Indian democracy’s moment of truth
Once admired for its commitment to pluralism, India no longer stands out as a model democracy.
India’s Hindu ‘emperor’ wants a third term
India's upcoming election sees BJP's narrative shift to Hindu identity under PM Modi, prompting opposition emphasis on economic issues
Does India have a hit list?
The attempted murder of Sikh separatist, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a US citizen, in New York City, allegedly at the behest of an Indian government official in New Delhi, has cast a shadow over India’s global image.
India, Gaza, and the drift from non-alignment
For decades after independence, India’s approach to the world was shaped by its historical experience of colonialism.
The US and India’s non-aligned alliance
Modi's recent visit to Washington appears to mark a new chapter in the India-US relationship.
The Modi Decade
Dissent is framed as disloyalty, with criticism of government policies labeled “anti-national.”
Crime and Punishment in Uttar Pradesh
The shortcomings of India’s criminal justice system extend far beyond Uttar Pradesh. Just last month, the 69 defendants accused of perpetrating the 2002 Naroda Gam massacre in Ahmedabad were all acquitted.
March 11, 2022
India’s Ukraine Tightrope
Russia’s war in Ukraine has exposed India’s strategic vulnerabilities as few other things could, raising fundamental questions about the country’s position in the world, its regional security, and the wisdom of its long-term relationships.
January 7, 2022
India’s Chauvinist Crusade
The restrictive, illiberal trend that has come to characterise India over the last five years has a new data point.
December 10, 2021
The global coal hypocrisy
India has somehow emerged as the villain of last month’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), blamed for resisting cuts to coal consumption even as toxic air envelops its capital, New Delhi.
November 23, 2021
Column by Shashi Tharoor: Modi’s Anti-Muslim Jihad
After India’s recent defeat by Pakistan at the T20 Cricket World Cup tournament, Indian bowler Mohammed Shami faced vicious trolling on social media.
October 8, 2021
India’s Taliban Problem
In the weeks since the Taliban’s theocratic terrorists returned to power in Kabul, the people of Afghanistan, particularly its women and girls, have been subjected to unimaginable suffering as the world’s attention turns to other issues. But many other countries, and especially India, have reason to worry.
September 5, 2021
The Olympic-size difference between India and China
The Tokyo Olympic Games are over, and the Japanese people and government have heaved a sigh of relief that the spectacle passed without a major Covid-19 outbreak in the athletes’ village or other disasters.
August 7, 2021
Among India’s Believers
It is rare for a public-opinion survey to shake established perceptions of a country in the way a recent Pew Research Center study of religion in India has done. The revelations in Pew’s comprehensive survey, based on interviews with 30,000 adults in 17 languages between late 2019 and early 2020, have astonished many.
June 10, 2021
Pakistan’s Taliban Monster
The late head of Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, Lieutenant General Hamid Gul, was fond of boasting that when Afghanistan’s history came to be written,
April 24, 2021
Modi’s war on the press
A flurry of assaults on freedom of the press in recent months has raised troubling questions about the state of India’s democracy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
March 21, 2021
India’s Smart Vaccine Diplomacy
As countries scramble to secure Covid-19 vaccines, ugly expressions like “vaccine race” and “vaccine nationalism” have entered the global lexicon.
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