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Articles by Arun R Swamy
India walks the Trump tightrope
India’s 2025 was shaped above all by its relations with the United States, which have not been this precarious since 2001. Many Indians welcomed US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, anticipating a resumption of his warm relations with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Instead, the partnership steadily declined and India sought to shore up other relationships. Modi’s February 2025 visit to Washington seemed a harbinger of hope.
India-Pakistan conflict tests the limits of nuclear deterrence
The May 2025 India–Pakistan conflict marked a significant escalation of longstanding tensions that challenges the stability of deterrence between the two nuclear armed adversaries. While there have been regular skirmishes since their 1998 nuclear tests, these have largely been contained to the disputed territory of Kashmir. By contrast, this conflict saw missiles and drones fired at military facilities in each other’s heartland for the first time since the third Indo–Pakistani war of 1971.
India–Pakistan conflict tests the limits of nuclear deterrence
The May 2025 India–Pakistan conflict marked a significant escalation of longstanding tensions that challenges the stability of deterrence between the two nuclear armed adversaries. While there have been regular skirmishes since their 1998 nuclear tests, these have largely been contained to the disputed territory of Kashmir. By contrast, this conflict saw missiles and drones fired at military facilities in each other’s heartland for the first time since the third Indo–Pakistani war of 1971.
India-Pakistan conflict tests the limits of nuclear deterrence
The May 2025 India–Pakistan conflict marked a significant escalation of longstanding tensions that challenges the stability of deterrence between the two nuclear armed adversaries. While there have been regular skirmishes since their 1998 nuclear tests, these have largely been contained to the disputed territory of Kashmir. By contrast, this conflict saw missiles and drones fired at military facilities in each other’s heartland for the first time since the third Indo–Pakistani war of 1971.
Jammu And Kashmir Elections Reveal Enduring Political Fault Lines – Analysis | Flipboard
Now MS Dhoni Attends Inauguration Of CISF Unit ASG Ranchi Program MS Dhoni‘s patriotism goes far beyond his cricketing achievements.
Jammu and Kashmir elections reveal enduring political fault lines
Both regional and national elections were held in India’s troubled Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) region in 2024 for the first time since its autonomy was drastically downgraded in 2019. But despite successful elections in the region plagued by complex territorial disputes and enduring insurgencies, early signs suggest that decades-old patterns of political allegiance remain largely unchanged.
Brewing new markets for Nepal’s tea trade
Visits by prospective Chinese buyers to Ilam, the tea capital of Nepal, against the backdrop of Nepali tea facing uncertain access to India caught the attention of the international media. Nepal has long sought to diversify its trade partners and secure alternative transit routes, an aspiration that long predates the freefall in China–India ties in the wake of COVID-19. Nepal’s southern border with India has been blockaded four times since 1960.
Plurality under BJP dominance
India is one of the most diverse polities in the world, containing cross-cutting socio-cultural divisions based on religion, caste, language and region. The once-dominant Indian National Congress (INC) party viewed this diversity as a source of pride, championing ‘unity in diversity’. Today’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) champions a different nation-building strategy, downplaying diversity and emphasising a common subcontinental heritage of Hinduism.
Modi’s India Came Out of 2023 On Top
In domestic politics, economics, and international clout, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoyed a successful 2023. At home, his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won most state elections. Regionally, India passed China to become the most populous country — and India’s GDP growth rate underscored her aspiration to replace China as the world’s factory. Globally, Modi was courted by all sides. Even space cooperated when India landed a craft on the moon. Foreign affairs took center stage.
Modi's juggernaut steaming toward a third term
In domestic politics, economics and international clout, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoyed a stellar 2023. At home, his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won most state elections. Regionally, India passed China to become the most populous country — and India’s GDP growth rate underscored her aspiration to replace China as the world’s factory. Globally, Modi was courted by all sides. Even space cooperated when India landed a craft on the moon. Foreign affairs took center stage.
India’s triumphs, turmoil and diplomatic tightropes in 2023
Author: Arun Swamy, University of Guam In domestic politics, economics and international clout, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoyed a successful 2023. At home, his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won most state elections. Regionally, India passed China to become the most populous country — and India’s GDP growth rate underscored her aspiration to replace China as the world’s factory. Globally, Modi was courted by all sides. Even space cooperated when India landed a craft on the moon. ……
India’s triumphs, turmoil and diplomatic tightropes in 2023
Author: Arun Swamy, University of Guam In domestic politics, economics and international clout, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoyed a successful 2023. At home, his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won most state elections. Regionally, India passed China to become the most populous country — and India’s GDP growth rate underscored her aspiration to replace China as the world’s factory. Globally, Modi was courted by all sides. Even space cooperated when India landed a craft on the moon.
Non-Gandhi leader not enough to save India’s Congress
India’s grand old party, the Indian National Congress (INC), has elected a new president. This should not be big news, but it is the first contested election in two decades and only the sixth in INC history. It is also the first time since 1998 that someone not named Gandhi has held the post. But the prospects of this exercise in party democracy reviving the INC are slim. As the tortuous process and predictable outcome make clear, the INC has still not overcome its dependence on one ruling dynasty.
No winners in the Indian National Congress presidential race
Author: Arun R Swamy, University of Guam India’s grand old party, the Indian National Congress (INC), has elected a new president. This should not be big news, but it is the first contested election in two decades and only the sixth in INC history. It is also the first time since 1998 that someone not named Gandhi has held the post. But the prospects of this exercise in party democracy reviving the INC are slim.
No winners in the Indian National Congress presidential race
Author: Arun R Swamy, University of Guam India’s grand old party, the Indian National Congress (INC), has elected a new president. This should not be big news, but it is the first contested election in two decades and only the sixth in INC history. It is also the first time since 1998 that someone not named Gandhi has held the post. But the prospects of this exercise in party democracy reviving the INC are slim.
Peeling back the onion on India’s farm protests
24 February 2022 Author: Arun R Swamy, University of Guam Late last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the repeal of three laws intended to liberalise agricultural trade within the country. The announcement attracted worldwide attention, giving some indication of how enormous a political headache the laws had become. For over a year, mass protests by farmers camped in and around New Delhi had been an international talking point.
India’s free pass on civil rights
14 February 2022 Author: Arun R Swamy, University of Guam For India, 2021 was a year of trauma and portent. Alongside the continuing COVID-19 crisis — despite an ostensibly successful vaccination drive — the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) anti-democratic tendencies intensified. A year-long protest by farmers eventually resulted in the government withdrawing a landmark bill to liberalise agricultural trade. State elections heralded the strength of regional parties.
India’s state elections and the continuing irrelevance of the INC
17 May 2021 Author: Arun R Swamy, University of Guam All of the participating parties in the latest round of Indian state elections made some gains — with one exception. The once-dominant Indian National Congress (INC) continued its slide into irrelevance. The national ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), did not fare much better but could take some solace from expanding beyond its traditional strongholds, mostly at the expense of the INC.
The protests over India’s Citizenship Amendment Act | East Asia Forum
9 April 2020 Author: Arun R Swamy, University of Guam In February, US President Donald Trump’s state visit to India was marred by reports of sectarian violence between Hindu mobs and residents of Muslim neighbourhoods in Delhi. Within days, dozens were dead in the latest round of conflict that has swept across India since the passage of the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) on 9 December 2019.
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