The turn of the 21st century has seen a dramatic upswing in the India-Japan bilateral, which has been upgraded to a Special Strategic and Global Partnership in 2014 from a Strategic and Global Partnership (2006). This enhancement is intended to jointly tackle changed global geopolitical and economic dynamics, triggered largely by an irredentist China and, more recently, an inward-looking United States. The rapport and friendship that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Prime Minister Shinzo Abe share read more

In March 2019, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has warned that China is facing a “crucial year”. China is facing an economic slowdown, a trade conflict with the United States and an economy drowning in debt, all at the same time. Policy makers in China have to choose between maintaining short-term growth and longer term financial sustainability. It will not be possible to have both: Either the debt burden will be reduced, which will result in significantly slower growth, or China read more

The term ‘fintech’, so widely used in India, is not defined by any Indian law. Fintech is broadly (and popularly) understood as that service or product which cuts across technology and finance. This means everything from blockchain/cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, data to the internet of things, falls within the ambit of fintech. It involves a multiplicity of regulators and stakeholders. With fintech now becoming integral to India’s development agenda and given its dynamic nature, it is critical to create a holistic read more

April 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Islamic Republic of Iran, barely two months after the Iranian Revolution shook the status quo — the Iranian rulers, West Asia, the whole world. Forty years ago, any mention of Iran – or Persia, as many still called it – brought to mind cats, carpets and crude oil. The Cold War was at its height, and Iran was a country firmly within the West’s purview, allied to the United States and other read more