'Those who follow the workings of the establishment believe that Indian diplomacy has managed more by the individual flair and brilliance of a few individuals than its systemic strength or organisational excellence.'
Omkeshwar Singh, Head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
'The optimistic advice might be "fasten your seat belts" and the pessimistic one might just turn out to be "brace for impact",' says Claude Smadja.
Budget was a mild disappointment. Yet, the bull run continues.
New Delhi and Beijing are the only two regional capitals that have commented on US President Donald Trump's speech on August 21 outlining the way forward in Afghanistan. The Indian foreign ministry statement was effusive in praise, while the Chinese statement has been one of cautious and guarded hope. Delhi has identified itself with Trump's Afghan strategy, whereas the Chinese stance is calibrated -- observant and objective, keeping a distance, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The range of purchases throw a light on India's threat perception as also its perceived role of being a stabilising influence in the region,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
What differentiates one person from another is how well they can effectively utilise their skill and knowledge.
'Indians are great savers, but they are lousy investors.'
The Geneva agreement is a signal, which at least Saudi Arabia and Israel are so reading, that normalisation of relations between US and Iran is not merely about the nuclear fuel cycle, says K C Singh.
It is imperative that we deconstruct the current narrative and rewrite the storyline. To this end we need to alter the basic premise of the controversy, eliminate the obstructionists, home in on the true stakeholders and redefine the rules of engagement, says Vivek Gumaste.
'Trump's stated strong stance against Islamist extremism and terrorism could play into the Indo-US relationship.' 'It could mould US attitude and exert pressure on Pakistan.' 'In the event of US military presence in Afghanistan increasing, however, Pakistan could gain an opportunity to again emphasise its importance.'
India is Asia's other bad debt headache.
Pakistan faces a challenge largely of its own creation and only political processes can correct it, argues Raza Rumi.
'Modi's promise of change during the election campaign was on the domestic front, but his first year in office focused on foreign policy beyond all expectations,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
With EU, it is part of the FTA that we will need to negotiate.
There is no clarity yet on how an estimated 10.9 million new jobs would be created every year.
Omkeshwar Singh, Head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, will answer your queries.
Ritika Kochhar finds out how Indian miniatures, which were once buried in manuscripts, ended up drawing collectors the world over.
'The Modi government's lurch toward America has not brought it any dividends so far. The Western world is simply not in a position to make big investments in India... India needs to take a leap of faith vis-a-vis China.'
Oil and gas players' wish list includes incentivising E&P investments and reintroduction of income tax holiday for exploration and production activities, among others.
'Love Sonia is a motion picture with the ambitions of a novel.' 'When I walked out of Love Sonia this Monday night, I walked out with a hushed audience that seemed too overcome by the raw power of the film to even pause for applause,' notes Sreehari Nair.
'To expect that he has a magic wand to resolve all differences and announce breakthroughs in all issues during his first visit to the US is to be unrealistic,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
China's major economic problem has been that its heartland is an agricultural region with about one-third of the arable land per person as the rest of the world.
Any change in rates would mean more volatility; else, poll outcome-fuelled rally expected to continue.
'With the recent challenging of the notion of the Indian Ocean Region being India's strategic backyard, China is gradually upping the ante in the maritime realm around India.'
There are signs of China's external behaviour becoming more aggressive in the coming years. If that happens, strategic implications for neighbours having territorial disputes with China can become deeper and imperatives can rise for the former to counteract, says D S Rajan
An excerpt from Conde Nast India's Make In India magazine.
'If we play our cards right, we may even benefit from the competition between the US and China as seen from increased investment from each of these countries into India.' 'The size of our market gives us an important lever of power which we shall have to play adroitly and intelligently,' points out Ambassador Gautam Bambawale -- who served as India's envoy to China -- in the Professor V M Dandekar Memorial Lecture 2019, delivered on March 8, 2019 in Pune.
Trade between India and Indonesia stands at $20 billion.
Excerpts from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the Combined Commanders Conference on board the INS Vikramaditya at sea, off the coast of Kochi.
'The temptation of governments, to have a finger in the RBI pie will be just too great to resist, unless extensive amendments are carried out in the RBI Act treating it almost as the fourth branch of the government.'
'If the dimensions of the strategic partnership worked out by India and the US seem like a grand alliance targeted at you-know-who, China had better realise that it has fathered it,' says B S Raghavan, a long time observer of China.
Flipkart's current valuation is an estimated $12 billion.
Ma and the other co-founders had finalised the name "Alibaba" after much research on its acceptability.
'China made it evident that neither the swing-ride at Ahmedabad nor the red carpet at New Delhi worked, by timing its muscle-flexing in Ladakh to coincide with Xi's visit.'
President Xi Jinping's visit may put relations between India and China on a new trajectory
'Secretiveness and the element of surprise in announcing decisions marks the Modi style of diplomacy. From being a voluble politician, he became a reticent statesman... But the diplomatic dance is performed on thin ice and his adroitness is still to be proved,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Modi today needs BJP CMs and non-party regional leaders to win votes and build alliances, but he will over-rule them and treat them like dirt once they have served their electoral purpose. Make no mistake: Modi is incurably authoritarian and will brook no dissent -- so long as the RSS is on board, says Praful Bidwai.
'Vietnam has become an adjective as well as a verb -- the Americans, for instance, were driven by the passion to do a 'Vietnam' on the Soviet Union when that country invaded Afghanistan in 1979.'
"The poor will not suffer disproportionately due to bouts of sharp inflation, and the middle class will not see its savings eroded," Raghuram Rajan said.
