Cooperative Federalism Essential for India’s China Policy

Balanced India-China economic relations cannot happen without balanced centre-state relations in India

A ‘Global Community’ with Chinese Characteristics

The Chinese Party-state’s regime interests and worldviews do not allow for the kind of global community that Beijing claims to support.

Ishiba Meets Trump: A Diplomatic Win for Japan Under Pressure

Originally published as Chisako T. Masuo and Jabin T. Jacob, ‘Ishiba-Trump meet a diplomatic win for Japan’, Deccan Herald, 24 February 2025. By mid-February, United States’ new president Donald Trump had invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, King Abdullah II of Jordan, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White …

For China, Age is More than a Number

Originally published as ‘For China, Age is More than a Number’, India’s World, 9 December 2024. On one of his state visits to Egypt in the 1990s, then Chinese President Jiang Zemin is said to have discovered that the Egyptians showcased their civilization as being 5,000 years old. On his return, he ordered that Chinese …

Doval-Wang SR Talks: Back to the Grind

Originally published as, ‘Two steps forward, one step back’, The Indian Express, 21 December 2024. p.11. Published online as ‘On India-China ties, Delhi takes one step forward, two steps back’. While Indian statements on the bilateral relationship with China are exercises in brevity, Chinese statements are more expansive by comparison. Taken together, however, they provide …

Xi Jinping’s civilizational claims: foreign policy strategy and domestic panacea

It is important not to dismiss Xi Jinping’s reference to China as “a great country with a great civilization” as nothing more than domestic grandstanding.

Takeaways from Xi’s Congress

Originally published at The Indian Express, 24 October 2022. p.14. Published online as ‘Xi Jinping’s Congress: What are the implications for China, the world, and India?’ What are the main takeaways  from the CPC Congress?  The CPC’s 20th Congress underlined General Secretary Xi Jinping’s role not just as the core of the Central Committee but also …

എല്ലാം നയിക്കുന്ന പാർട്ടി

Co-authored with Anand Parappadi Krishnan and originally published as ‘എല്ലാം നയിക്കുന്ന പാർട്ടി; ചൈനീസ് പാർട്ടി കോൺഗ്രസിന് കൊടിയേറുമ്പോൾ’, 24 News, 15 October 2022. ചൈനീസ് കമ്മ്യുണിസ്റ്റ് പാർട്ടിയുടെ (സി.സി.പി) ഇരുപതാം ദേശീയ കോൺഗ്രസ് ഒക്ടോബർ 16-ന് ആരംഭിക്കും. ചൈനയുടെ സാമ്പത്തിക-രാഷ്ട്രീയ കരുത്ത് വർധിച്ചതോടെ, ഓരോ അഞ്ച് വർഷത്തെ ഇടവേളയിലും നടക്കുന്ന ഈ സമ്മേളനത്തിന്റെ പ്രാധാന്യവും ഉയർന്നിട്ടുണ്ട്. ഈ സമ്മേളനങ്ങളും അതിൽ ഓരോന്നിലും ജനറൽ സെക്രട്ടറിമാർ അവതരിപ്പിക്കുന്ന രാഷ്ട്രീയ റിപ്പോർട്ടും പുറം ലോകത്തിന് …

India’s Xinjiang Abstention: Neither Morality nor Self-Interest Clear

Originally published as ‘What national interests has India achieved by abstaining at UNHRC vote on Xinjiang?’, Moneycontrol, 14 October 2022. In Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, George Smiley is asked a question about what morality was — whether it was a method or if it was “vested in the aims”. “Difficult to know what one’s aims …