tpp-map Courtesy: United States Trade Representative
23 November 2016

A world divided by trade deals?

Amid the debate of a U.S.-centric TPP template or a China-led RCEP model, it is important to consider if such trade agreements are building blocks or stumbling blocks to global free trade. With the passage of the TPP still uncertain in the U.S. Congress, and the RCEP unlikely to be acceptable to the U.S., the more likely global trade scenario will be fragmentation

Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speak during their presidential town hall debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Jim Young TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY Courtesy: Reuters
13 October 2016

U.S. Elections: shifting geopolitics for West Asia

This excerpt was transcribed from The Gateway House Podcast episode, 'U.S. Elections: Trump’s down but not out' which is part of the special miniseries on the U.S. election and its foreign policy implications. In the episode, Ambassador Neelam Deo discussed the larger foreign policy implications mentioned by the presidential candidates at the second Presidential debate on Sunday night

TPP Courtesy: ustr.gov
26 November 2015

TPP & ISDS: new tests for India

The U.S.-driven Trans Pacific Partnership agreement between 12 countries, which is aiming to become the new standard of world trade, impacts domestic systems globally. For India, it will skew investment and intellectual property rights, and especially the debate over the Investor State Dispute System which allows companies to challenge sovereign rights and public policy.

Military_truck_carrying_IRBMs_of_Pakistani_Army Courtesy: Wikipedia
3 September 2015

U.S.-Pakistan: A new nuke normal

A report by the Carnegie Endowment and the Stimson Center attempts to recognise Pakistan’s nuclear programme as ‘normal’ and India’s as not. However, with dangerous new additions to Islamabad’s arsenal, a throwback to simplistic US rationalisations still won’t bring Pakistan into the non-proliferation mainstream.

Mortar_attack_on_Shigal_Tarna_garrison,_Kunar_Province,_87 Courtesy: Erwin Franzen/Wikimedia
14 August 2015

Pakistan’s House of Cards

The August attack in Kabul and the now public disclosure of the death of Taliban leader Mullah Omar has caused Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to shift in outlook towards Pakistan. The "Pakistan-led" peace process is now tumbling like a house of cards backed implicitly by the United States.

In this photo released by China's Xinhua news agency, a destroyer of the South China Sea Fleet of the Chinese Navy fire a missile during a traning in South China Sea on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007. Dozen of warships of the South China Sea Fleet were deployed in the competitive training to improve combat capability of the fleet, Xinhua said.  (AP Photo/Xinhua, Zha Chunming) Courtesy: India Strategic
16 July 2015

Military strategies collide in the Asia-Pacific

The recent re-evaluation by the US, China, Japan, and Russia of their military strategies reflects new geopolitical equations in which the Asia Pacific is a major strategic intersection. Turmoil in this region can impact India’s trade and security interests, and to avoid this India must craft a balance between its relations with all the countries involved