Minhaz Merchant

The construction of the Ram Mandir has been carefully timed: it is expected to be ready to admit its first devotees three months before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

As the world unites against Beijing over the draconian security law it has imposed on Hong Kong, India has two potent diplomatic weapons in Tibet and Taiwan.

The brazen modus operandi Beijing has employed to thrust the draconian national security law on Hong Kong could turn the tide against China.

In overplaying its hand in the Galwan Valley, Beijing has made a close US-India alliance all but inevitable.

Given China’s unpredictable leadership, India should follow Sun Tzu’s advice in eastern Ladakh. We need to be patient, inscrutable, deceptive and keep our plans unfathomable.

India’s challenge as the fourth lockdown winds down on May 31 will be to pursue a revival of economic activity without setting off infection spikes in red zones.

Nirmala Sitharaman's economic package does not quite amount to the deep structural reforms India needs. It is a crisis liquidity fund to put the economy back on its feet.

The Covid-19 pandemic has set the stage for a long-term geopolitical conflict between China and the United States-led Western alliance.

Most estimates place India's GDP growth in 2020-21 at below 2 per cent. Even that will be hard to achieve unless there is a quick rebound in economic activities.

Ten days into the 21-day nationwide lockdown, there is a cause though for optimism as the number of Covid-19 deaths remains low in India.

The coronavirus is not the first time a deadly infection has travelled to Europe from China. In 1347, the Plague, also believed to have originated in China, killed millions in Europe.

Foreign media rarely analyse why an overwhelming majority of India’s 200 million Muslims don’t want to settle in a Muslim-majority country.

Much needs to be done by the Modi government to take the India-US relationship to a new level despite key challenges.

Another Assembly loss will raise questions about PM Modi’s political instincts and Home Minister Amit Shah’s Midas touch.

The apex court's anodyne order has left the question of the constitutional validity of the CAA wide open.

Can Modi government weather the storm set off by the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens (NRC)?

A year that began with celebration of Balakot promises to end in division and acrimony. It will provide the BJP time to reflect on the triumphs and errors.

The unstated objective of the CAB is to polarise the Hindu electorate by leaving persecuted Muslim refugee-migrants out of its warm citizenship embrace.

Maharashtra Chief Minister has begun his innings with the challenge of keeping the unlikely allies together and happy.

Will the present political turmoil in the state result in a strong government that addresses the real issues irrespective of the ideological dichotomy?

The release of leaders in detention will soon become a cause for global criticism which has been relatively muted so far.

The BJP-Shiv Sena coalition along with its smaller partners could win as many as 220-240 seats. In Haryana, the BJP alone could get 70-plus seats.

India must use Houston as a launch pad for a robust new strategic global role grounded in clear-eyed reality.

A Balakot 2.0 cannot be ruled out.

With Brexit imminent, Britain wouldn't want India to abandon the CWG. But India derives little benefit from membership of a post-colonial club where shooting is replaced with beach volleyball.

There is an inevitability about India’s global rise. Her moment has finally arrived and we are here to witness it in all its glory.

The bold move to unshackle J&K from the prison Article 370 confined it to has given the Modi government political goodwill across the country. Let the economy not deflate it.

The age of feudal overlords in J&K is over and true democracy has finally arrived. BR Ambedkar would be the happiest man were he with us today.

Most liberals in India flout the tenets of true liberalism but take a ‘holier-than-thou’ stance on issues that ruffle their interests. The 49 letter-writers addressing PM Modi are the same.

Amidst all the back-room Machiavellian manoeuvring, the infantile core of the Congress stands exposed. A party that can’t decide on its leadership after two months and clings to one family for salvation does so at its peril.