On February 14, 2019, a suicide bomber crashed into an Indian paramilitary convoy in Pulwama, Kashmir, killing forty Indian soldiers. The attack was the deadliest assault on Indian ... Read more
On February 14, 2019, a suicide bomber crashed into an Indian paramilitary convoy in Pulwama, Kashmir, killing forty Indian soldiers. The attack was the deadliest assault on Indian security personnel in Kashmir in three decades and captured the attention of domestic and international headlines. It also led to a nationalist fervour that fueled, in part, the BJP’s dramatic reelection just months later in the 2019 general election. How did the attack take place? Who were the masterminds of the operation? And how does this attack fit into a decades-long story of terrorism, militancy, and spycraft that has come to define the contemporary politics of Kashmir? These questions are clinically addressed in a new book by the journalist Rahul Pandita, The Lover Boy of Bahawalpur: How the Pulwama Case was Cracked. This week, Rahul joins Milan on the show to discuss the inside story of the Pulwama attacks, the Indian investigation into the attack’s masterminds, and India’s retaliatory airstrikes on Pakistani territory. Plus, the two discuss the legacy of the Modi government’s abrogation of Article 370 and the nature of the terrorism threat in Kashmir today. Read more
This week on the show, Milan sits down with Levy to discuss the secret world of South Asia’s top spies. The two discuss the different trajectories of the ISI and RAW, the defining ... Read more
This week on the show, Milan sits down with Levy to discuss the secret world of South Asia’s top spies. The two discuss the different trajectories of the ISI and RAW, the defining character of India’s current National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, the roots of turmoil in Kashmir, and the long shadow of the IC 814 hijacking. Plus, Milan asks Adrian about the terror outlook for India in the wake of America’s Afghanistan exit. Read more
Joanna Slater is a veteran journalist who served as the Washington Post India bureau chief based in New Delhi from 2018-2021. She was posted there during one of the most consequent ... Read more
Joanna Slater is a veteran journalist who served as the Washington Post India bureau chief based in New Delhi from 2018-2021. She was posted there during one of the most consequential periods in recent Indian history—covering the 2019 general elections, the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pegasus hacking revelations, and much more. This week on the show, Joanna joins Milan to talk about her tenure in New Delhi and what she learned on the job. The two discuss Joanna’s long history with India, the constraints journalists face while carrying out their jobs, and what it was like to cover some of the biggest stories in recent years from the ground. Plus, the two discuss how Joanna met her future husband on the set of a Bollywood hit movie starring Aamir Khan and the India story that Joanna still dreams about. Read more
In a few weeks, climate negotiators from around the world will descend on Glasgow, Scotland, for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP 26. Amid dir ... Read more
In a few weeks, climate negotiators from around the world will descend on Glasgow, Scotland, for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP 26. Amid dire warnings from climate scientists about our warming planet and desperate calls for stepped-up action, India finds itself at the center of the conversation. At home, Indians are debating how to tackle climate change without hampering an economy that has started to slowly recover from the COVID pandemic. To discuss India’s options and the path forward, Milan is joined on this week’s show by Jayant Sinha, a key figure in India’s ongoing climate change debate. Jayant is a member of Parliament from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the chairperson for the Standing Committee on Finance. He’s also authored or co-authored several publications advocating for India to adopt a net-zero approach. Milan and Jayant discuss possible pathways for India’s future carbon emissions, the arguments for and against a net-zero approach, and what lessons India can draw from international experience. Plus, the two discuss what responsibilities countries like the United State have when it comes to helping India and other developing countries address the climate challenge. Read more
French political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot’s new book, Modi’s India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Ethnic Democracy, is a comprehensive exploration of the Bharatiya Janata ... Read more
French political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot’s new book, Modi’s India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Ethnic Democracy, is a comprehensive exploration of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi—its origins, policies, philosophy, and relationship to democracy. Patrick Heller of Brown University calls the book “the most detailed, theoretically sophisticated, and comprehensive analysis of the rise of Modi’s BJP as a dominant electoral force.” Christophe joins Milan on the podcast to talk about Modi’s rise to national prominence, his relationship with the Sangh Parivar, and the constraints that exist on his power. Plus, the two discuss the state of individual freedoms in India today and why Christophe believes that the BJP dominance under Modi represents a new political system in India, rather than just a new party system. Read more
Last week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his maiden visit to Washington under the new Biden administration. It was all sunlight and good vibes and—for a week—American an ... Read more
Last week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his maiden visit to Washington under the new Biden administration. It was all sunlight and good vibes and—for a week—American and Indian policymakers ignored the fact that a darkening cloud is gathering over U.S.-India relations in the form of potential U.S. sanctions. Milan’s guest on the show this week, political scientist Sameer Lalwani, thinks that this threat of sanctions is very much real. Sameer is a senior fellow in Asia strategy at the Stimson Center in Washington and an expert on issues ranging from nuclear deterrence to national security decision and counterinsurgency. Sameer and Milan discuss how India might run afoul of the U.S. Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), what the Biden administration might do to avoid a crisis in bilateral relations, and how India might help its own case. Plus, the two discuss how the fallout in Afghanistan will affect India-Pakistan relations and the prospect of future violence between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Read more
It’s been a month since the Fall of Kabul and the sudden Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. In the intervening weeks, policymakers the world over have been scrambling to understand t ... Read more
It’s been a month since the Fall of Kabul and the sudden Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. In the intervening weeks, policymakers the world over have been scrambling to understand the reasons for the sudden collapse of the Afghan government, the real aims of the new Taliban regime, and the geopolitical implications of this crisis for the region AND for the world. To kick off the sixth season of Grand Tamasha, this week Milan is joined by Avinash Paliwal to discuss what these developments mean for India. Avinash is Senior Lecturer in International Relations and Deputy Director of the SOAS South Asia Institute. His book, My Enemy’s Enemy: India in Afghanistan from the Soviet Invasion to the US Withdrawal, is one of the best guides we have to understand India’s role in Afghanistan. Milan speaks with Avinash about the notion of a “Taliban 2.0”, the composition of the new Taliban government, the divisions within the Pakistani establishment, and India’s back-channel talks with the Taliban. Plus, the two of them discuss what the crisis means for U.S.-India relations and India’s counter-terrorism priorities. Read more
One year ago, Chinese and Indian forces traded blows in the remote Galwan Valley—resulting in the first deaths along the Line of Actual Control since 1975. Months later, India woul ... Read more
One year ago, Chinese and Indian forces traded blows in the remote Galwan Valley—resulting in the first deaths along the Line of Actual Control since 1975. Months later, India would be hit by the coronavirus, whose precise origin story in China we still do not fully understand. Indian public opinion towards China has soured and Beijing has nervously watched India double-down on its engagement with the so-called “Quad.” It’s against this backdrop that the scholar Kanti Bajpai has released a timely new book, India Versus China: Why They Are Not Friends. Kanti is the Director of the Centre on Asia and Globalisation and Wilmar Professor of Asian Studies at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore and he joins Milan on the podcast this week. The two discuss the untold pre-history of the Chinese-Indian rivalry, the sources of the trust deficit between the two countries, and China’s surprising soft power advantage. Plus, the two discuss possible scenarios for the China-India conflict and India’s pressing domestic reforms agenda. Read more
Over the last two-and-a-half years, Milan and his guests have spent a lot of time on the podcast talking about some of the biggest questions facing Indian society. What is driving ... Read more
Over the last two-and-a-half years, Milan and his guests have spent a lot of time on the podcast talking about some of the biggest questions facing Indian society. What is driving an increase in religious nationalism? To what extent is religious intolerance on the rise? Is caste morphing from a marker of hierarchy to a marker of difference? And, what if anything, does it mean to be truly Indian? These are just some of the questions a landmark new study by the Pew Research Center—released today—asks and answers, drawing on an important new survey of religion, identity, and belonging. On the show this week, Milan is joined by Neha Sahgal, associate director of research at Pew and one of the lead investigators of this new work. Milan and Neha discuss the coexistence of religious tolerance and religious segregation in India, the salience of caste identity and Hindu nationalism, and the evidence for “secularization theory.” Plus, the two discuss why South India is an outlier in many respects and what larger lessons the study holds for Indian democracy. Read more
