India Unveiled: Navigating Domestic Politics & Foreign Policy

India is playing an increasingly important role on the global stage, especially in the Indo-Pacific region. Now the world's most populous country, India is in the midst of its largest general elections, with a staggering 969 million eligible voters, making it the biggest election the world has ever seen.

While experiencing rapid economic growth and projected to become the world's third-largest economy by 2030, India is also facing concerns about the curtailment of democratic freedoms and minority rights and the rise of Hindu nationalism. 

In this week's episode, we delve into the complexities of India's current political environment, from the reshaping of its domestic politics to its strategic importance on the global stage. 

In the first part, Raagini speaks with Professor Sumit Ganguly to explore the last decade of India's domestic political landscape under the rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party and PM Narendra Modi. Their discussion also examines the significance of Prime Minister Modi's larger-than-life persona, as well as concerns about democratic backsliding.

The second part of the episode is focused on India's foreign policy and diplomacy. Professor TV Paul shares insights on Ind ia's more assertive and globally engaged approach to international relations, and examines its evolving relationships with key partners. 

Further Reading:
1) Ascending India and Its State Capacity (Yale University Press, 2017)
2) The Unfinished Quest: India’s Search for Major Power Status from Nehru to Modi (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024)

Guests:

Professor Šumit Ganguly is a Distinguished Professor of Political Science and holds the Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations at Indiana University, Bloomington. He has previously taught at James Madison College, Michigan State University, Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and the University of Texas at Austin. Professor Ganguly is a specialist on the international and comparative politics of South Asia. His most recent book is The Sino-Indian Rivalry: Implications for Global Order (with Manjeet S. Pardesi and William R. Thompson). In 2024, the University of Michigan Press will publish his co-edited book (with Dinsha Mistree and Larry Diamond) The Troubling State of India’s Democracy Professor Ganguly is the current Editor-in-Chief of the International Studies Review, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

T.V. Paul is Distinguished James McGill Professor in the Department of Political Science at McGill University, Montreal, Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He served as the President of International Studies Association (ISA) for 2016-17. He is the Founding Director of the Global Research Network on Peaceful Change (GRENPEC). Paul is the author or editor of 24 books, co-editor of 4 special journal issues, and author of over 85 scholarly articles/book chapters in the fields of International Relations, International Security, and South Asia. He is the author of the books: The Unfinished Quest: India’s Search for Major Power Status from Nehru to Modi (Oxford University Press, 2024); Restraining Great Powers: Soft Balancing from Empires to the Global Era (Yale University Press, 2018); The Warrior State: Pakistan in the Contemporary World (Oxford University Press, 2013); Globalization and the National Security State (with N. Ripsman, Oxford University Press, 2010); The Tradition of Non-use of Nuclear Weapons (Stanford University Press, 2009); India in the World Order: Searching for Major Power Status (with B.R. Nayar Cambridge University Press, 2002); Power versus Prudence: Why Nations Forgo Nuclear Weapons (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2000); and Asymmetric Conflicts: War Initiation by Weaker Powers (Cambridge University Press, 1994). He is the lead editor of the Oxford Handbook of Peaceful Change in International Relations (Oxford University Press, 2021). Paul currently serves as the editor of the Georgetown University Press book series: South Asia in World Affairs. For more, see: www.tvpaul.com

Producers:

Raagini Singh Panwar