Articles by Harsh V Pant
2+2 meet: Delhi and DC are seeking new opportunities
India and the US have underscored their commitment to continue to build on the momentum of recent years and not lose sight of the larger strategic picture

Updated on Apr 14, 2022 06:09 PM IST
Wang visit: Beijing is not reassessing its India policy
It’s still about targeting India’s vulnerabilities — be it making common cause with Pakistan on Kashmir or with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Updated on Mar 29, 2022 08:09 PM IST
Delhi must review ties with Moscow
The Ukraine war shows India-Russia ties lack breadth, the Russia-China axis will grow more, and India’s relations with the West will rise. India must acknowledge these shifts to deal with the new order better

Updated on Mar 16, 2022 08:18 PM IST
India must think of reconfiguring its ties with Russia
Through its actions in Ukraine, Russia has challenged the global order in fundamental ways and India’s foreign policy won’t be immune from its reverberations

Published on Feb 25, 2022 06:48 PM IST
Indo-Pacific: How India is countering China
S Jaishankar’s visit to the Philippines from the Quad summit also showcased India’s willingness to more proactively shape the strategic contours of the Indo-Pacific

Updated on Feb 16, 2022 07:07 PM IST
Biden is flailing. And it can affect India-US ties
America needs a strong India in the Indo-Pacific as a partner. And India, too, needs an America that can sort its internal challenges to be able to pay attention to strategic realities

Updated on Feb 02, 2022 08:07 PM IST
The US-Russia tango, and the Indo-Pacific
Stability in Russia-US ties will alleviate pressure on India at a time when the rise of China has changed the geopolitical calculus for the Indo-Pacific

Updated on Jan 06, 2022 08:05 PM IST
Delhi-Dhaka: A model for the neighbourhood
The relationship has its roots in history, but both States have ensured continuous engagement, crucial for contemporary South Asian relations

Updated on Dec 20, 2021 08:09 PM IST
Amid great power competition, what Delhi and Moscow mean to each other
As it balances China’s rise and builds a strategic partnership with the US, India would like to invest in a stable relationship with Russia

Updated on Dec 05, 2021 08:32 PM IST
Behind the facade of civility, the reality of the US-China dialogue
China sees itself as a power that has risen to become a peer of the US and wants its place under the sun, in the process unmasking its aggressive intent. The US is trying to push to retain its pre-eminent global status

Updated on Nov 18, 2021 05:08 PM IST
India can bridge the gulf on Afghanistan
Continuing instability in Afghanistan is a recipe for regional disaster. As a responsible stakeholder, India has to step up to the plate

Updated on Nov 09, 2021 02:39 PM IST
China’s hypersonic missile test won’t go unanswered
As power competition among major powers accelerates, arms races are likely to be the norm. New Delhi should be prepared for such eventualities.

Updated on Oct 28, 2021 02:02 PM IST
There is a change in US attitude to South Asia. India should leverage the moment
This is a transformative period in the US-India relationship. New Delhi should be more self-confident in its ability to shape the trajectory of this engagement

Updated on Oct 12, 2021 07:28 PM IST
Why Modi’s visit to the US matters
New Delhi has a key role in ensuring that the broader coalition of like-minded partners in the Indo-Pacific is sustained

Updated on Sep 22, 2021 03:16 PM IST
For China, the challenge has just begun in Afghanistan
Conflict resolution and political problem-solving in other countries are not traits that Chinese diplomats excel at. It remains to be seen how China walks this tightrope in Afghanistan, which remains a fractured crucible of contradictory ethnic and political interests

Updated on Sep 13, 2021 04:21 PM IST
Young Indians distrust China, Pakistan; rate pandemic, economy as big challenges
The Observer Research Foundation first conceptualised the foreign policy survey last year to build on the existing strand of polling research in India. In December 2020, the poll sampled 2,037 Indians aged 18-35 from 14 cities

Updated on Aug 16, 2021 04:34 PM IST
When two democracies talk
The United States is willing to listen and learn, India is willing to talk about its domestic evolution. The relationship has matured

Updated on Aug 02, 2021 06:17 PM IST
On China, the end of delusion and persistence of stalemate
While New Delhi wants the boundary issue to be resolved first, China wants to focus on other areas of cooperation and is in no hurry to move forward on the contentious issue

Updated on Jul 20, 2021 07:18 AM IST
India’s armed services must prepare for reform
In the last few years, there has been a change and a slew of defence reforms have been brought in. More than at any other time in post-Independence India, there is a commitment to change the way the Indian defence forces are organised

Updated on Jul 06, 2021 04:15 PM IST
Is China backtracking on its wolf warrior diplomatic style?
The wolf warrior diplomatic style was perhaps suited more to the age of Donald Trump, but now that the Joe Biden administration has lowered the rhetoric on “America First”, the challenge for China is even more acute. China’s new-gen diplomats have been asked to defend the indefensible in recent years, from Beijing’s atrocities on minorities and its hyper-militaristic foreign policy to the opacity and mishandling of Covid-19.

Updated on Jun 13, 2021 07:50 PM IST
As India-US ties confront new realities, Jaishankar’s visit is critical
Though the situation on the ground seems to be stabilising gradually, the long-term challenge of vaccinating a huge population still looms large. It’s natural, therefore, that a lot of focus during this visit is on health-related bilateral engagement

Updated on May 26, 2021 03:00 PM IST
Can India and the EU operationalise their natural partnership?
With the EU being India’s largest trading partner and the second-largest export destination, the economic logic of strong India-EU economic relations is self-evident. The two sides have also agreed to commence talks for a standalone investment protection pact and an accord on geographical indications

Updated on May 12, 2021 04:39 PM IST
Vaccine Maitri is a pragmatic response to the pandemic
From supplying hydroxychloroquine to more than 100 nations to providing 64 million doses of vaccines to more than 80 nations, India’s imprint on global health has been substantive. And as the Gulf nations got hit hard as a result of several nations banning food exports and declining oil demand, India ensured uninterrupted supply of food and essential items.

Published on Apr 28, 2021 05:59 PM IST
A tale of two visits and a shift in Indian foreign policy
Last week India hosted two important visitors – Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, and the US special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry. These were routine visits, one to lay the groundwork for a potential Russian presidential visit to India and the other to assess Indian intentions on climate

Updated on Apr 14, 2021 07:12 AM IST
China’s hostility, India’s resilience shaped Quad
Just as without Chinese belligerence, a substantive Quad would have remained a distant dream, without a pro-active India, this grouping would not have been able to move so far, so fast. As a new geopolitical order takes shape in the Indo-Pacific, India and China will continue to be at the centre of this emerging order. And New Delhi would do well to remember that the game has only just begun.

Published on Mar 19, 2021 09:24 PM IST
New Delhi’s new regional calculus
India is giving peace a chance from a position of strength, after showing it can adequately defend its interests when challenged

Published on Mar 08, 2021 08:13 PM IST
Biden’s foreign policy lacks strategic clarity
The US is stuck in the Cold War-era thinking on Russia and lacks a road-map on China. Partners will be concerned

Updated on Feb 11, 2021 06:33 AM IST
The Delhi-Beijing battle in South Asia
China’s influence has grown, but contrary to conventional narrative, it is not necessarily ‘winning’. India has retained its focus

Updated on Jan 06, 2021 06:13 AM IST
Moscow must come to terms with India’s security imperatives
As India reconfigures its China policy with the Indo-Pacific at its core, India-Russia ties won’t be able to escape this strategic reality

Updated on Dec 13, 2020 08:39 PM IST
The ball is in China’s court, writes Harsh V Pant
With its strong response across spheres, India has shown that it has options and a willingness to exercise them

Updated on Nov 23, 2020 07:53 PM IST