South Asia Chat

Episode 25: Sri Lanka - At New Crossroads ?

Sri Lanka’s Presidential elections have just been concluded. The new government led by Gotabaya Rajapaksa faces several challenges. These challenges include strengthening social cohesion, turning around an economy in distress and managing complicated external relations. Dr Amitendu Palit from ISAS-NUS discusses these issues with Associate Professor Razeen Sally from the LKY School of Public Policy, NUS.

Episode 24: Third Pillar - Reviving Communities to Preserve Capitalism

In this episode, Dr Raghuram Rajan discusses his new book - The Third Pillar: How markets and the state leave the community behind which advocates for a community-centred focus on capitalism to fix problems caused by technological disruption and trade protectionism. Through the book, Rajan urges policymakers to devolve power down to local communities to enable citizens manage public policy challenges, particularly social and economic policy issues like health and education. Communities, Rajan argues, could help citizens overcome challenges caused by market dislocations and state incapacity.

Episode 23: Balancing the Triangle - China’s Tryst with Pakistan and India

In the week that Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with both the leaders of India and Pakistan, we speak to our Visiting Senior Research Fellow Dr Ren Yuanzhe on Beijing’s perspective of these meetings as well as the issues that may crop up.

Episode 22: India’s Strategic Relations - US, China and Pakistan

Hot on the heels off Howdy Modi, we speak to Mr Shivshankar Menon, former Indian National Security Advisor and Foreign Secretary on the status of these key relationships for India and what that may mean for its global ambitions.

Episode 21: Flushing Out India’s Water Needs

Is India facing a water crisis and, if so, will it get worse? What are the factors influencing India’s water issues at the moment? We speak to Professor Robin Jeffrey, ISAS Visiting Research Professor, to distill these issues for us.

Episode 20: Boosting India’s Retail Sector

With the Indian government relaxing some rules on single-brand retail in India, we discuss with ISAS Senior Research Fellow Dr Amitendu Palit if this move will allow the Indian retail sector to woo much needed foreign investment.

Episode 19: The Indian Economy - Rebounding ?

With the Indian economy showing signs of concerns, former Indian Comptroller and Auditor-General Mr Vinod Rai assesses the issues present and possible solutions to help the economy rebound.

Episode 18: The G7 Summit - India Enters the Ring

Hot off the heels of the conclusion of the G7 Summit in France, ISAS Research Fellow Dr Karthik Nachiappan discusses the outcomes of the discussions and how India played a role and could be impacted by its presence there.

Episode 17: Mr Arun Jaitley - The Consensus Builder

In this episode, we pay tribute to the former Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who passed away last weekend. Talking to former Indian Comptroller and Auditor-General Mr Vinod Rai, we discuss the lawyer-turned-politician’s legacy, contributions and working style as a consensus builder and a philanthropic individual. In this episode, we pay tribute to the former Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who passed away last weekend. Talking to former Indian Comptroller and Auditor-General Mr Vinod Rai, we discuss the lawyer-turned-politician’s legacy, contributions and working style as a consensus builder and a philanthropic individual.

Episode 16: Whose Cake is it ?

Earlier this week, the RBI announced that they will be giving a portion of their surplus to the Indian government for their expenditure. We speak to two Indian economic stalwarts – former Comptroller and Auditor-General Mr Vinod Rai and former Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister Dr S Narayan on whether the Indian government should get a slice of the RBI pie and what they may do with it.