Srinath Raghavan

A new landscape evolves

The 1967 election showed a widening of the electorate and a deepening of Indian democracy. Voter turnout had risen from just under 45% in the first general election, in 1952, to 61% in 1967. The opposition was uniting and, at the same time, the Congress was divided from within.

India’s path to power: Strategy in a world adrift

At a time when global, regional and national politics is undergoing a churn, some of India’s finest public intellectuals — including those who have been policymakers and those who have observed and studied India in depth — have come together to outline the contours of the new world order and, more importantly, what India should do to achieve its objectives.

Naya Kashmir: It’s not a new idea | Opinion

Like Modi, Indira Gandhi, too, wanted to alter the status quo in the state almost 50 years ago

Why an escalation in US-Iran tensions should worry Delhi

Faced with serious attempt to squeeze its economic or strategic assets, Iran will respond in ways that can jeopardise maritime traffic in the Gulf.

The defence policy must be prioritised

The government has enormous political capital to bring in defence reforms. Band-aid fixes won’t work

Jaishankar has his work cut out

The foreign minister has to figure out ways to arrest the slide in the India-US bilateral ties.

Diplomatic patience will pay more dividends on the China front

Diplomacy should help expand our options in such a context rather foreclose them in petulance. Think of how the Chinese are dealing with the Trump administration over the trade war. New Delhi’s efforts should be geared towards getting China to yet again calibrate its approach to India and Pakistan

Indo-Saudi ties, a fine balancing act

Saudi crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman’s India visit comes at an important juncture in the geopolitics of southwest Asia as well as in the bilateral relationship between the two countries.

Question the government on Rafale

The handling of the Rafale issue by the Modi government have dealt a deep blow to India’s military modernisation.

Army chief Rawat’s statements ahistorical, poorly judged

Army chief General Bipin Rawat sparked a political row with his remarks that the All India United Democratic Front has been growing faster than the BJP in Assam because of support of Muslims, with Pakistan and China pushing Bangladeshi migrants into the North-east.

Kashmir’s Article 35A conundrum: New Delhi must tread carefully

Kashmiris are apprehensive that any move to undo Article 35A of the Indian Constitution would open the sluice gates for a demographic transformation of the Valley—an objective propounded by Sangh groups as the ideal solution to the Kashmir problem.

Sikkim standoff: India cannot afford to allow China to change the status quo | Opinion

India must abandon the notion that our grand strategic choices boil down to either balancing against China in concert with the United States or bandwagoning with China. It is time we demonstrated strategic creativity and diplomatic agility.

Sheikh Hasina’s hate statues can only weaken democracy in Bangladesh

Sheikh Hasina’s efforts to reach out to the religious sentiments of Bangladesh’s Muslim majority has emboldened conservative Islamists to escalate their demands

Why private defence manufacturing in India needs to take off

The government has all along insisted that defence industry would be a centrepiece of Make in India. Although the NDA government has taken its time to approve the policy, it has done well in thinking through its underlying rationale as well as the practical steps needed to unleash the Indian private sector in this critical domain.

Defence policy has to be a joint effort between civilians and the military

The recently unveiled Joint Doctrine for the Indian Armed Forces lays out the military’s perspective on what is wrong with our existing institutional arrangements of civil-military relations and how to set it right

Our historians have scant interest in wars or soldiers

Between the old imperialist memorial and the proposed nationalist one — the proposed National War Memorial — India’s contribution to the Second World War has been airbrushed out of existence

How Emergency provided the template for the mobilisation of Hindutva forces

The Emergency had far-reaching consequences for Indian politics. Its historical consequences may still be unfolding.

Assembly elections: Former generals should steer clear of politics

The one rank, one pension episode underscored the danger of the military being treated as a special interest group by politicians. The coddling of the military by any political party will invariably lead others to follow suit or to look at it with suspicion.

India must involve itself in the China-Pakistan One Belt, One Road initiative to stay in the game

The reality is that the Asian economic order is set to undergo far-reaching changes. By refusing to take a realistic tack, India is effectively depriving itself of an opportunity to shape the transforming landscape of Asia

If you think Trump is good for India you are in for a shock

The striking success of Indians who immigrated in recent decades is also testimony to the extraordinary changes in America since the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Without the delegitimisation of the older, brisk racism and overt xenophobia Indians could not have scaled such heights in the US

Not fully empowered chief of defence staff is a bad idea

If the Chief of Defence Staff does not outrank the service chiefs, then his ability to function as the single-point military adviser to the government will be undoubtedly circumscribed.

SP’s battle differs sharply from the ideological rifts in past socialist parties

A closer look at the history of socialist parties shows that the ongoing convulsion in the Samajwadi party is qualitatively different from those of the past. And these differences underscore the fundamental challenge confronting the party

The choice of service chiefs is a matter of political judgment

The choice of service chiefs involves multiple trade-offs and considerations that cannot be wished away by sticking to seniority or hankering after criteria of “merit”. But as with all political judgments it will be open to public scrutiny

On demonesitation, will Modi do a Morarji or a Pandit-ji?

A brief history of the Gold Control Order issued by intransigent finance minister Morarji Desai reveals some interesting insights.

OROP controversy: Stop playing politics with the Indian Army

When it comes to the military, politics cannot be as usual. Once we begin to sway the strongest coercive institution in the State for partisan political ends, we can never be sure that it will not end up coercing the political system as a whole

India should be prepared for the perils and prospects of diplomatic leadership

The Suez crisis was not a triumph for Indian diplomacy. Yet, by showcasing its ability to play a genuinely independent role, India buttressed its standing as an Asian power

Reduce friction, it’s worth a try

India and China must show mutual restraint to avoid a major crisis

Much ink has been spilt in the past days on analysing the likely impact of the “surgical strikes” on our relations with Pakistan. But its trickier implications may be vis-à-vis China