Analysis

Essays

  1. What Would Happen If China Made First Contact With Extraterrestrials?, The Diplomat, March 11, 2020.
  2. Dalliance No More: How India-US Defence Trade Relationship Matures over Years, News18, February 21, 2020. (Methodology note for the article.)
  3. Soldiers, Bureaucrats, and Statesmen: India’s Civil-Military Balance [$], The Diplomat Magazine, January 2020.
  4. India’s Unrealized Maritime Dreams [pdf], The Diplomat Magazine, July 2019.
  5. Death by a thousand cuts, Firstpost (Print), March 23-29, 2019. Also available online here. (Methodology note for the article.)
  6. How India’s defense policy complicates US-India military cooperation, War Room, February 26, 2019.
  7. The New Great Game: China and the intense maritime contest in Indo-Pacific region, Swarajya, April 2018. Also available online here.
  8. In search of China’s grand strategy, ORF Expert Speak | Raisina Debates, April 19, 2017. Reprinted in Harsh V. Pant (ed.) “China Ascendant: Its Rise and Implications” (Observer Research Foundation/HarperCollins, 2019), 13-17 [book].
  9. India is not changing its policy of no first use of nuclear weapons, War on the Rocks, March 29, 2017.
  10. Getting India’s world right, Swarajya, March 2017. Also available online here.
  11. Thomas Schelling and the Golden Age of American strategy, ORF Expert Speak| Atlantic Files, December 19, 2016.
  12. The other legacy of Robert McNamara, War on the Rocks, June 10, 2016.
  13. The evolution of global risks: The first decade of World Economic Forum Global Risks Reports, Global Policy, June 25, 2015.
  14. Resizing Osama bin Laden, Open, Web Exclusive: April 30, 2012. Print: May 14, 2012.

Q&A brief

Modi’s Victory in the Indian Elections: What This Means for Asia and Beyond, Interview for the U.S. Senate India Caucus, National Bureau of Asian Research, May 23, 2019.

Commentary

  1. An intransigent China is a clear and present threat to India’s territorial integrity, Moneycontrol, June 26, 2020.
  2. Is Modi Delaying Military Response For India to Gain Advantage?, Quint, June 20, 2020.
  3. Lessons from the India-China border clashes, The Interpreter, June 19, 2020.
  4. What are India’s military options against China?, Moneycontrol, June 18, 2020.
  5. The Trump card in the Sino-Indian rivalry?, The Interpreter, May 29, 2020.
  6. The remaking of war; Part 2: Machine-learning set to usher in a whole new era of intelligent warfare, Firstpost, March 16, 2020.
  7. Freeman Dyson and the Challenges of the First Nuclear Age, The Wire Science, March 7, 2020.
  8. The remaking of war; Part 1: Risk of 19th Century international politics being pursued using 21st Century military means looms large, Firstpost, March 6, 2020.
  9. Qassem Soleimani’s Assassination: Lessons for India?, The Diplomat, January 4, 2020.
  10. How India Will Cope With Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka, The Diplomat, November 27, 2019.
  11. BRICS 3.0 and India: making the world safe for bilaterals and trilaterals, Africa Portal, November 18, 2019.
  12. Rejecting RCEP: India’s Great Geoeconomic Misstep, The Diplomat, November 7, 2019.
  13. Govt’s shift in nuclear posture shows this is a new New Delhi, Hindustan Times, August 17, 2019.
  14. Modi-fying Kashmir: Unpacking India’s Historic Decision to Revoke Kashmir’s Autonomy, The Diplomat, August 6, 2019.
  15. China’s white paper on defence should worry India: As Beijing focuses on equipment, New Delhi’s approach remains manpower-heavy, Firstpost, July 26, 2019.
  16. Why New Delhi Will Be Left Unfazed By China’s New Defense White Paper, The Diplomat, July 25, 2019.
  17. Narendra Modi’s re-election as India’s Prime Minister: Implications for Africa, Africa Portal, June 27, 2019.
  18. Modi 2.0’s China Outreach: Interpreting the Early Signs, The Diplomat, June 26, 2019.
  19. The India-France Security Partnership in the Indo-Pacific: Next Steps, The Diplomat, June 4, 2019.
  20. India, Africa and peacekeeping: Beyond the responsibility to protect – Part II, Africa Portal, May 30, 3019.
  21. India, Africa and the future of peacekeeping – Part I, Africa Portal, May 28, 2019.
  22. Narendra Modi’s 2019 Landslide: Why It Happened and What Happens Next, The Diplomat, May 24, 2019.
  23. Narendra Modi’s Radar Gaffe Reveals Dangerous, Clouded National Security Judgement, The Diplomat, May 16, 2019.
  24. Machines No Threat to Mathematicians, Firstpost (Print), May 11-17, 2019.
  25. Why Did China Change Its Position Now on Listing JeM Chief Masood Azhar at the Security Council?, The Diplomat, May 2, 2019.
  26. Artificial Intelligence models may have a few issues, algorithms don’t, Hindustan Times, February 14, 2019.
  27. Reimagining India-Africa relations in a world in flux, Africa Portal, February 8, 2019.
  28. The foreign policy legacy of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Mint, August 20, 2018.
  29. India’s rocky road to the Indo-Pacific [with Harsh V. Pant], ORF commentary, August 2, 2018.
  30. For BRICS to Reshape World Order, Should Avoid Anti-West Politics, Quint, July 28, 2018.
  31. Whither India in the Indo-Pacific? [with Tuneer Mukherjee], Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI), June 4, 2018.
  32. Why New Delhi welcomes a can-do Canberra [with Aakriti Bachhawat], Mint, March 26, 2018.
  33. The game of chicken in the Arabian Sea [with Abhijit Singh], Mint, February 22, 2018.
  34. From Cold War to Hot Peace, 2018 Raisina Dialogue Report, January 2018.
  35. Alignment, Arrangement Or Alliance? Debating the Future of the Indo-Pacific, 2018 Raisina Dialogue Report, January 2018.
  36. Trump’s new national security strategy: The good, the bad and the complicated for New Delhi, Times of India, December 21, 2017.
  37. ‘2020: World of War’ creates scenarios to depict a world on the edge, ThePrint, November 25, 2017.
  38. What China does when it disagrees with you, Mint, November 23, 2017.
  39. How India Thinks About The World Through Ideas And Reality, Swarajya, September 23, 2017.
  40. India’s clever use of the Brics card in Dokalam, Mint, August 31, 2017.
  41. Beyond Doklam: India needs to overhaul its trade-friendly grand strategy on China, ThePrint, August 22, 2017.
  42. Deadlock over Doklam: The Sino-Indian standoff in Bhutan, IAPS Dialogue, July 8, 2017.
  43. Why Doklam and Bhutan matter, Hindustan Times, July 4, 2017.
  44. The rise of null politics, Asian Age, March 15, 2017.
  45. The Hamlet question returns: Is Donald Trump merely playing crazy or. . .?, Swarajya, February 24, 2017.
  46. India and China: Does the Elephant read the Dragon right?, Swarajya, February 3, 2017.
  47. Trump and the techie, ABPLive, February 1, 2017.
  48. Donald Trump is no liberal — but not a realist either, Swarajya, January 31, 2017.
  49. Predicting what American foreign policy will look like under the Mattis-Trump combine, Firstpost, January 13, 2017
  50. Pakistan tests Babur III missile: How should India interpret this latest move?, Firstpost, January 10, 2017.
  51. Turkey is the canary in the coal mine, forecasting whether the West-led liberal order has a future, Times of India, December 22, 2016.
  52. US President-elect Donald Trump’s generals Part 3: John Kelly and the narco-terror nexus, Firstpost, December 21, 2016.
  53. Russian Ambassador to Turkey assassinated: What does this mean for regional stability?, Firstpost, December 20, 2016.
  54. US President-elect Donald Trump’s generals Part 2: Michael Flynn’s war on Islamism, Firstpost, December 19, 2016.
  55. US President-elect Donald Trump’s generals Part 1: Why 9/11 will shape what follows 11/9, Firstpost, November 30, 2016.
  56. Motormouth Manohar Parrikar almost nukes India’s NSG bid with needless boast, Firstpost, November 11, 2016.
  57. US elects Donald Trump as President: How he handles China, Russia will be interesting, Firstpost, November 9, 2016.
  58. At the middle kingdom’s core: Xi Jinping anointed “core” Chinese leader but his strategy reveals a contradiction, Times of India, November 1, 2016.
  59. Month after surgical strikes: Appraisal of India’s new strategy of dealing with Pakistan, Firstpost, October 28, 2016
  60. MNS’ aggressive stand can wreck PM Narendra Modi’s new Pakistan policy, Firstpost, October 25, 2016.
  61. Brics Summit: India must bide time to deal with China as relationship with Pakistan hit a new low, Firstpost, October 14, 2016.
  62. The alphabet soup in Goa [with Samir Saran], Hindu, October 13, 2016.
  63. Surgical strikes along LoC puts South Asia on cusp of new India-Pakistan dynamic, Firstpost, September 30, 2016.
  64. Indian Army attack across LoC using surgical strikes meant to probe Pakistan’s threshold for escalation, Firstpost, September 29, 2016.
  65. Brics Summit in Goa: Ahead of 8th conference, the bloc must focus on institution-building [with Samir Saran], Firstpost, September 19, 2016.
  66. Situating the Uri terror attack within Pakistan’s strategy of provocation and escalation, Firstpost, September 19, 2016.
  67. BRICS, globalisms, and the return of the state [with Samir Saran], ORF Expert Speak| Raisina Debates, August 31, 2016. (Shorter version in the Economic Times, August 31, 2016.)
  68. Narendra Modi’s Independence Day take on Balochistan is a foreign policy milestone, Firstpost, August 16, 2016.
  69. On Independence Day, Narendra Modi pokes Pakistan with Baloch, Gilgit, PoK: Big shift, Firstpost, August 15, 2016.
  70. Al-Qaeda 2.o? Meet Abu Mus’ab al-Suri and his grand strategy for the Islamic State, Firstpost, August 8, 2016.
  71. Geopolitics and geoeconomics – India’s tightrope, The Interpreter, July 28, 2016.
  72. Getting real about the Middle Kingdom, ORF Expert Speak|Raisina Debates, July 21, 2016.
  73. India would win with Trump, National Interest, May 26, 2016.
  74. Policy short-sightedness exacerbates India’s water crisis [with Samir Saran], The Interpreter, May 6, 2016.
  75. Banning surge pricing is bad economics [with Prashant Kumar], Business Standard, April 22, 2016.
  76. Building new alliances with BRICS [with Samir Saran], The Hindu, March 25, 2016.
  77. The JNU fracas is actually a crisis for the Right, Scroll, February 21, 2016.
  78. Engage the Dragon on Balochistan [with Samir Saran], Times of India, February 4, 2016.
  79. G20 Turkey Summit: Towards resilience, recovery and sustainability, ORF Commentary, November 10, 2015.
  80. Two Myths Around Grexit, JustJobs Network Commentary, July 2, 2015.
  81. Setting the record straight on Ex-Im Bank and jobs, JustJobs Network Commentary, June 17, 2015.
  82. Has Chinese growth been jobless?, JustJobs Network Commentary, June 15, 2015.
  83. Internationalizing India’s MSME sector, JustJobs Network Commentary, June 1, 2015.
  84. “Make in India” needs a “Served by India” component, JustJobs Network Commentary, May 22, 2015.
  85. War and peace in a nonstate world, Global Policy, December 10, 2013.
  86. Is innovation predictable?, Wired, November 25, 2013.
  87. Singularly Complex. The Catch with Hybrid Finance, Big Think, April 12, 2012 [guest post in Parag and Ayesha Khanna’s blog].
  88. Models and markets, Open, Web Exclusive: May 30, 2009. Print: June 05, 2009.