Interpreting India

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Ashley Townshend on Australia and India’s Convergence on the Indo-Pacific Sep 22, 2022

Show notes

The Indo-Pacific has emerged as a region of great significance. China is cementing its strategic presence in the region with a push toward financing infrastructure, announcements of alternative security and development mechanisms, and security pacts, most recently, with the Solomon Islands. Meanwhile, the United States remains preoccupied with its various priorities including the war in Ukraine and a broader engagement with European security. As regional dynamics continue to evolve, actors like India and Australia find themselves facing common concerns, as well as opportunities that continue to converge.

In this episode of Interpreting India, Ashley Townshend joins Deep Pal to discuss the recent developments in the Indo-Pacific. What would be the contours of an Indo-Pacific strategy that counteracts Chinese adventurism and influence in the region? How can India and Australia strengthen their bilateral relationship by harnessing their national defense industrial bases? And, how can the QUAD countries become significant contributors to public security in the region?

Episode Contributors

Ashley Townshend is a senior fellow for Indo-Pacific security at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is also the founding co-chair of the annual U.S.-Australia Indo-Pacific Deterrence Dialogue and a nonresident senior fellow at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. A leading Australian expert on Indo-Pacific strategic affairs, Ashley has written extensively on U.S. strategy in Asia, regional strategic competition with China, the U.S.-Australia alliance, and Australian foreign and defense policy. He is also the co-author of the monograph Averting Crisis: American Strategy, Military Spending and Collective Defence in the Indo-Pacific.

Deep Pal is a visiting scholar in the Asia program at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His research and publications focus on the Indo-Pacific, Indian foreign policy in its immediate and greater neighborhood, and regional security of South Asia, with particular emphasis on China.

Additional Reading

The U.S. Is Losing Its Military Edge in Asia, and China Knows It by Ashley Townshend

US Indo-Pacific Strategy, Alliances and Security Partnerships by Ashley Townshend

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Every two weeks, Interpreting India brings you diverse voices from India and around the world to explore the critical questions shaping the nation's future. We delve into how technology, the economy, and foreign policy intertwine to influence India's relationship with the global stage.

As a Carnegie India production, hosted by Carnegie scholars, Interpreting India, a Carnegie India production, provides insightful perspectives and cutting-edge by tackling the defining questions that chart India's course through the next decade.

Stay tuned for thought-provoking discussions, expert insights, and a deeper understanding of India's place in the world.

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Soumita Basu on the Evolution of the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda Sep 08, 2022

Show notes

Ever since its adoption in October 2000, the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda has emerged as the landmark global framework promoting women’s participation in conflict resolution and achieving sustainable peace. Through its four pillars, participation, conflict prevention, protection, and relief and recovery, the WPS agenda aims to provide a holistic approach to international security. Since the adoption of the agenda, 103 countries have adopted National Action Plans (NAPs) to enhance women’s participation in the security domain at a domestic level. Regional Action Plans (RAPs) have also emerged as an effort to collaboratively implement the WPS agenda. However, despite the domestic and regional efforts to implement the WPS agenda, there are normative and institutional constraints that impede the full realisation of the agenda.

In this episode of Interpreting India, Soumita Basu joins Shibani Mehta to discuss how the WPS agenda has evolved since its adoption in 2000. What is its significance, and how does it operate to achieve its goal of ensuring equitable gender participation in peace-building? How is the agenda being interpreted by countries with different contextual and political settings? And finally, what steps should India undertake to advance its approach toward the WPS agenda?

Episode Contributors

Soumita Basu is an associate professor at the Department of International Relations at the South Asian University. She holds a PhD in International Politics from University of Wales, Aberystwyth. She has worked extensively on feminist international relations and the UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security. Her recent publications include New Directions in Women, Peace and Security. She has also contributed to Gendered Dimensions of the United Nations Security Council: Some Notes in View of India's Eighth Term (2021-22)’and Routledge Handbook of Feminist Peace Research.

Shibani Mehta is a research analyst with the Security Studies Program at Carnegie India. Her research focuses on India’s security and foreign policies.

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Soner Cagaptay on Turkey's Geopolitical Gamble Aug 26, 2022

Show notes

Lately, Turkey’s actions have come into the limelight. It notably delayed Sweden's and Finland’s memberships in NATO in exchange for fulfilling its own security demands. Meanwhile, it continues to supply drones and other weapons to Ukraine to resist Russian aggression while maintaining its relationship with Moscow at the same time. Turkey has further been involved in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia as well as in civil wars in Syria and Libya. It has also sought to expand its influence in South Asia by deepening its multifaceted cooperation with Pakistan.

In this episode of Interpreting India, Soner Cagaptay joins Rahul Bhatia to discuss Turkey’s role in shaping the Russia-Ukraine war, the rationale behind its actions, and how President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s electoral priorities impact Turkish foreign policy during the conflict. It further looks into Turkey’s diplomatic efforts in the Middle East and North Africa through the lens of its involvement in regional conflicts, how Turkey’s drones are influencing its foreign policy, and finally, the implications of Turkey’s engagement with South Asia on India.

Episode Contributors

Soner Cagaptay is the Beyer Family fellow and director of the Turkish Research Program at The Washington Institute. He has written extensively on U.S.-Turkish relations, Turkish domestic politics, and Turkish nationalism, publishing in scholarly journals and major international print media, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New York Times, Foreign Affairs, and The Atlantic. He has been a regular columnist for Hürriyet Daily News, Turkey's oldest and most influential English-language paper, and a contributor to CNN's Global Public Square blog. He appears regularly on Fox News, CNN, NPR, BBC, and CNN-Turk.

Rahul Bhatia is a research analyst with the Security Studies Program at Carnegie India. His research focuses on India’s borders and India’s foreign and defense policies.

Additional Reading

Erdogan's End Game by Soner Cagaptay

Turkey's Lethal Weapon by Soner Cagaptay and Rich Outzen

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Crafting a Semiconductor Policy for India with G S Madhusudan Aug 11, 2022

Show notes

Today, semiconductors are ubiquitous—whether it’s the device on which you’re streaming this episode, the drive assist or safety features of a car, or aerospace and defense equipment. In the last couple of years there has been a dearth of semiconductor supply. The semiconductor shortage today can be attributed to supply chain disruptions and several geopolitical factors that have their origins in the early days of COVID-19. Realizing the importance and potential of semiconductors, countries around the world, including India, have been investing in the semiconductor capabilities. In December 2021, the Indian government unveiled a Rs 76,000 crore scheme to boost semiconductor manufacturing, chip design and assembly, and testing and packaging (ATP) of chips.

In this episode of Interpreting India, G S Madhusudan joins Konark Bhandari to take a closer look at the Indian government’s semiconductor policy and the country’s potential in the space. What have governments across the world been doing to strengthen production capability? How do they compare with India’s semiconductor policy of December 2021? What does this ramping up of semiconductor capabilities mean for the world?

Episode Contributors

G S Madhusudan is the CEO and Co-Founder of InCore Semiconductors, India’s first Processor IP company. A technology entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience in creating start-ups, G S Madhusudan is also committed towards engineering diverse software and hardware products, managing R&D labs and is intricately involved in technology/product strategy development.

Konark Bhandari is an associate fellow with Carnegie India. He is a lawyer who has researched on certain areas in the digital economy, focusing primarily on approaches to antitrust regulation of companies in the digital realm.

Additional Reading

We Will Be Competitive With Equivalent ARM Cores, Better In Some Respects Perhaps Lagging In One Or Two Areas by G S Madhusudan

IIT-Madras Powers Up a Desi Chip by G S Madhusudan

Takeaways from the 2021 Global Technology Summit by Konark Bhandari

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Vijay Gokhale on China and the Indo-Pacific Jul 28, 2022

Show notes

Over the last few months, the Indo-Pacific has seen a flurry of activity. China launched the Global Security Initiative and its foreign minister Wang Yi embarked on a tour of the Pacific Islands. More significantly, Beijing inked a security agreement with the Solomon Islands that sent shockwaves across the region. Around the same time, the Quad held its second in-person summit in Tokyo, and the United States ushered in a series of regional partnerships including the Indo-Pacific Economic Forum and I2U2. All the while, the war in Ukraine has continued to cast its shadow on the region.

In this episode of Interpreting India, Vijay Gokhale joins Srinath Raghavan to discuss the recent developments in the Indo-Pacific. What is the significance of China’s actions, and how are they being perceived by other countries in the region? What are the implications of the growing U.S.-China competition in the Indo-Pacific? And finally, how are India-China relations being impacted by a deepening partnership between Russia and China?

Episode Contributors

Vijay Gokhale is a non-resident senior fellow at Carnegie India. He retired from the Indian Foreign Service in January 2020 after a diplomatic career that spanned thirty-nine years. He has served as both the foreign secretary of India (from January 2018 to January 2020) and as India’s ambassador to China (from January 2016 to October 2017). He has worked extensively on matters relating to the Indo-Pacific region with a special emphasis on Chinese politics and diplomacy. He is the author of Tiananmen Square: The Making of a Protest and The Long Game: How the Chinese Negotiate with India.

Srinath Raghavan is a nonresident senior fellow at Carnegie India. His primary research focus is on the contemporary and historical aspects of India’s foreign and security policies.

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Understanding the Crisis of Inflation with Radhika Pandey Jul 14, 2022

Show notes

In this episode of Interpreting India, Radhika Pandey joins Suyash Rai to analyze why India and other major economies are experiencing high inflation, the measures that have been taken to control inflation, the expected impact of these measures on economic growth, and the future course of action.

Episode Contributors

Radhika Pandey is a Senior Fellow at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy and has twenty years of teaching and research experience in macroeconomics and financial policy. Her academic work focuses on macroeconomics, business cycles, financial policy, and regulation. She has been part of a number of Ministry of Finance instituted committees and writes regularly on contemporary economic issues.

Suyash Rai is a deputy director and fellow at Carnegie India. His research focuses on the political economy of economic reforms, and the performance of public institutions in India.

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Sachin Chaturvedi on Prime Minister Narendra Modi Attending the 48th G7 Summit in Germany Jul 01, 2022

Show notes

The Group of Seven or G7, an informal forum of leading industrial nations, comprising of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Canada, hosted its 48th Summit on June 26-28 in Germany. The Summit, which aims to coordinate global policy, has come at a time when countries across the globe are still coping with the economic and political disruptions caused by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The G7 is thus expected to lead a global recovery from the pandemic through initiatives like Build Back Better World (B3W) and take further action against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. India, which is caught between its desire to build stronger ties with G7 countries, and its old friend, Russia accepted Germany’s invitation and attended the summit.

In this episode of Interpreting India, Sachin Chaturvedi joins Deep Pal to analyze what India’s G7 invite signifies amid a contentious geopolitical environment. How do the G7 countries perceive India? How can India partner with the G7 in achieving climate neutrality and green transition? What are the key takeaways of India’s participation in the Summit, and what relevance does this hold for India’s G20 presidency in 2023?

Episode Contributors

Sachin Chaturvedi is Director General at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), a New Delhi-based policy research institute. He is also Member, Board of Governors, Reserve Bank of India. He was a Global Justice Fellow at the MacMillan Center for International Affairs at Yale University. He works on issues related to development economics, involving development finance, Sustainable Development Goals and South-South Cooperation.

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Harsh Vardhan on India's Commodity Markets Jun 23, 2022

Show notes

In December 2021, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, which also regulates commodity markets, issued directions banning new derivative contracts in seven agricultural commodities. This ban covered more than 70 percent of the traded volumes in the Indian agricultural commodity futures market.

What were the reasons for this sudden move, and what repercussions did this have for the spot markets in these commodities? What signals do such sudden moves by regulators send to markets, and how do agricultural markets and commodity derivative markets tend to react to such moves?

In this episode of Interpreting India, Harsh Vardhan joins Anirudh Burman to help unpack these issues pertaining to India's commodity markets.

Episode Contributors

Harsh Vardhan is a Senior Advisor with leading international management consulting firm Bain & Company. He has over 30 years of experience in the financial services sector and is actively involved in policymaking related to financial sector in India. He chaired the Committee on the Development of Securitisation for Housing Finance appointed by the RBI in2019. Recently he was a member of the Cross Border Insolvency Rules of Regulations Committee (CBIRC) of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. He is an Independent Director on the board of Karur Vysya Bank and National Commodities Clearing Ltd and chairs the Risk Management Committees of the board for both.

Anirudh Burman is an associate research director and fellow at Carnegie India. He works on key issues relating to public institutions, public administration, the administrative and regulatory state, and state capacity.

Additional Reading

Did SEBI's Ban on Agri-Futures Work? by Harsh Vardhan and Bhargavi Zaveri-Shah

The Ban on Agri Commodities Future is Weak in Law and Economics by Bhargavi Zaveri-Shah and Harsh Vardhan

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Understanding Sri Lanka's Ongoing Economic Crisis with Meera Srinivasan Jun 16, 2022

Show notes

Meera Srinivasan, talking about the Sri Lankan government’s lack of planning to deal with an impending economic disaster, reported, “Hospitals are putting off surgeries without enough medical supplies, ink and newsprint shortages have forced newspapers to suspend editions, and schools have postponed term exams because there is no paper to print the questions.” Moreover, Sri Lanka’s foreign currency reserve has virtually dried up and shortages of food and fuel have caused prices to soar. In early April, people took to the streets of Colombo in protest. Much of the popular anger for the economic crisis has been directed at the country’s president.

Why did Sri Lanka default on its debt? Were the signs of misgovernance visible long before the crisis struck? What political cost does it impose on the people?

In this episode of Interpreting India, Meera Srinivasan joins Shibani Mehtato look at this crisis, Sri Lanka’s worst since it gained independence in 1948.

Episode Contributors

Meera Srinivasanis the Sri Lanka correspondent of The Hindu and she also covers the Maldives. She has written extensively on the post-war challenges of Sri Lanka. As a resident correspondent for The Hindu, she covered key elections in 2015, 2019 and 2020 along with the Easter Terror Bombings of 2019.

Shibani Mehta is a research analyst with the Security Studies Program at Carnegie India. Her research focuses on India’s security and foreign policies. She has a keen interest in understanding foreign policy decision-making and the role of institutions and personalities in diplomacy.

Additional Reading

Sri Lanka's Aggravating Economic Crisisby Meera Srinivasan

Polarization, Civil War, and Persistent Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka by Ahilan Kadirgamar

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India's Space Sector with Narayan Prasad Nagendra May 20, 2022

Show notes

In this episode, Narayan Prasad Nagendra joins Konark Bhandari to discuss the key developments in India’s space sector. India's space program has been widely recognized for its ability to produce cost effective space technology. This has slowly driven down the costs of missions, including orbital missions, lunar missions, and even Martian missions. However, these endeavors have largely been driven by ISRO, India’s national space agency. Realizing the need for an increased integration of the private sector into the Indian Space story, over the last few years, the Indian government has introduced a wide range of reforms in the Indian Space sector. In this episode of Interpreting India, we will take a closer look at India’s space sector and its key developments. What are these space reforms everyone speaks of? How close are we to seeing the next SpaceX of Indian origin? What is on the wish list for private space companies in India?

Episode Contributors

Narayan Prasad Nagendra is a co-founder at satsearch.co, a global marketplace for space with a mission to consolidate the global space industry supply chain. He also serves as a partner to the SpacePark Kerala, a Government of Kerala initiative to develop a space-economic hub in India. He founded his first company Dhruva Space in 2012, a NewSpace company based out of Bengaluru, India with a vision to lead the privatization of the spacecraft industry in India.

Additional Reading

Space India 2.0: Commerce, Policy, Security, and Governance Perspectives by Rajeshwari Pillai Rajagoplan and Narayan Prasad Nagendra

Small Satellites for India’s Security: A Techno-Entrepreneurial View by Narayan Prasad Nagendra

What India’s Budget Needs to Do to Move Its Space Program Forward by Konark Bhandari

The War in Ukraine and its Implications on India’s Space Program by Konark Bhandari

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