Columnists

C. Raja Mohan

C. Raja Mohan is Director, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore, and contributing editor on foreign affairs for 'The Indian Express'.

Explained: Reading Donald Trump’s visit to India

Fri, Feb 28, 2020

PM Narendra Modi has broken through systemic prejudice against US engagement. But an India at war with itself can’t take advantage of the possibilities presented by the ‘Hindi-Amreeki, Bhai-Bhai’ phase in the relationship.

Delhi must deal with Trump’s determination to recast the global trading system

Tue, Feb 25, 2020

The threat to the sovereignty of India and China does not come from occasional statements by the White House, resolutions in the US Congress or stinging editorials from the New York Times. The real threat to their sovereignty comes from policies that deepen internal conflicts.

India-US security cooperation in eastern Indian Ocean and Pacific must be extended to western frontiers

Sun, Feb 23, 2020

Delhi has already stepped up its naval activity within the Gulf and beyond as part of its emergence as a regional security provider. It knows that its effectiveness will rise manifold if it acts in concert with the US and other partners. Modi and Trump could begin by laying the political foundation for such cooperation.

Trump has made India’s trade headache more acute. But he has also opened up opportunities

Thu, Feb 20, 2020

Trade has long been a contentious issue between New Delhi and Washington. Donald Trump administration has made the problem more acute, but India too is turning to protectionism.

Trump is reducing US intervention around the world. Delhi needs to come to terms with these profound changes

Tue, Feb 18, 2020

Delhi needs to unlearn some of the assumptions about US policy as it prepares to host Trump next week. While the diaspora is important and could be of some value in dealing with Trump, it can’t override the deeper forces animating American politics.

Coronavirus poses a challenge to China’s place in global affairs, its political leadership

Tue, Feb 11, 2020

Optimists hope that a sharp drop in economic activity in the current quarter will be followed by a steep uptick in growth in the next when the virus is contained and normalcy returns. Pessimists, however, suggest that the economic disruption could have lasting effects.

Delhi should find ways to step into spaces the new American politics open up

Tue, Feb 04, 2020

While Trump and Sanders could not be more different as individuals, they are alike in one respect: They promise or threaten — depending on one’s perspective — to overturn the established order in the US. Both are “outsiders” who rose to prominence in the teeth of the insiders’ opposition.

India must straddle national interests, digital norms on facial recognition technology

Tue, Jan 28, 2020

The government needs a more comprehensive domestic framework that promotes the use of new technologies for public good as well as imposes necessary constraints against their abuse by both state and capital.

Raja Mandala: Delhi-Davos disconnect — India must finds ways to take advantage of new opportunities

Tue, Jan 21, 2020

Given its growing stakes in the global economic order, Delhi ought to be at the leading edge of the current debate on the future of capitalism. India, though, seems too preoccupied sorting out the persistent legacies of feudalism.

Xi starts Myanmar visit today, Beijing hopes to draw new power lines in Bay of Bengal region

Fri, Jan 17, 2020

In Myanmar to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Xi is expected to nudge his hosts to implement stalled Chinese infrastructure projects, consolidate Beijing’s status as the most important economic partner of Naypyidaw.

A new compact to deal with domestic crisis can open up risks for the Khamenei regime

Tue, Jan 14, 2020

The Iranian people, who had apparently rallied behind the flag after the US killing of Soleimani were now turning their rage against the government. The chant “Death to America” a week before were replaced by “Death to the Dictator” in a reference to Khamenei.

A direct military contest between US and Iran is loaded in America’s favour

Tue, Jan 07, 2020

Both Trump and Khamenei are realists. There are political constrains on them that limit the pressures of a further escalation of conflict between US and Iran.

Domestic political climate affects external relations. India must recognise this urgently

Tue, Dec 31, 2019

Some in Delhi might scoff at the notion of recognising external concerns in the conduct of India’s domestic politics. To be sure, the theory is that all states are sovereign and free to do what they want at home and free to conduct foreign policies as they like.

India needs to remove growing negative perceptions of its domestic policies in the Muslim world

Tue, Dec 24, 2019

Delhi might be giving an opportunity to an otherwise divided world, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, to agree in their disapproval of India’s domestic politics.

Raja Mandala: Looking beyond the diaspora

Tue, Dec 17, 2019

India must avoid making Pakistan a preoccupation in relationship with UK. It must take advantage of shift in Britain’s international orientation.

China at sea: For Delhi, Shiyan incident is a reminder to invest more in maritime scientific research

Tue, Dec 10, 2019

With Beijing expanding strategic purpose of its marine research to Andamans, Delhi and its partners should coordinate maritime diplomacy.

From trade to geopolitical significance, it is time for India to look again at Mauritius

Tue, Dec 03, 2019

There is a bigger challenge for Delhi in dealing with Mauritius. It is the urgent need to discard the deep-rooted perception that Mauritius is simply an extension of India. It is not. It is a sovereign entity with a unique national culture and an international identity of its own.

With Sri Lanka, Delhi must be seen as a friend of all communities

Fri, Nov 29, 2019

The return of the Rajapaksas has been widely feared as heralding the renewal of authoritarian rule in Sri Lanka. The election of a strong interlocutor, however, also offers Delhi an opportunity to explore the prospects for a reconstruction of the relationship.

Delhi needs to engage with Moscow on the unfolding Sino-Russian naval partnership

Tue, Nov 26, 2019

Over the last few years, China and Russia have conducted impressive naval manoeuvres in the Western Pacific, the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean. The joint exercise with South Africa this week brings the unfolding Sino-Russian naval partnership closer home to India.

World will be shades of grey… have to look for possibilities in larger global landscape: Jaishankar

Fri, Nov 22, 2019

After delivering The Fourth Ramnath Goenka Lecture in New Delhi last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar sat down with C Raja Mohan, Consulting Editor of The Indian Express, to discuss India’s policies, strengths, and challenges in today’s complex, rapidly changing world.

Opinion & Edits