Christopher Clary joins Milan this week to talk about India-Pakistan relations and the often surprising cooperation between the two South Asian powers. Since their mutual indepen ... Read more
Christopher Clary joins Milan this week to talk about India-Pakistan relations and the often surprising cooperation between the two South Asian powers. Since their mutual independence in 1947, India and Pakistan have been locked into a fierce rivalry that shows no signs of abating anytime soon. But a new book by the political scientist Christopher Clary, The Difficult Politics of Peace: Rivalry in Modern South Asia, suggests that our traditional narrative of doom and gloom glosses over a rich history of cooperation, contestation, conflict, and conciliation that defies easy explanations. This week on the show, Milan sits down with Chris Clary to discuss why and when rival states pursue conflict or cooperation. Clary is an assistant professor of political science at the University at Albany and a nonresident fellow with the Stimson Center in Washington, D.C. The two discuss the primacy of leaders, the surprising cooperation India and Pakistan have often forged, and the South Asian security community’s blind spots. Plus, Chris tells Milan why there is ample evidence for continued pessimism in bilateral peace negotiations. Read more
On the season premiere, Milan sits down with Ambassador Shyam Saran, former Indian foreign secretary and one of the most decorated Indian diplomats of his generation. Saran, curren ... Read more
On the season premiere, Milan sits down with Ambassador Shyam Saran, former Indian foreign secretary and one of the most decorated Indian diplomats of his generation. Saran, currently a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, is the author of a new book, How China Sees India and the World. This new volume is a companion to his highly acclaimed 2018 book, How India Sees the World. Milan speaks with Shyam Saran about his lengthy career studying China and learning Mandarin, India’s relative ignorance of Chinese politics and society, and the sources of China’s unique model of social order. Plus, the two discuss the current border standoff between India and China and the prospects of a China-centric world. Read more
In the season finale, Sadanand Dhume and Tanvi Madan join Milan for the Season 7 finale of Grand Tamasha to unpack India's rocky relationship with Muslims amid recent controversial ... Read more
In the season finale, Sadanand Dhume and Tanvi Madan join Milan for the Season 7 finale of Grand Tamasha to unpack India's rocky relationship with Muslims amid recent controversial remarks from the BJP, the government's shifting policy on Russia-Ukraine, and how India was received at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. Read more
Nikhil Menon joins Milan to talk about the legacy of India’s planning infrastructure, the unique influence of pioneering statistician P.C. Mahalanobis, and the ways in which India’ ... Read more
Nikhil Menon joins Milan to talk about the legacy of India’s planning infrastructure, the unique influence of pioneering statistician P.C. Mahalanobis, and the ways in which India’s statistical architecture was the envy of the world. Read more
Rahul Sagar talks to Milan about his new book on India's intellectual roots of foreign policy strategy and its approach to great power politics. Read more
Rahul Sagar talks to Milan about his new book on India's intellectual roots of foreign policy strategy and its approach to great power politics. Read more
This week, we put Milan in the hot seat to discuss his new study on Indo-Australian political preferences along with Caroline Duckworth, a James C. Gaither Junior Fellow in Carnegi ... Read more
This week, we put Milan in the hot seat to discuss his new study on Indo-Australian political preferences along with Caroline Duckworth, a James C. Gaither Junior Fellow in Carnegie’s South Asia Program. We also wanted to turn the tables on Milan to ask him about his recent trip to Delhi—his first in the COVID era. Read more
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently completed a three-country, whirlwind tour of Europe. The trip began in Germany, where Modi met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, then ... Read more
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently completed a three-country, whirlwind tour of Europe. The trip began in Germany, where Modi met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, then continued with a stop in Denmark, where he participated in the India-Nordic Summit and wrapped up in Paris, where he sat down with newly reelected French President Emmanuel Macron. To discuss Modi’s Europe visit and its lasting implications, Milan is joined on the show this week by Garima Mohan. Garima is a senior fellow in the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund based in Berlin. Her research focuses on Europe-India ties, EU foreign policy in Asia, and security in the Indo-Pacific. Milan and Garima discuss how Europe sees India’s evolving stance on Russia-Ukraine, India’s ambitious (and nuanced) European outreach, and the trajectory of defence collaboration. Plus, the two discuss how Europe and India are working together on cross-cutting issues from climate to trade and technology. Read more
On April 11, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted from office, having suffered defeat in a dramatic no-confidence vote in the national assembly. Soon after, Shehbaz Shari ... Read more
On April 11, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted from office, having suffered defeat in a dramatic no-confidence vote in the national assembly. Soon after, Shehbaz Sharif—former chief minister of Punjab and brother of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif—was sworn into office as his replacement, capping a dizzying few weeks of political intrigue. To make sense of the latest developments in Pakistan, including what they mean for India, this week Milan is joined on the show by Aqil Shah. Aqil is the Wick Cary associate professor in the Department of International and Area Studies at the University of Oklahoma and a visiting scholar in the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Aqil is the author of The Army and Democracy: Military Politics in Pakistan, one of the best guides to civil-military relations in Pakistan. Milan and Aqil discuss Imran Khan’s dramatic fall from grace, the challenges facing the new government, and the country’s complicated civil-military power balance. Plus, they talk about what these developments mean for India and Pakistan’s frosty bilateral relationship. Read more
Two weeks ago, the foreign and defense ministers of the United States and India met in Washington for the fourth annual U.S.-India “2+2” Dialogue. The annual meeting has become an ... Read more
Two weeks ago, the foreign and defense ministers of the United States and India met in Washington for the fourth annual U.S.-India “2+2” Dialogue. The annual meeting has become an important focal point in the growing partnership between the United States and India, and this year’s edition received even more scrutiny than usual. For one, it featured a high-level virtual meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Joe Biden. But it also took place against the backdrop of the Russian invasion in Ukraine and tensions in the bilateral relationship over how that conflict should be handled. To discuss the key takeaways from the 2+2, Milan is joined on the show this week by Joshua White. Josh is associate professor of the practice of South Asia studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington and a nonresident fellow in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution. Josh also has extensive experience working in the U.S. government, having done stints at both the National Security Council and the Pentagon. Milan and Josh discuss the trajectory of U.S.-India ties under the Biden administration, the big takeaways from the 2+2, and how the two sides are dealing with the thorny issue of Russia-Ukraine. Plus, Josh gives listeners a behind-the-scenes look at putting together a high-level ministerial summit. Read more
One of the most vexed questions in development studies is why the poor often receive such poor government services. The development literature is littered with hundreds—if not thou ... Read more
One of the most vexed questions in development studies is why the poor often receive such poor government services. The development literature is littered with hundreds—if not thousands—of examples of elite capture, weak state capacity, corruption, and subversion. But a focus on the failures obscures the fact that, every once in a while, the state does get it right and the top-down and the bottom-up meet in a place that produces positive benefits for ordinary citizens. How exactly this happens is the subject of a new book by Georgetown University professor Rajesh Veeraraghavan, Patching Development: Information Politics and Social Change in India. Milan and Rajesh discuss how bureaucrats and civil society forged an unlikely partnership in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to implement the world’s largest workfare program at scale. Plus, the two talk about the the role of technology in government, the political economy of India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), and the limits of transparency. Read more
