Courtesy: Mint
The Russian reaction to the highly successful visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington D.C, has been largely balanced. Russians appreciate India’s need for top technology and investments, but also note that Delhi has done so without compromising its strategic autonomy.
Courtesy: Foreign Policy
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's third visit to the U.S., set against the backdrop of a changing world order, will be in a U.S. that is different from the one he visited in 2014, internationally and domestically. While accepting U.S. largesse, India must offer the U.S. things of value too. These include affordable healthcare, digitalisation, multilateral engagement and collaborations with the Global South.
India's proposal to invite the African Union as a full member of the G20 comes three months before the Leaders’ Summit. The AU’s entry will make the grouping more representative and inclusive, thereby enhancing its moral credibility. For its part, the AU’S economic potential and mineral wealth can have a positive impact on decisions of global importance.
Courtesy: Shutterstock
India’s year-long G20 Presidency completed six months at a time of global economic slowdown and sharpening geopolitical contestation. While India has done well in leveraging the Presidency to articulate its vital goals, the success of the upcoming Delhi Summit will depend on achieving consensus, additionality, and implementability.
Courtesy: Asia Times
After many early achievements, BRICS is now in gridlock, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic, India-China border tensions, and the Ukraine conflict. Despite its apparent diplomatic bankruptcy, 19 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America are eagerly waiting in line to join the grouping.
Courtesy: Reuters
India’s South Asian neighbours have all seen sharp currency devaluations since early 2022. These are a result of maintaining artificially strong exchange rates, made possible by remittances from migrant workers. However, by postponing the inevitable devaluations, these states have made their economic crises much worse.
Courtesy: Business World
The Sri Lankan economy is showing signs of stabilizing after experiencing the worst contraction in its history in 2022. Decisive policies by President Ranil Wickremasinghe, timely Indian aid, and an IMF Programme have laid the groundwork for a return to growth. India and Sri Lanka must now shift from an aid relationship to one which deepens bilateral trade and investment flows.
Courtesy: Swarajya
India, as chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, hosted the foreign ministers’ meet in Goa last week. What would have been an important and expanding regional grouping has been complicated by the Russia-Ukraine crisis, the increased influence of China and an obstructionist Pakistan. Still, India has played its role with an eye on the long term.
Courtesy: Manjeet Kripalani
The political campaigning in Karnataka’s upcoming state elections is heated and hectic, but disconnected from the economic entity that is Karnataka. Few of the issues of literacy, growth, and employment in other parts of India, apply to Karnataka. For Karnataka by itself is a middle-income country in the heart of India, a “tech-driven society” with a transformational global digital economy.
Courtesy: Amit Bhandari
The dominance of the U.S. dollar in global trade and its status as a fiat currency means it is unlikely to be replaced in the near future. However, the repeated and continued use of sanctions has created the need for a multi-currency trading regime. India must now prepare alternative payment systems and promote the use of the Indian rupee in global trade.