Commentary
Find our newspaper columns, blogs, and other commentary pieces in this section. Our research focuses on Advanced Biology, High-Tech Geopolitics, Strategic Studies, Indo-Pacific Studies & Economic Policy
NDTV | Opinion: Inside China's 'Low-Cost' Arms Exports, Serving Everyone From Pak To West Africa
By Anushka Saxena and Manoj Kewalramani
China's arms exports to Pakistan are one part of a complex military production, export, and diplomacy ecosystem that Beijing has built. Over the years, China has focused on becoming self-reliant in the defence manufacturing domain. This process has included making export variants of major weapons. That said, there are challenges that China faces in its defence export agenda. These include political issues and quality-related concerns that make Beijing the lesser-preferred option over the world's top three defence exporters: the US, Russia, and France. Nonetheless, China's defence export market is expanding. And this has significant implications for India.
By Anushka Saxena and Manoj Kewalramani
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The Hindu | The political deadlock in Taiwan
By Anushka Saxena
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s biggest policymaking hurdle has been that his party had failed to achieve a majority in the Legislative Yuan, with the opposition KMT winning 52 seats out of the 113 parliamentary seats. Subsequently, the KMT has blocked vital steps to secure Taiwan’s internal democratic and legal processes.
By Anushka Saxena
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MoneyControl | Invisibilising Taiwan
By Anushka Saxena
A flawed interpretation of a UN General Assembly resolution has allowed multilateral bodies such as the WHO to keep Taiwan from contributing to its work in full measure. Individual countries, too, have used this resolution to limit engagement with Taiwan. To counter China’s influence, Taiwan has to expand its diplomatic outreach to ensure it’s not shut out.
By Anushka Saxena
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India’s World | Dissecting the Cyber Aspect of Operation Sindoor
By Lokendra Sharma and Karthik Bappanad
While heightened cybersecurity alertness from both the government and the private sector has certainly helped, it is the cyber strength built over the years that has primarily ensured the resilience of the Indian cyber landscape.
By Lokendra Sharma and Karthik Bappanad
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The Indian Express | BRI’s debt trap and China’s expanding footprint
By Anushka Saxena
When Beijing’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) marked its decadal milestone in October 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping said, “Viewing others’ development as a threat or taking economic interdependence as a risk will not make one’s own life better or speed up one’s development.” However, instead of mutually-beneficial interdependence, China today has managed to make 140 countries highly asymmetrically dependent on it for economic investment and trade. Many of these dependencies are a result of the over $1.175 trillion worth of construction contracts and non-financial investments Beijing has undertaken under the BRI. Now, analysts suggest that loans to the tune of a whopping $35 billion may be up for repayment in 2025, and most countries affected are financially vulnerable, developing economies.
By Anushka Saxena
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The National Interest | 'Indian Threat', '1962 War': How Chinese 'Experts' Are Batting For Pak Over India (Copy)
By Anushka Saxena
India and Pakistan are embroiled in hostilities in the aftermath of a terror attack on civilians in Pahalgam, Kashmir on April 22. India’s military response is the result of Pakistan’s military-jihadi complex perpetrating terrorism and discord in Kashmir. With Operation Sindoor, India has set a new normal by expanding the scale of its response to terrorism. This includes moving beyond Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and terror camps and sites to striking targets closer to military installations across Pakistan.
By Anushka Saxena
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NDTV | 'Indian Threat', '1962 War': How Chinese 'Experts' Are Batting For Pak Over India
By Anushka Saxena
In the aftermath of the terror attack on civilians in Pahalgam, Kashmir, on April 22, 2025, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiankun commented that Beijing firmly opposes all forms of terrorism. And yet, China's posturing around the state of India-Pakistan relations has largely stuck to three assertions, which express its implicit support for Pakistan's position.
By Anushka Saxena
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ThinkChina | Xi’s purge: Can a divided army fight?
By Anushka Saxena
The absence of CMC Vice-Chairman He Weidong raises questions on the stability of the Chinese PLA. As Beijing continues to emphasise “actual” combat preparedness and turn the heat on Taiwan, there is little scope for a military that cannot win a conflict it promises to.
By Anushka Saxena
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Moneycontrol | China's thorium reactor is a wake-up call for India
By Lokendra Sharma
India should pursue direct thorium utilisation in parallel to the three-stage nuclear power programme as it’s only the first stage which has been mastered so far. Also, there’s a need to diversify reactor designs to complement the current set of pressurised heavy water reactors
By Lokendra Sharma
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Indian Express | China is turning the heat on Taiwan
By Anushka Saxena
Since the inception of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) leader Lai Ching-te’s presidency in Taiwan, China’s policy signalling vis-à-vis the island has become much harsher and more aggressive. China’s stance on Taiwan has taken a more urgent and assertive turn in recent months. The unveiling of the new Shuiqiao amphibious vessels at Zhanjiang port in Guangdong, coupled with heightened activity and aggressive posturing by the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command — including the recent Strait Thunder 2025A exercises — signals a sharpened focus on readiness and control. At the same time, internal probes into top military figures such as Central Military Commission (CMC) Vice-Chairman He Weidong, former Political Work Department head Miao Hua, and Eastern Theater Commander Lin Xiangyang have effectively dismantled what was known as the “Taiwan-Fujian” faction within China’s military leadership. Adding to the sense of impending conflict, some outlets, citing unnamed intelligence sources, have suggested that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could occur within six months — further fueling anxiety and speculation.
By Anushka Saxena
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Indian Express | In global trade war, China is unlikely to blink first. It has options to counter Trump
By Amit Kumar
By Amit Kumar
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Moneycontrol | US’ cyber security strategy relegates Russian threat, makes China main target
By Lokendra Sharma
The Trump administration has shown definitive signs of shuffling its hierarchy of threats. Russia, the focus during the last three presidencies, is no longer seen through the same lens. Resources are now being shifted to tackling China. It assumes salience in the backdrop of an intensifying US-China trade war
By Lokendra Sharma
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Firstpost | Agentic AI: The next frontier in artificial intelligence
By Arindam Goswami
Agentic artificial intelligence follows the natural evolution of AI and a logical technological trajectory. These are new types of systems that can proactively identify problems, create plans, and execute complex tasks across digital environments with minimal human supervision. Regulatory response to these developments has to keep up.
By Arindam Goswami
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Moneycontrol | From Technological Rivalry to Global Governance: The path forward
By Arindam Goswami
The current geopolitical landscape is shaped by technological nationalism, driven by competition in AI and semiconductors. However, game theory and historical examples suggest that this phase will evolve into co-operative frameworks, balancing national interests with global technological cooperation
By Arindam Goswami
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Firstpost | How Trump’s tariffs can be opportunity in crisis for India
By Arindam Goswami
While Trump’s tariffs aren’t designed to help India, they may inadvertently provide the external catalyst needed for India’s economic transformation. Sometimes, the most valuable gifts come in the most unexpected packages.
The Donald Trump administration’s recent imposition of tariffs on Indian goods could have a silver lining if India can seize the opportunity. In conditions reminiscent of the 1991 crisis that opened up India’s economy, India could use this opportunity for its long-overdue economic transformation by fostering a more export-oriented economy. This is an opportunity to shift the domestic Overton window on protectionism, albeit under pressure.
By Arindam Goswami
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Moneycontrol | Lessons from China's support for local startups — a path to innovation for India
By Arindam Goswami
China's local governments drive innovation through fiscal autonomy, incentives, and policy experimentation. India can adopt similar reforms by enhancing fiscal power, creating innovation zones, and aligning municipal leaders’ incentives with startup growth to foster a competitive, innovative economy
By Arindam Goswami
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The Diplomat | China Revises PLA Regulations to Focus on ‘Conscious Discipline’
By Anushka Saxena
As a code of conduct for the PLA, the revised regulations are further expected to emphasize combat effectiveness as the military’s top priority.
By Anushka Saxena
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Indian Express | The colonial era of AI is here — India must chart its own course
By Arindam Goswami
The Paris AI Action Summit, with its impressive array of declarations and initiatives, could not mask a deeper geopolitical reality: We have entered the colonial era of artificial intelligence, where corporate sovereignty increasingly trumps national sovereignty, and global governance and ethics have been put on the backburner while still being paid lip service. The final declaration by the real power players— the US and the UK — speaks volumes. They are the tech giants who have effectively colonised the digital frontier.
By Arindam Goswami
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Firstpost | Paris AI Summit: How Indo-French partnership can be a rule maker for future innovations
By Arindam Goswami
As co-chair of the AI Action Summit in Paris, India, under the prime ministership of Narendra Modi, has the opportunity to kickstart a new chapter in global technological cooperation. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has a pervasive impact across different sectors. In that sense, it is a general-purpose technology (GPT), to borrow the term from Jeffrey Ding’s GPT Diffusion Theory, which promises to reshape various sectors. Nations are grappling with both its enormous potential and inherent challenges. Now is the time to come together and collaborate on setting a strong foundation for the years to come.
With its considerable experience in building and running a vast digital public infrastructure, coupled with a workforce that has proven expertise in software development, India could become an important voice in the global AI discourse
By Arindam Goswami
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Firstpost | Creative insecurity: What India can learn from Chinese DeepSeek saga
By Arindam Goswami and Shobhankita Reddy
DeepSeek benefitted from a supportive structural Chinese research and development ecosystem that existed for several decades. Also, Xi Jinping’s vision for a ‘Chinese Dream’ and national rejuvenation is rooted in technological supremacy
By Arindam Goswami and Shobhankita Reddy
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