Commentary
Commentary
Short arguments, plainly made. Every piece says what the state should do next — and takes responsibility for saying it.
All commentary
Aruna Vashisht · Foreign policy & geoeconomics
Ports in a storm
Friend-shoring is redrawing the map of Indian trade; the containers already show where value moves, and policy should follow them rather than the communiques.
Dev Khandekar · Technology policy
The stack and the state
India's digital public infrastructure has outgrown its founding story; the state that built the rails must now regulate them, and someone independent must audit the stack.
Kabir Deshmane · Security & deterrence
The grammar of deterrence
India's deterrent rests less on new hardware than on disciplined signalling, and two years of doctrinal ambiguity are eroding a credibility gradient built over decades.
Ila Ramanathan · Political economy & federalism
A union of transfers
India's fiscal union increasingly moves money by discretion rather than formula, and restoring formula-bound shares is a question of incentives, not of generosity.
Zoya Warsi · Foreign policy & geoeconomics
Water as leverage
China's upstream dams have turned river data into strategic currency; India's answer should be a coalition for hydrological transparency, not another protest note.
Dev Khandekar · Technology policy
The price of compute
Chip subsidies without secured electricity, cooling water and transmission buy announcements, not capability; compute, like refining, is an infrastructure business before it is a technology business.