India
Mapping the oceans is the new front in the battle for influence in the Indian Ocean
Hydrography, the mapping of bodies of water and surrounding coastal details, is the new front in the battle for influence in the Indian Ocean. There is growing competition among…
Opium and the colonial narco-state
Book review: Smoke and ashes: Opium’s hidden histories by Amitav Ghosh (Murray, 2024)
Switching for a while from fiction to fact, Amitav Ghosh has written an account of …
A big leap in the credibility of India’s nuclear weapons capability
India’s successful test of its Agni-V land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles (MIRV) last week represents a…
Reverse colonialism? India and Britain’s free trade agreements
As elections loom, India is in free trade agreement mode. Hot on the heels of announcing the signing of a “landmark” deal with a group of non-EU European countries, India has also…
Great power ambitions: India’s aim at the UN Security Council
India has, time and again, been questioned by Europe on its commitment to buying Russian oil despite the sanctions on Moscow, against the backdrop of the ongoing armed conflict…
Democracy is struggling in South Asia
Democracy in South Asia is experiencing a troubling decline. Indicators point towards a consistent backsliding. Recent unfair elections held in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Maldives…
The India-France “pas de deux” in the Indo-Pacific
On 26 January 1950, independent India’s constitution came into effect and the country formally became a republic. The date is celebrated as Republic Day with great pomp and…
Securing India’s cities
With India’s economy recording impressive growth, the country’s cities are emerging as pronounced markers of gains. With a concentrated push to improve infrastructure chalked up…
An Indian advantage abroad
A well-meaning Canadian acquaintance once asked me, “Why does Toronto feel like Delhi these days?” I chuckled. I did not have a spontaneous answer and resorted to a helpless grin…
You name it! Are country name changes necessary?
From Turkey to Türkiye, Czech Republic to Czechia, FYROM to North Macedonia, and potentially India to Bharat, countries changing names, or at least considering it, seems to be on…