Book Chapter: A Decade of Steady Economic Decay

Authors – Ajay Bisaria, Abhishek Kumar Abstract This piece analyses Pakistan’s persistent economic challenges, particularly in the decade  from 2013 to 2024. It links the country’s financial crises with structural weaknesses,  primarily military dominance, that has led to political instability, flawed economic choices  and an addiction to IMF bailouts. The economic crisis has aggravated from […]

Weathering the Trumpstorm: Navigating Tariffs in Indo-US Trade Relations

The road to peace in Europe—and fixing Indo-US relations—may pass through the icy corridors of Alaska If there is one tool that Donald Trump wields with as much relish as tariffs, it is sanctions. These are the blunt instruments of choice for America’s chief peacemaker and dealmaker, used both to halt wars and to remake […]

Sprinkle Trade On Baked Alaska?

Trump-Putin’s summit could be a turning point for Ukraine and global commerce. If talks succeed, sanctions could be adjusted & India might face fewer tariff troubles. If talks fail, except a tougher Trump If there is one tool Donald Trump wields with as much relish as tariffs, it is sanctions. These are the blunt instruments […]

Excerpt: The Great India Game

Narendra Singh Sarila was an aide-de-camp (ADC) to Governor General Mountbatten before he joined the 1948 batch of India’s foreign service and went on to serve for thirty-seven years as an Indian diplomat. In his book on the ‘untold story’ of India’s Partition, Sarila emphasized a thesis that has since gathered wider support based on […]

Sindoor’s New Red Lines Are Drawn

When LeT terrorists struck in Kashmir on 22 April, Pakistan had effectively jumped on the first rung of a familiar conflict escalation ladder. It did so with implausible deniability of its role.  But this time was different. The two countries climbed perilously higher into conflict than they had done ever before in this century. Between […]

CSC: The One BIG Takeaway

What’s the single takeaway from each of our panelists? Summing up, individually, how do we feel, what’s the most important understanding from this discussion? Ambassador Ajay Bisaria: By way of answering your question and a partial summary of this very interesting discussion on our neighbourhood, what is emerging is that we are in a very […]

India’s Post-Conflict Diplomacy: Reclaiming the Global Narrative on Terrorism

The Pahalgam terrorist attack of April 2025 triggered the articulation of a new security doctrine by India—a ‘new normal’ for countering cross-border terrorism at its source, defining a revised national security and foreign policy vision. India’s robust military response—Operation Sindoor—was calibrated deterrence, designed to send a clear message of resolve, primarily to Pakistan but also […]

Will India’s ‘Integrated Deterrence’ Stem Cross-Border Terror?

As more information about the battleground realities trickles in, security analysts are busy finding templates to explain India’s calibrated counter-terror action launched in response to the brutal cross-border terrorist attack in April 2025. Operation Sindoor has already reignited debates on the theory of deterrence. Did the deterrence of 2019 fade? Does deterrence really work? Can […]