In The News

India to Modernize Vietnam’s Defense Forces

Suhasini Haidar October 29, 2014
India has committed to helping modernize Vietnam’s security forces, after talks between the countries’ prime ministers, Narendra Modi and Nguyen Tan Dung. The agreement gives India access to oil exploration in two blocks of the South China Sea and provides $100 million line of credit to Vietnam for defense purchases, reports Suhasini Haidar for the Hindu. The two blocks allotted for Indian...

Bangladeshi Workers Organize to Protect Their Most Valuable Export: Themselves

Tiffany Williams October 15, 2014
In Bangladesh, a densely populated country of 157 million, export of migrant workers has become a staple of the economy. Lacking viable economic opportunities at home, laborers often look abroad for a source of income. Facilitating such migration has become a business in itself, with agencies charging exorbitant fees. These middlemen, or “Dalals,” have come under intense scrutiny for failing to...

Complexity Marks Asia’s Use of Social Media

Thomas Crampton October 13, 2014
Myanmar is reengaging with the world, a sudden immersion in the era of social media. “Using the benefit of hindsight from social media adoption in other Asian countries, it is safe to predict that Myanmar will benefit in terms of education, accountability and transparency,” writes Thomas Crampton, of Ogilvy & Mather for GlobalAsia, who examines social media trends throughout Asia. “There will...

Trade With Caution

Nayan Chanda October 10, 2014
Foreign direct investment in target emerging economies is competitive. Japan and China have each announced new investments in India. The investors do not simply rely on geopolitical imperatives. “Sitting on a reserve of $4 trillion, China needs profitable avenues to use its savings and find employment for its citizens. Chinese companies need places to invest their cash reserves, export their...

Step on the Gas: What India Must Do for the Planet

Sunita Narain and Chandra Bhushan October 3, 2014
After the Montreal Protocol stipulated the phase-out of CFCs, countries could turn to two alternative chemicals used in refrigerants, air conditioners, aerosols and solvents: HCFC depletes ozone but to a lesser degree; HFC protects the ozone but contributes to climate change. To meet international CFC goals, industrialized countries have increased HFC output over the past decade, despite the...

Modi: Forging New Relationships with Washington

Sumit Ganguly September 30, 2014
Based on his own track record and promises to deliver economic growth to all of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was swept into office with a decisive parliamentary majority. Domestic prosperity is linked with global ambitions, and one is not secure without the other, suggests Sumit Ganguly, professor of political science. He reviews Modi’s foreign-policy challenges and recent visits with...

Will It Be a Trusting Relationship?

Nayan Chanda September 29, 2014
Prime Minister Narendra Modi received an enthusiastic welcome from members of the US Indian diaspora at Madison Square Garden, perhaps previewing strategic cooperation between the world’s largest democracy and the United States. In his regular column for the Times of India, Nayan Chanda reviews how the strategic situation has deteriorated for both India and the United States: China is...