South Asia Chat

Episode 47: China-Iran Deal - What’s the way forward for India ?

A proposed US$400 billion economic and security cooperation deal between China and Iran has raised concerns for India and the United States. India has been involved in the development of the Chabahar port to gain strategic inroads into Central Asia while the United States has imposed sanctions on it in response to the Iranian nuclear programme and its support to terrorist groups. Will the proposed partnership between China and Iran impact India’s own position in the region and what lies ahead? To find out more on this, we spoke to Sumitha N Kutty, an Associate Research Fellow with the South Asia Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her research focuses on India’s foreign and security policies across the Indo-Pacific region with special interest in the Middle East.

Episode 46: Sri Lanka- Singapore Mark 50 Years of Diplomatic Relations

Sri Lanka and Singapore mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties on 27 July 2020. The two countries share a long history and, over time, trade and economics have become central to their bilateral relations. We spoke to the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Singapore, Sashikala Premawardhane, to understand how this relationship has evolved and what lies ahead.

Episode 45: Can Russia Play a Constructive Role in Sino-India Rivalry ?

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently hosted the Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting, the first opportunity for External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for face-time with each other over videoconference amidst the border de-escalation process. Russia is said to have a “special relationship” with India as it is one of the key weapons supplier to the country. Last year, Russia also upgraded its relationship with China which is now dubbed as a “comprehensive strategic partnership”. Given that Russia is close to both India and China, what role can it potentially play in the de-escalation process and in the larger ties between the two neighbours in the Indian subcontinent? We spoke to Nandan Unnikrishnan, a Distinguished Fellow at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi with expertise in Russia and Eurasia. Unnikrishnan began his career as a journalist with the Press Trust of India (PTI). He was deputed by PTI to the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) and did a three-year stint in Moscow as its Bureau Chief, before moving to Business India’s Television Channel.

Episode 44: Challenges and the Way Forward for Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan completes two years in the government this August. While he began innings by promising to create a 'Naya Pakistan' free of corruption, mismanagement, foreign debt and poor economy, his performance seems to have fallen short. Now, he faces several challenges with the economy taking its worst hit in 68 years, combating the COVID-19 pandemic and controversies surrounding Kashmir after India revoked Article 370. In this episode, we spoke to Dr Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, Associate Professor of Political Economy at the National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University to discuss the challenges that Imran Khan's government will be facing going forward and to assess his remaining term as Prime Minister.

Episode 43: Sri Lanka’s Maritime Identity - Geopolitics and Developments

The Indian subcontinent has become an important maritime hub for global powers. For Sri Lanka, it’s maritime identity was shaped specifically by its geography which attracted substantial Chinese investments. This has reshaped its maritime and shipping industry in the island nation giving rise to competition and new opportunities. Geopolitically, more countries have begun recognising Sri Lanka’s potential as a maritime hub in the Indian Ocean. To discuss the developments and the geopolitics in details, we speak with Mr Rohan Masakorala, the CEO of the Shippers’ Academy Colombo and the founder member of Singapore Shipper’s Academy and the Shippers’ Academy Colombo.

Episode 42: India-China Border Disputes - Will there be a settlement ?

India and China have been engaged in many border disputes but the recent Chinese infringement in the Galwan Valley resulted in 20 Indian casualties. Although both sides are engaged in military and diplomatic-level talks, India recently banned about 49 Chinese apps on grounds of threat to sovereignty. We speak to Ambassador Shivshankar Menon, Distinguished Visiting Research Fellow, ISAS. He was India's Foreign Secretary from October 2006 to August 2009 and also served as national security advisor to the Prime Minister of India from January 2010 to May 2014. Ambassador Menon shared his insights into the consequences of the current Sino-India skirmishes, possibilities for a boundary settlement, the impact of these tensions on the subcontinent and engagement with big powers.

Episode 41: Opportunities in Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 hit Tourism Industry

The Sri Lankan government recently announced that the country will open up for tourism from August 2020, amidst the global pandemic. Sri Lanka has outpaced regional growth in tourism with an increase of 10 per cent in 2018, while in 2019, the Lonely Planet named it as the No 1 tourist destination in the world. However, its tourism industry couldn’t capitalise on these positive developments first due to a terror attack and now due to the pandemic. To find out more about the impact on the industry, health challenges and opportunities in medical tourism, we speak to Dr D A C Suranga Silva, Professor in Tourism Economics at the Department of Economics, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo. He holds PhD from Virije University Amsterdam in Tourism Economics and M Phil in Environmental Economics from  Maastricht School of Management (MSM), the Netherlands.

Episode 40: Pakistan’s Obsession with Turkish Drama Diriliş: Ertuğrul

The Turkish drama series, Diriliş: Ertuğrul, has recently taken Pakistan by storm after Prime Minister Imran Khan urged his people to watch it as it promotes Islamic heroes and values. The series is loosely based on the life and times of the 13th-century Muslim Oghuz Turk leader, Ertugrul, whose son Osman Ghazi is considered to be the founder of the Ottoman Empire. Aired first on TRT, Turkey's national broadcaster, the show has now been dubbed in Urdu and aired on PTV and its YouTube channel. To find out about the popularity of this show, the socio-political debates it has sparked and its relevance to bettering Pakistan-Turkey relations, we speak to Dr Zebunnisa Hamid, an Assistant Professor of Film Studies in Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies (CLCS) at LUMS.

Episode 39: The New Pakistan - Assessing Continuity and Change Under Imran Khan

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s 2018 Election Campaign was built around his vision of transforming the country into 'Naya Pakistan' or 'New Pakistan'. Now that he is set to complete his second year in office this August, it is timely to discuss the changes that he has been able to bring about thus far.

In this episode of South Asia Chaat, we speak with Dr Iqbal Singh Sevea, Visiting Research Associate Professor at ISAS, who provides a preliminary progress report on continuity and change under the Imran Khan-led Government. He discusses the constraints imposed by a struggling economy, new emerging relations between the military and civilian sectors, and the massive plague of locusts that is now confronting South Asia.

Episode 38: India-Australia Virtual Summit - Insights from Ambassador Anil Wadhwa

Ahead of the virtual bilateral summit between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison scheduled on 4 June 2020, Professor C Raja Mohan spoke to Ambassador Anil Wadhwa Distinguished Fellow, Vivekananda International Foundation, on what lies ahead in Australia-India relations in terms of cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, enhancement of trade and the role of the diaspora. Ambassador Anil Wadhwa authored a report titled 'Australia Economic Strategy' (AES) to complement 'An India Economic Strategy To 2035' report authored by former Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia and Former High Commissioner of Australia to India Peter Varghese.