Things are not going well for Dr. Singh The contrast could not be starker. Twenty years ago this week, Manmohan Singh, then serving as finance minister to Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, championed a bold slate of economic reforms that has transformed India in ways few could have imagined back then. Quoting Victor Hugo, […]
Just-concluded elections in five Indian states offer mixed news for embattled Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Congress Party.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s budget plan for the forthcoming fiscal year is more noteworthy for what it does not contain – realistic assumptions and a commitment to press ahead with critical items on the economic reform agenda.
Just a few months ago, Manmohan Singh was being lauded by world statesmen and the international media as the very model of political leadership. Nowadays, increasingly beleaguered, he’s reduced to denying that he’s a lame duck or intends to resign from office.
Short-term measures will not address the roots of India’s food crisis. Long in the making, the real problems extend far beyond a spike in spot prices caused by variable weather and their resolution will require much more than changes in the Cabinet lineup.
In a recent turn of events that could be both good and bad news for India-China relations, China has issued stapled visas to two men from Arunachal Pradesh (AP). While this could be construed as an insult to India, it should also be noted that China had so far refrained from issuing visas to anyone […]
It was like just another formality in the Sino-Indian relationship being fulfilled, as the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao concluded his “significant” “trust-building” India visit on Friday. The Chinese Premier brought along a huge entourage of 400 business leaders to India, signaling the only purpose of his visit – more business. India and China signed […]
Amid a spate of corruption scandals in India, glimmers of political change may have shone forth last week from what until a few years ago was the most unlikeliest of places.
The timing could not have been more perfect. A new report by Global Financial Integrity about Illicit Financial Flows from India comes as the perfect topping on the 2G spectrum scam, the Adarsh Housing Scam and the Commonwealth Games. According to the report, India lost approximately $213 billion in illicit financial flows from the country […]
As expected, Obama’s maiden visit to India this weekend has been a success. President Obama struck all the right notes, and the First Lady charmed India as she danced with children. The highlight of the visit was Obama’s address to the joint session of the Indian Parliament on Monday where he endorsed India’s permanent membership […]
As President Obama prepares to go to India for a three-day state visit, U.S. policy pundits are busy proffering ideas for the bilateral agenda.
Just days before President Obama begins his India visit, the U.S.-Pakistan strategic dialogue is underway in Washington D.C. The talks would focus on the “strategic” relationship between the two countries, a euphemism for more aid money to Pakistan to fight extremists within its borders and help out the U.S. in Afghanistan. Even with almost no […]
Contrary frequent assertions that the development of physical infrastructure is the key to ensuring India’s future, two important speeches last week underscore how the country’s destiny actually lies in the aggressive nurturing of its human capital potential.
The Burmese junta leader, General Than Shwe, is on a five-day visit to India starting today. He will hold high-level meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other Indian officials mostly on matters relating to trade and strategic affairs. The military dictator has been condemned by human rights groups and numerous countries for imprisoning Aung […]
Over the last couple of months, news has been in pouring in about ‘honor killings’ in the northern States of Punjab and Haryana. Numerous couples have been killed mostly by family members on the orders of the ‘khap panchyats’ because they eloped, married outside their caste or within the same ‘gotra’. The problem is not […]