On Chabahar, India Must Recover Lost Ground With Iran Quickly

Ripples in the India-Iran bilateral relationship have risen to the surface once again, forcing the question of whether India's policy and commitment towards the development of the Chabahar Port project is unraveling. Three days after Iran's announcement that it was starting work - finally, alone - on a crucial rail link between Zahedan and Chabahar…

What Nepal’s New Aggression Reveals For India And Its Neighbours

For the second time since its transition to a democratic republic, India's relations with Nepal have deteriorated sharply. The latest controversy over the inauguration by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh of an 80-kilometre stretch of road that connects the Lipulekh Pass in the north eastern corner of Uttarakhand to Kailash Mansarovar in order to make the…

When Professional Is Personal (lessons from the field)

No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main… Any man’s death diminishes me, Because I am involved in mankind… And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls It tolls for thee. —John Donne Nothing breaks a heart more than…

Israel’s Nationality Bill Is Challenging the Core of Jewish Identity

As the sun sets over the Mediterranean off the coast of Tel Aviv on Sabbath evening, Israelis, young and old, head down to the many bars along Ben Yehuda Street, or to the beach to cool off in the July heat. Ideally, Jewry across the world is meant to be indoors on this day, focused…

Contesting the dragon: India and ASEAN converge

The invitation to 10 ASEAN leaders and heads of government as Chief Guests on Republic day, focused conversations on new and emerging alliances, and ongoing tensions between India and China on the Doklam plateau, make it clear that 2018’s foreign policy focus is directed Eastward. Even though a ‘Look East Policy’ has officially, and some would…

Hot Wars and Cold Conflicts: Finland’s Immigrant Challenge

With his neon, yellow jacket identifying him as a volunteer, Hazrat Shah is hard to miss. He’s serving up warm food and drink under a makeshift tent to refugees in Finland, just outside Helsinki’s main railway station. Women, children and men huddle around a small fire in the cold to protest the Finnish government’s decision…

The Clash of Civilizations-revisited.

At the end of the Cold War, political scientist Samuel Huntington who taught at Harvard University created a hypothesis. As the break up of the Soviet Union resulted in ethnic conflicts – across Central Asia and Eastern Europe most government officials and foreign policy analysts used his Clash of Civilizations as a prescient bible –…

My views on Trump- comments to Reuters

Reuters in Delhi interviewed me as part of a piece they were writing on what women in Asia think of the US Election Campaign, and specificall on Trump and his comments on groping women. The interview appears as a brief comment here

Should India Have Voted For LGBT Rights At UN?

 In a week when five gay Indians went to the Supreme Court seeking protection of their fundamental right to personal safety and liberty under the constitution, making the case that Section 377 violated them, they were referred to the Chief Justice of India to decide the validity of the petition. India has decided to once…

A Tehran Diary (Outlook Magazine)

The change in Iran's capital, Tehran between my last visit in August 2012, and this May seemed dramatic in many ways. In a post sanctions world, the economy needs help, but Iran’s people are hungry for the comforts of our times—fast cars, fine foods, designer clothes and travel. Read here