Badi Soch: Grim pronouncement for India
This daily column includes Gateway House’s Badi Soch – big thought – of the day’s foreign policy events. Today’s focus is on the negative outlook S&P has kept in place for India’s sovereign credit rating.
Courtesy: Flickr/CreativeCommons
India-China: Enhancing Economic Synergies
In the coming decade, India and China are set to achieve a historic $100 billion bilateral trade volume. But India’s concerns over growing trade imbalances and market access need to be addressed so that the two neighbouring economies can forge a more sustainable and mutually beneficial partnership
Badi Soch: Ranbaxy verdict a setback for India’s IPR battle
This daily column includes Gateway House’s Badi Soch – big thought – of the day’s foreign policy events. Today’s focus is on the $500 million fine levied on Ranbaxy by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Courtesy: Government/ZA/Flickr
A mandate for BRICS Bank
At the 5th BRICS Summit that begins in South Africa today, the heads of state of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are expected to ratify the creation of the BRICS Bank. After discussion and study for over a year by the respective governments, the bank will be launched with seed money estimated at between $50 billion to $100 billion, and most likely an equal share of voting rights for the management of the bank. What remains
Shyam Saran: BRICS must deliver a Development Bank
The establishment of a BRICS Development Bank will be among the prime topics of discussion at the BRICS Summit on March 26. Gateway House’s Akshay Mathur interviews former Indian Ambassador and Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran, on the prospects and viability of alternate financial architectures.
Courtesy: MEAIndia/Flickr
Promoting private players in ASEAN
The steps taken by the Indian government to enable private sector involvement in ASEAN have been hesitant. After the recent ASEAN summit in New Delhi, it is time for greater coordination of Indian private industry with government-to-government interaction, which will benefit all members, including India.
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The Maldives: Geopolitics trumps geoeconomics
The move by the Maldives to renege on Bangalore-based GMR’s $500 million investment is a classic case of geopolitics trumping geoeconomics. This is an appropriate time for India to boost its diplomatic efforts by including the Ministry of Commerce in initiatives taken by the Ministry of External Affairs.
What China learned from Russia
The Chinese have learned from Russia’s past mistakes at reforming state-owned enterprises (SOE), and some well-connected politicians have reaped the economic benefits that followed. Will the new administration in Beijing reform China’s SOEs or maintain the large role of government in industry?
Courtesy: Pete Souza/The White House
Obama Redux: The view from India
Despite U.S. President Barack Obama’s re-election, a number of issues like the U.S.’s national debt, unemployment and the military withdrawal from Afghanistan need to be addressed. With these multiple national and global imperatives crowding his agenda, will Obama have any time for India?
The fall of Rajat Gupta
Rajat Gupta, former chief of McKinsey & Co., was sentenced to two years in jail for insider trading and a fine of $5 million. Whether that will send a deterrent message to corporate boardrooms, which prosecutors claim, is unclear.