Apart from the changing geopolitical dynamics, economic factors further reinforce the China-oriented dimension of the policy shift. China is India’s second largest trading partner with bilateral trade reaching $127.7 billion in FY 2024-2025, and this figure continues to grow. This trade growth however is marked by a significant imbalance, with India’s trade deficit with China widening by about 17% to $99.2 billion from $85.07% in the same FY.
What emerges from this moment is not a singular crisis but a layered one, shaped by global disruptions, local cost pressures, and structural vulnerabilities. Workers are leaving Delhi not because the city has stopped offering work, but because it has become increasingly difficult to live sustainably in the capital city while working.
It is high time South Asian countries not only pass stricter environmental regulations but also strictly enforce them, making sure that there is no factory releasing waste water without adequate treatment. Besides, upholding legally binding labour standards must also be a priority together with ensuring safety of the workplace environment.
The Korean noodle story is not really about noodles. It is about what happens when cultural influence travels faster than commercial infrastructure and faster than regulatory awareness. India's Gen Z - and possibly that of other South Asian countries - did not wait for brands to tell them what to eat. They watched K-dramas, did spice challenges, and built market demand that brands, regulators, and consumer education campaigns have simply not kept up with.
It is only amidst critical hours that the capability will power, patience and presence of the mind of a leader is tested. In fact, the eight months long COVID-19 pandemic as well as China’s multiple intrusions along the Indo-China border or the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in April 2020 and consequent on-going standoff between the two armies had indeed created a tense situation in India
When COVID-19 started in Wuhan in China and Beijing did not immediately share the information for some months and WHO also did not raise an alarm, as alleged, in not warning the world about the impending disaster, no one thought that the virus would shake the world to the extent that it has done now
At the six month mark of forced isolation
I have never forgotten the paths I walked
As the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released its World Economic Outlook for 2020, the report has drawn heated, but detailed and significant, discussions in India
Just interludes of joy and happiness
Ten months into the pandemic, handwashing with soap remains one of our best defences against the virus, along with other public health measures such as maintaining physical distance, avoiding crowded places, practising cough etiquette and wearing a mask wherever recommended
When we’ve lived our lives to the fullest
The recent assault and abuse of a poor and innocent woman in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh has justifiably raised nationwide concern and condemnation
Just interludes of joy and happiness
Here we are then, the IPL has got firmly embedded in our collective and individual consciousness. Daily routines are configured now to cater for the timings. Time to get updated on some lesser-known aspects
One of Jaswant Singh's finest meetings was with the New York Times editorial board, where members extensively asked about the Indian nuclear programme and why India wasn’t signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty. He patiently and firmly placed India’s position, writes Sanjoy Hazarika for South Asia Monitor
Seats of Power, red and white houses
India may be considering itself a regional power but is still far from being a global power
It’s a different ball game, this Indian Premier League (IPL) - the world's most popular and most lucrative T20 league - for the players and the spectators as all parties have realised
