestinians injured. This cascaded into a war between Israel and Hamas. The ensuing violence has led to hundreds of casualties. A tenuous ceasefire has for now halted the violence, but it is likely that it wil...

Alex Tabarrok joins Anirudh Burman to discuss if the existing law on patents is affecting India’s ability to vaccinate its citizens. As India battles a devastating second wave of Covid-19, many advocate for a waiver of intellectual property rights on coronavirus vaccines. However, some argue that this might be an incomplete solution; on its own, a TRIPS waiver would do little to alleviate the prob...

In this episode, Srikanth Viswanathan joins Anirudh Burman to assess India's urban governance structures in the face of the second wave of the covid-19 pandemic. In the second wave, states have been given more leeway in handling the pandemic within their borders. How are states and local authorities equipped to manage the situation?   -- EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS Srikanth Viswanathan is the Chief Execu...

In this episode, Yogendra Kumar joins Deep Pal to analyze the state of the international order. The conclusion of the Cold War in 1991 heralded a new age of peace and prosperity under the leadership of Western powers. Yet, there remain several problems that plague the international system. What can be done to stem the decay of the international order and its constituent multilateral organizations?...

Pinaki Chakraborty , Director NIPFP, joins Carnegie India's Suyash Rai to analyze India’s fiscal responses to the pandemic. Together, they assess how India’s fiscal policy to tackle the pandemic has fared so far. What fiscal measures may be taken to boost economic output? What are some of the prominent obstacles likely to hinder these efforts? -- EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS Pinaki Chakraborty is the Dire...

What would a cashless India and world look like? Jonathan Dharmapalan joins Carnegie India's Rajesh Bansal to shed light on Central Bank Digital Currencies, which are meant to act as a replacement for cash. Together, they unpack what digital currencies are, and how they could affect the way we transact.  -- EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS As founder and CEO of eCurrency, Jonathan Dharmapalan provides technol...

Introducing the hosts of Season 2, in the order that they appear on the trailer: Shruti Sharma, Suyash Rai , Anirudh Burman, Shibani Mehta , Rajesh Bansal, and Deep Pal. -- EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS Shruti Sharma is a senior research analyst with the Technology and International Affairs Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She works primarily on the safety, security, and ethical i...

Mekhala Krishnamurthy joins Srinath Raghavan to analyze India’s agricultural sector, its markets, and the impact of the new farms laws. Can these  laws effectively tackle the main issues prevalent in India’s agrarian economy? Why have these laws stoked so much protest across certain farmer groups? And finally, how shall the agricultural landscape change once these laws are properly implemented? --...

Tanvi Madan joins Srinath Raghavan to discuss the Biden administration, its composition, and how this might have an effect on U.S.-India relations.  -- EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS Tanvi Madan is a senior fellow in the Project on International Order and Strategy in the Foreign Policy program, and director of The India Project at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC. Madan’s work explores India’s ro...

In this episode, Sanjib Baruah joins Srinath Raghavan to unpack the Naga peace negotiations and the recent setbacks. They explore the factors affecting the positions of the various stakeholders. Further, they ask—what shall happen to the peace process going forward, if the antagonism between the government and the NSCN (IM) persists? -- EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS Sanjib Baruah is an honorary research pr...

In this episode Rohit Chandra joins Srinath Raghavan to analyze the relationship between state and capital in India.  -- EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS Rohit Chandra is a political scientist and an economic historian working primarily on energy, infrastructure and state capitalism in India. His recent work has covered the coal and power industries. Over the last decade, he has worked in the policy space on...

Radhika Pandey joins Srinath Raghavan to analyze India's inflation targeting system. They assess how the system has fared since 2015, particularly in the wake of the pandemic.  -- EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS Radhika Pandey is a Senior Fellow at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy. Prior to this, she taught at the National Law University (Jodhpur). Dr Pandey was the lead co-ordinator for t...

Anatol Lieven and Rudra Chaudhuri join Srinath Raghavan to analyze the implications of the recent intra-Afghan negotiations. Are the negotiating parties well-poised towards building a peace deal? How has South Asia been involved in this arduous process? And finally, what are the prospects of talks leading to a successful peace deal in Afghanistan?   -- EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS Anatol Lieven is senior...

In this episode Sushant Singh joins Srinath Raghavan to discuss the latest developments in the Sino-Indian border conflict along the LAC. They analyse the current military positions of both sides and the prospects of conflict.  -- EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS Sushant Singh is a Senior Fellow at CPR. He was a lecturer in political science at Yale University (Fall 2019) and the Deputy Editor of The Indian E...

Srinath Raghavan is joined by Professor Irudaya Rajan as they discuss India's remittance economy. They analyze the coronavirus pandemic's impact on remittance income from a national and regional perspective and try to chart the  future of this institution in a post-pandemic world.  -- EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS S. Irudaya Rajan was a Former Professor at the Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Kerala (...

Chinmay Tumbe joins Srinath Raghavan as they discuss  India’s migrant crisis. They assess its implications on India's domestic and urban labor markets, and what the crisis holds for India's long-standing traditions of internal migration.   -- EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS Chinmay Tumbe is with the Department of Economics at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A). He holds a Masters from the L...

In this episode, Srinath Raghavan speaks to Bhargavi Zaveri as they unpack India's Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). They examine how India's existing regulatory framework might fare for bankruptcies in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.  -- EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS Bhargavi Zaveri has been a Senior Researcher at the Finance Research Group (FRG) at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development...

Srinath Raghavan is joined by Anit Mukherjee as they discuss India's defense sector. In their conversation, they explore some of the underlying problems plaguing India's defence institutions and the extent to which the government’s recent reforms address these issues. -- EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS Anit Mukherjee is Deputy Head of Graduate Studies, and an Associate Professor in the South Asia Programme a...

Srinath Raghavan is joined by Constantino Xavier as they discuss the relationship between India and Nepal. In doing so, they contextualize the recent border tensions that erupted at the Indo-Nepalese border in May 2020.    -- EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS Constantino Xavier is a Fellow in Foreign Policy and Security Studies at CSEP, and a Non-resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution. He leads the Samba...

Four months after the first lockdown, Srinath Raghavan is joined by Pranjul Bhandari as they assess how India's macroeconomic responses have aged through the pandemic.  -- EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS Pranjul Bhandar i is the Chief India Economist at HSBC Securities & Capital Markets (India) Private Limited. She is responsible for developing the firm's position on macroeconomics and public policy in India...

Srinath Raghavan is joined by Shyam Saran as they discuss the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on the Sino-Indian border. They look at the way in which the LAC impacts, and is impacted by the relationship between New Delhi and Beijing.  -- EPISODE CONTRIBUTORS Shyam Saran is a Senior Fellow and Member of the Governing Board at Centre for Policy Research. He is a former Foreign Secretary of India and h...