On July 14, the United States (US) House of Representatives passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would strengthen the US-India “defense partnership” and proposed waiving any sanctions against India triggered under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) which penalises countries that engage in significant defence transactions with Russia, Iran or North Korea. This amendment was authored by Ro Khanna, an … [Read more...]
What the successful completion of the 2+2 Dialogue signifies
The 2+2 Dialogue between United States (US) secretary of state Antony Blinken and secretary of defense Lloyd J Austin and India’s defence minister Rajnath Singh and foreign minister S Jaishankar on April 11 provided a platform for the two countries to reaffirm the strength of their “partnership” at a time when the India-US relationship has been under pressure due to India’s neutral position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The 2+2 Dialogue between United States (US) secretary of state … [Read more...]
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine throws world order into disarray
The brazenness with which Russia attacked Ukraine signals that the multipolar world order Moscow and Beijing are seeking may be near — or already here. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has seemingly upended the three-decade-long, post-Cold War, international order which the United States (US) dominated. Russia and China have been calling for a new world order, not dominated by a single power, and they want to be at the top of that order. The brazenness with which Russia … [Read more...]
Remembering Nobel Laureate Khorana
The failure to recognise the contributions of Khorana this year . The origin of the PCR test, one of modern medical science’s best tools in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, traces its beginnings to Khorana’s foundational research on the ribonucleic acid gene. Har Gobind Khorana was an Indian American who shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine and was awarded the National Medal of Science in the United States (US). His 100th birth anniversary passed … [Read more...]
Democracy summit: A first Step for Renewing Democracy Worldwide
On December 9-10, United States (US) President Joe Biden convened the first Summit for Democracy virtually. Roughly 100 leaders participated in the summit. The main goal for this forum was to bolster democracy worldwide at a time when it has retreated in many countries, including in the US. The summit had three major themes: Fighting authoritarianism, tackling corruption, and promoting human rights. Why did the Biden administration convene this event? What necessitated it? The first … [Read more...]
Facebook won’t reform on its own. Strong regulation is key
The past five years have been phenomenally good for Facebook’s bottomline. Its market cap has nearly tripled since November 2016. In the most recent quarter, Facebook’s profit grew 17% to $9.19 billion. However, from a public relations standpoint, the years since 2016 have been difficult for Facebook, as its business practices have been scrutinised the world over. The recent release of a trove of whistleblower documents, dubbed the Facebook Papers, was so damaging that … [Read more...]
AUKUS won’t affect India-US ties. But it will affect Quad.
On September 15, just nine days before he was scheduled to host Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the premiers of Australia and Japan for the Quad summit, United States (US) President Joe Biden announced the formation of a new multilateral security alliance. AUKUS has more or less the same mission as the Quad, which is containing China, even though both groups don’t advertise that as the raison d'etre for their existence. The new security pact caused consternation in several … [Read more...]
The India story is back. But it needs courage and perseverance
Not long ago, India was termed the “darling of Davos,” a country destined to achieve greatness. In the first decade of this century, there was hardly an investor in the West who was not enamoured of the “India story”. Then came a series of miscalculations and poor legislative and executive moves, such as the retrospective tax law and the demonetisation of 2016 which changed the narrative. The good news is that the Indian government has begun to rewrite that story. Parliament … [Read more...]
The Afghan endgame: The US retreats, Taliban returns
The Taliban has been emboldened by the American withdrawal and the prospects for a negotiated peace for Afghanistan have grown exceedingly dim. With the last batch of American soldiers returning home from Bagram Air Base, once the symbol of the United States (US)’s presence in Afghanistan, on July 2, the longest war in the America’s history is drawing to an end. However, around 650 soldiers will stay back with the limited mission of protecting the US embassy and … [Read more...]
How Indian-Americans shaped the US response to India’s second wave
With its leadership in mobilising America’s efforts to help combat the pandemic in India, the Indian-American community has demonstrated what it can accomplish when it comes together for a common purpose. The United States (US) has provided aid worth at least half-a-billion dollars since the devastating second wave of Covid-19 struck India. US tech and financial companies such as Google, Microsoft, MasterCard and others have donated money, medicine and medical devices to India to … [Read more...]