South Asia Chat

Episode 134: Russian Invasion of Ukraine - The South Asian Dilemma

On 24 February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine. This breach of Ukraine's national sovereignty has resulted in the largest conventional military attack in Europe since World War II. The invasion has sparked a catastrophic humanitarian and security crisis on European soil, and an economic and political crisis, globally. In this episode, Ms Ramita Iyer, Research Analyst, ISAS, spoke to Mr Michael Kugelman, Deputy Director of the Asia Program and Senior Associate for South Asia at the Wilson Center, United States, about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its implications for the South Asian subcontinent. Mr Kugelman shared on Russia's motivations behind the invasion, impact of economic sanctions for South Asia, reasons for divided responses of South Asian countries, and the growing Sino-Russian axis and its implications for the regional and global balance of power.

Episode 133: Data Protection in India

In December 2021, India's Joint Parliamentary Committee on data protection tabled its report on the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill in Parliament. The PDP Bill, once enacted, will regulate the collection, storage, use and transfer of data in the country. In this episode, Dr Karthik Nachiappan, Research Fellow spoke to Mr Anirudh Burman, Fellow and Associate Research Director, Carnegie India on recent developments in India's data protection framework and its implications on digital trade and New Delhi's relationship with Singapore. They also discussed issues concerning personal and non-personal data, and data localisation and state power, among others.

Episode 132: India’s Quest for Drones

In 2021, India struck a deal to procure 30 armed drones from the United States for a cost of nearly US$3 billion (S$4 billion). While this is just the latest development in the Indian military’s use of drones over the past two decades, it is in line with a broader trend of drones' expanding use on the battlefield as well as in civilian spheres across the globe. In this vein, Nishant Rajeev, Research Analyst, ISAS, spoke to Dr Yogesh Joshi, Research Fellow, ISAS, to understand India’s quest to acquire, adopt, and deploy drones and its efforts to build a larger drone ecosystem.

Episode 131: Pakistan’s National Security Policy

The National Security Policy of Pakistan was formally launched in early January this year. The document elaborates the state’s five-year national security vision and lays down some guidelines and steps to achieve important goals focused on the safety, security, and prosperity of its citizens. Dr Imran Ahmed, Visiting Research Fellow, ISAS, spoke to Associate Professor Iqbal Singh Sevea, Director, ISAS, on some of the themes, ideas and policies presented in the document. The discussion raised important questions concerning the internal and external threats to national security facing Pakistan today and the challenges that lie ahead for the country as it navigates a changing world order, mounting economic pressures and conflicts pulling at social cohesion and unity.

Episode 130: South Asia Outlook 2022 - Maldives

The Maldives' strategic location in the Indian Ocean region grants this island state significant importance. Over the last two years, the Maldives has buoyantly weathered the storm of the pandemic, though the country continues to face domestic and international challenges. To discuss the Maldives' internal politics, geopolitical dilemma, COVID-19, environmental concerns, Islamic radicalisation and more, Ramita Iyer, Research Analyst, ISAS, spoke to Dr Rasheeda Mohamed Didi, an independent lecturer and researcher. Dr Didi is also a member of the Maldives Higher Education Council.

Episode 129: South Asia Outlook 2022 - Bhutan

Bhutan, a Himalayan kingdom of nearly 800,000 people, has proved its resiliency amidst COVID-19’s ravages. Along with doubling its trade output with India over the last half decade, Bhutan oversaw what UNICEF hailed as 'arguably the fastest vaccination campaign to be executed during the pandemic'. At the same time, it has increased connectivity with India and boosted its levels of hydropower production. In this episode, John Vater spoke to Dil Rahut, Senior Research Fellow/Economist at the Asian Development Bank Institute, about the pandemic and climate change's effects on Bhutan’s most critical economic sectors. They discussed, among other things, Bhutan’s prospects for regional cross-border power cooperation, the push for sustainability as well as the evolving social profile of its globalising youth.

Episode 128: South Asia Outlook 2022 - The Union Budget of India

Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget in parliament on 1 February 2022. This year's budget is critical for India as the country emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic well-poised for a strong recovery and future growth. Alongside shoring up India's resiliency against future shocks, the budget lays a blueprint for the economy's enhanced, even supercharged, expansion as India becomes one of the world's fastest growing economies. In this episode, John Vater spoke to Amitendu Palit, Senior Research Fellow and Research Lead (Trade and Economics), ISAS, about the budget's aspirations.

Episode 127: South Asia Outlook 2022 - Afghanistan

The takeover of the Taliban last year has had undeniable consequences for Afghanistan. At the start of 2022, Kabul is faced with political tensions within the Taliban government, an economic and humanitarian crisis, and strained relations with other countries in the region. To discuss more about challenges and prospects for Afghanistan, Ramita Iyer spoke to Dr Srinjoy Bose, Senior Lecturer in International Relations and Politics, University of New South Wales. His work focuses on critical peace studies including political order and violence, and state formation and democratisation in fragile states and societies.

Episode 126: South Asia Outlook 2022 - India (Political)

The year 2022 is an important one for India. On the domestic front, five states are going to the polls while on the international front, the continuing India-China rivalry, India's participation in the Quad and growing regional power of smaller countries are set to have significant implications for New Delhi. In this episode of the South Asia Outlook 2022 series, Ramita Iyer, Research Analyst, ISAS discusses India's politics, foreign policy and issues of regionalism with Mr Vinod Rai, Distinguished Visiting Research Fellow, ISAS and former Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

Episode 125: South Asia Outlook 2022 - Bangladesh

Bangladesh's growth story has been quite remarkable, and its regional presence has been steadily growing in recent years. However, the country faces some challenges in ensuring economic growth as well as foreign policy tensions due to major power competition in the subcontinent. In this episode, Ramita Iyer, Research Analyst, ISAS speaks to Dr Masudur Rahman, Visiting Research Fellow, ISAS on political and economic developments and challenges for Bangladesh in 2022.