Columnists

Shyam Saran

The writer is a former foreign secretary and senior fellow CPR. He was India’s ambassador to Nepal 2002-4.

Adaptation, not mitigation, should inform India’s climate strategy

Sat, Mar 06, 2021

Shyam Saran writes: At the climate change negotiation table, India needs to safeguard its interests and enhance its development prospects.

For India, despite a rising China, this is a favourable geopolitical moment which it must seize

Wed, Dec 23, 2020

The world wants India to succeed because it is regarded as a benign power wedded to a rule-based order. India can leverage this propitious moment to encourage a significant flow of capital, technology and knowledge to accelerate its own modernisation

With darkness brought by the pandemic, chasing light in the mountains

Sat, Nov 21, 2020

After months of relative isolation, a rejuvenating trek in Uttarakhand’s mountains

Pakistan Opposition alliance’s political inclusivity is both its strength and weakness

Tue, Oct 27, 2020

Disparate parties come together to take on Pak government. Can coalition overcome its contradictions?

China’s strategy of economic self-reliance, under label of ‘dual circulation’, has been sharpened by pandemic

Mon, Aug 31, 2020

In a recent statement, President Xi Jinping has said that “dual circulation” is by no means a closed domestic loop and reaffirmed that opening up was a fundamental national policy.

India should monitor ties between China and Iran, but must guard against hasty conclusions

Thu, Jul 23, 2020

The pursuit of a closer security partnership with the US does not mean that India should follow the US lead on its other important relationships.

As Nepal paints itself into a corner on Kalapani issue, India must tread carefully

Fri, Jun 12, 2020

India-Nepal relations are far too important to be derailed by this unfortunate display of cynical brinkmanship by Nepal's short-sighted leaders. India will need to tread carefully.

Beijing’s response to Covid underlines that the world needs more democracy, not less

Mon, Apr 20, 2020

There is no escaping the fact that COVID-19 may not have become a pandemic if China were a democracy with a free flow of information through an independent media and accountable political leadership.

Covid-19 nudges India to pursue regional cooperation through both SAARC and BIMSTEC

Sat, Mar 21, 2020

Covid-19 has proved to be an opportunity for reviving SAARC, but it remains to be seen if this prospect becomes a reality. The government has been cautious in describing such expectations as “premature”.

Rocky Mountain High

Sat, Feb 15, 2020

A valuable contribution to our understanding of the complex historiography of the Himalayas and the role of Tibet, India and China in this strategic zone.

India, Nepal must seek mutually acceptable solutions to controversy over new map

Wed, Nov 27, 2019

The India-Nepal border is unique in that neither country has allowed a political boundary to interrupt the age-old traffic of people who share ties of kinship, religion and culture.

Balancing the poles

Wed, Jun 12, 2019

As US-China competion intensifies, India should refrain from taking sides

As we go into the elections, political parties must engage in debate on national security issues

Fri, Mar 15, 2019

Citizens have the right to hold their political leaders and governing institutions accountable. It is unacceptable to assert that questioning the armed forces or government is unpatriotic.

Politics, but no politics

Sat, Feb 16, 2019

Deteriorating situation in Valley can’t be delinked from abdication of political responsibility by governments in Delhi.

The Wuhan window

Thu, May 03, 2018

Modi-Xi summit gives India the chance to expand its diplomatic options in the neighbourhood and beyond.

So You Want to Know About the Environment?

Sat, Jan 06, 2018

A compelling account of the environmental concerns that India faces and practical solutions that could resolve the deadlocks

Read between the US lines

Thu, Jun 29, 2017

India-US relations in the age of Trump are becoming more transactional, less strategic

Looking China in the eye

Mon, May 22, 2017

India needs an alternative narrative which contests the inevitability of Chinese hegemony

Nepal’s history, revised

Fri, May 05, 2017

There is an attempt to blame India for the current instability by those who sided with the monarchy 11 years ago

An Inconvenient Truth

Sat, Jul 16, 2016

Moving away from a literary imagination that is centred on the human experience, Amitav Ghosh explores the global culture of denial surrounding the climate change debate

Making the nuclear point

Wed, Apr 06, 2016

The Fourth Nuclear Security Summit brought a timely focus on the link between nuclear and cyber security.

A long way from Rio

Tue, Dec 15, 2015

Paris Agreement is a pale shadow of the 1992 convention, but India salvaged some key principles.

The Paris template

Mon, Nov 30, 2015

Ahead of the summit, India has been again targeted as a spoiler. It must stand its ground till the end.

Constitutional error

Sat, Sep 26, 2015

As long as half of Nepal feels it has been shortchanged by the new constitution, political stability will elude it.

An inconvenient truth

Tue, Aug 11, 2015

The conference in Paris is unlikely to result in an agreement that can address the challenge of climate change.