Global India

Tara Varma, a visiting fellow at Brookings specializing in Indo-Pacific security, joins host Tanvi Madan to tackle listener questions on India's evolving global role. They explore how perceptions of India's democracy compare to China, emphasizing India's unique complexities in balancing economic ties with defense readiness. The conversation highlights India's strategic challenges with China, its nuanced position amid the Ukraine conflict, and the potential for future dialogue and stability in their relationship.

To discuss how Washington has viewed China-India ties and the role of the China factor in the U.S.-India partnership, host Tanvi Madan interviews two guests who have served across three presidential administrations: George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. Lisa Curtis is senior fellow and director of the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security; Joshua White is professor of practice of international affairs at Johns Hopkins SAIS and a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution. Show notes and transcript. Listen to Global India on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn about other Brookings podcasts from the Brookings Podcast Network.  

While India has remained careful about how it addresses China’s “sovereignty concerns,” since 2020 New Delhi has been less deferential to Beijing’s sensitivities on issues such as Tibet and Taiwan. To unpack this shift and India’s approach in the context of the India-China-U.S. triangle, host Tanvi Madan speaks with Brookings Senior Fellow Ryan Hass, director of the John L. Thornton China Center at Brookings. Show notes and transcript. Listen to Global India on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn about other Brookings podcasts from the Brookings Podcast Network.

India has closely watched the China-Russia relationship for decades because it has shaped India’s foreign policy options. In this episode, Tanvi Madan speaks with Nivedita Kapoor, an Indian expert on Russian foreign policy, about Russia’s evolving role in India’s China strategy and New Delhi’s perception of recent developments in the China-Russia partnership. Show notes and transcript. Listen to Global India on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn about other Brookings podcasts from the Brookings Podcast Network.

India recognizes that strategic partnerships are a necessary component of its China strategy. In this episode, host Tanvi Madan speaks with two experts about how New Delhi sees the role of partners like the United States, Europe, Australia, and Japan—as well as others—in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. C. Raja Mohan is a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute in New Delhi and columnist for India Express, and Garima Mohan is a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund’s Indo-Pacific Program. Show notes and transcript. Listen to Global India on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn about other Brookings podcasts from the Brookings Podcast Network.

Minilateral and multilateral organizations like the United Nations, BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the Quad have become arenas of competition between India and China. Host Tanvi Madan discusses India-China interactions in these domains with Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, a former Indian permanent representative to the UN, and Indrani Bagchi, former Times of India diplomatic editor and now CEO of the Ananta Center in New Delhi. Show notes and transcript. Listen to Global India on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn about other Brookings podcasts from the Brookings Podcast Network.

When it comes to China, geopolitics and technology are linked in India’s thinking. This has resulted in bans on Chinese social media and gaming apps, restrictions on Chinese investment in India’s tech sector, concerns about telecom networks and semiconductor supply chains, and more. And India’s concerns about Chinese inroads into its tech sector are only growing. To discuss these issues, Tanvi Madan speaks with Pranay Kotasthane, deputy director of the Takshashila Institution in Bengaluru, and Trisha Ray at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C. Show notes and transcript. Listen to Global India on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn about other Brookings podcasts from the Brookings Podcast Network.

Less than a decade ago, economic ties between India and China were strengthening. China became India’s largest trading partner, and when Xi Jinping visited India in 2014, Chinese officials were talking about the large investments in India to come. Today, however, Indian scrutiny and restrictions on a range of Chinese activities have increased, and geopolitical differences have exacerbated economic friction. To discuss this shift and the state of India-China economic ties, Ashok Malik, partner at The Asia Group and former Indian official, joins host Tanvi Madan. Show notes and transcript. Listen to Global India on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn about other Brookings podcasts from the Brookings Podcast Network.

China-aligned Pakistan and India-aligned Bhutan are both neighbors of India and China. In this episode of Global India, Tanvi Madan speaks with Ambassador Gautam Bambawale, New Delhi’s former envoy to both Beijing and Thimphu and high commissioner to Pakistan, about India-China dynamics vis-à-vis Bhutan and Pakistan. Show notes and transcript. Listen to Global India on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn about other Brookings podcasts from the Brookings Podcast Network.

China’s economic, diplomatic, and military activities in South Asia and the Indian Ocean island states have New Delhi concerned about Beijing’s growing influence in its neighborhood. In this episode of Global India, Tanvi Madan speaks with two experts—Darshana Baruah from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Constantino Xavier of the Centre for Social and Economic Progress in New Delhi—who discuss how India is responding. Show notes and transcript. Listen to Global India on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Learn about other Brookings podcasts from the Brookings Podcast Network.