tt Courtesy: Telegraph India
1 July 2022

Tax Gold, Drive Smuggling

India has raised import duty on gold yet again. This will drive gold smuggling, whose nearly 16% return on investment therefrom will make hedge funds envious. Apart from loss of revenue, smuggling also means greater cash flows for the underworld, and potential terror finance.

thumbnail_IMG_1596 Courtesy: The Print
14 April 2022

AAP, ISI, Khalistan and the counter spin

Pro-Khalistan organisations have collaborated with the ISI to disseminate anti-India narratives and influence the Indian diaspora. While this has little traction within the country, there is a need for India to extend support to those expatriate Indian communities which are actively countering the misinformation spread by these organisations and Pakistan-sponsored fringe groups.

New,Delhi,,India-aug,24,2021:,Group,Of,Afghan,Women,Sitting Courtesy: Shutterstock
27 January 2022

Developing a balanced Indian refugee policy

India has seen a recent influx of refugees from Afghanistan and Myanmar. This has highlighted the absence of a concrete refugee policy in India. India must formalise its approach towards refugees. The Citizen Amendment Act of 2019, is a start. India can move this forward by learning from the examples of other democracies like the U.S., Kenya and South Korea, on how to balance international law with its national security interests.

18571132430_2b3b04c7c9_e Courtesy: Flickr
27 August 2020

Pakistan’s international terrorist hall of fame

On 18th August, Pakistan announced wide-ranging restrictions on prominent anti-India terrorist leaders. These steps are clearly aimed to prevent Pakistan from slipping into the black list of the Financial Action Task Force, where Pakistan is already grey-listed. Their implementation remains key as in the past, Islamabad's global anti-terrorism commitments have been abandoned once global scrutiny of its support to terrorist infrastructure, decreases or is distracted.

shutterstock_1783902764 Courtesy: Shutterstock
20 August 2020

A bite of data

Hong Kong’s sweeping new National Security Law could be a window of opportunity for India. Companies with established data centres in Hong Kong are worried for the privacy of their customers as the law’s stringency has sparked changes in online activity.

shutterstock_365191952 (1) Courtesy: Shutterstock
19 March 2020

Good and bad of low oil prices

The Coronavirus pandemic has caused crude oil prices to crash almost 40% even as Saudi Arabia and Russia pump more oil into the market. Fears are rife that this crisis will hit demand. There are repercussions on the U.S., the world’s top oil producer, on India, one of its new clients, and on the Gulf Cooperation Council countries

shutterstock_1062335495 Courtesy: Shutterstock
5 March 2020

Shadow of debt over Mombasa port

Kenya’s Mombasa port, the gateway to East and Central Africa, has enabled the Chinese to gain better access to resources in the region and export destinations within Africa through the Belt and Road Initiative. A recent visit offered insights into some of the shortcomings of increasing Chinese investments in the region – and the scope for other countries to step in

1234 Courtesy: MEA/Flickr
23 January 2020

Javad Zarif’s India outreach

Iran’s foreign minister Javad Zarif was in Mumbai on 16-17 January 2020, just days after the Iran-U.S. showdown in Iraq and the assassination of Iran’s top general. Zarif explained Iran’s dilemma to audiences in India and was hoping for public support. But the fact is that the January tensions are not Iran’s problem alone; it’s a global game-changer that has propelled the formation of new alliances