In a special series of India Speak: The CPR Podcast as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mohtasav, Yamini Aiyar (President and Chief Executive, CPR) is joined by Dr KP Krishnan (Honorary Research Professor, CPR and Former Civil Servant) to discuss the structure of Indian Civil Services (ICS) and its evolution since its inception as a replacement of the Imperial Civil Service, founded by the British empire in the period between 1858-1947. In this episode, Aiyar and Krishnan discuss the structure of the...

The evidence from the recently released report by the Working Group III of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a clear wake-up call for humanity. In this episode of India Speak: The CPR Podcast, Dr Navroz Dubash, Professor, CPR and Coordinating Lead Author for Chapter 13 ('National and sub-national policies and institutions') & Co-author of the Summary of Policymakers speaks to Dr Shonali Pachauri, Senior Research Scholar, International Institute for Applied Systems...

In this episode of India Speak:The CPR Podcast, our host Sushant Singh, Senior Fellow, CPR is joined by Hu Shisheng, Senior Research Fellow and Director, Institute for South Asian Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) to understand the Chinese view of India and the Indo-China border crisis. Sharing takeaways from his paper, Shisheng unpacks the drivers behind India's 'tough' policy on China and the perceived shifts in Indian foreign policy. With the border...

In this episode of CPR's series on China-India relations, our host Sushant Singh (Senior Fellow, CPR) is joined by Col. Zhou Bo (Retired Senior Colonel, Chinese People's Liberation Army and Senior Fellow, Center for International Security and Strategy, Tsinghua University) to share the Chinese perspective of Sino-India ties.  Singh and Bo discuss the primary motivations of Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi's recent visit to India, the statements he made in Pakistan and India's apprehension...

In the latest episode as part of the special series on India-China relations for India Speak: The CPR Podcast, our host, Sushant Singh (Senior Fellow, CPR) is joined by Kanak Mani Dixit (Nepali Publisher, Editor and Writer) to understand India-China ties through China's relationship with Nepal. In this episode, Singh and Dixit discuss Nepal's current relations with China after the recent visit by Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councillor, Wang Yi. They uncover the main drivers of this...

In the sixth episode of the special series on India-China ties as part of India Speak: The CPR podcast, our host, Sushant Singh (Senior Fellow, CPR) is joined by Arne Westad, a renowned scholar of Modern, International & Global History and Elihu Professor of History, Yale University to discuss the historical and political aspects of the relationship between the two neighbours. Westad unpacks whether the relationship between the United States (US) and China can be called the new Cold War...

In the fifth episode of the our special series on India-China relations as part of India Speak: The CPR Podcast, our host, Sushant Singh (Senior Fellow, CPR) is joined by Cindy Yu (Broadcast Editor, The Spectator) to discuss the socio-cultural and political aspects of India-China ties. Born in Nanjing, China, Yu helps us to understand modern contemporary China from a personal and professional perspective. Together Yu and Singh discuss India's relevance in Chinese households, Chinese...

In the fourth episode of a special series on China, our host Sushant Singh (Senior Fellow, CPR) is in conversation with Rana Mitter (Author and Professor, History and Politics of Modern China & Director of the University China Centre, University of Oxford) to breakdown the historical and political aspects of China-India relations. Mitter helps us understand China's contemporary policy by looking at its ancient and modern history. They explore China's lingering insecurities of Japan's...

In a fast changing situation in Europe, with Russian aggression into Ukraine, India finds itself walking a tightrope with its values and principles on one hand and interests on the other. India's vote in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has particularly attracted global attention. To decode the complexity of the Russian-Ukraine crisis and its implications for India, Sushant Singh, Senior Fellow, CPR is joined by Shyam Saran, Senior Fellow, CPR and Former Indian Foreign Secretary on...

In the third episode of our series, hosted by Sushant Singh (Senior Fellow, CPR), featuring leading experts on the various facets of Sino-India relations, we are joined by Taylor Fravel (Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science & Director, Security Studies Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology) to discuss the strategic aspects of Sino-India relations. Singh and Fravel unpack the relevance of the Chinese strategic guidelines for India and the significance of the...

In the second episode of our series, hosted by Sushant Singh (Senior Fellow, CPR), featuring leading experts on the various facets of Sino-India relations, we are joined by Dennis Blasko (Independent Analyst & former Senior Military Fellow, National Defense University, Washington, DC) to discuss the military aspects of Sino-India relations, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) and what it means for India. Singh and Blasko discuss the origins of the PLA, its role as the defence arm...

We are delighted to present a brand new series hosted by Sushant Singh (Senior Fellow, CPR), featuring leading experts on the multiple facets of Sino-India relations. In the first episode of the series, we are joined by Arunabh Ghosh (Historian and Associate Professor of Modern Chinese, History Department, Harvard University) to unpack Sino-India relations through a historical lens. Together, Singh and Ghosh uncover the relationship between the two neighbours through documented exchanges in...

With crucial assembly elections, all eyes are on the states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur. Why are these elections important? What are the key electoral issues in these states? How will these elections shape the political narrative for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections? In episode 13 of India Speak: The CPR Podcast, Yamini Aiyar (President and Chief Executive, CPR) is joined by Rahul Verma (Fellow, CPR) to determine the current political trends and his outlook for the 2022...

In this episode of India Speak: The CPR Podcast, Shyam Saran (Senior Fellow, CPR and Former Indian Foreign Secretary) is joined by Asoke Mukerji (Former Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations). With illustrious careers in diplomacy, Saran and Mukerji unpack the future of multilateralism and its potential for cooperation amongst states, particularly as the world confronts cross-cutting global challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, cyber security, terrorism and climate change....

The Centre for Policy Research (CPR) completes 48 years on 2 November 2021. In this special episode of India Speak: The CPR Podcast, Mukta Naik (Fellow, CPR) speaks to Yamini Aiyar (President and Chief Executive, CPR) about her impressions of CPR's journey, her vision for CPR in the years to come, the institute’s research agenda, impact, experiences and more.

In this episode of India Speak, Sushant Singh, Senior Fellow at CPR speaks with Ambassador Gautam Mukhopadhaya, former Ambassador to Afghanistan (2010-13) and Senior Visiting Fellow, CPR.

The second wave of COVID-19 left an already-strained health system crumbling. As one of the initial states hit by the surge of cases, Delhi faced many challenges ensuring adequate oxygen supply to patients. In this episode of India Speak, Yamini Aiyar (President and Chief Executive, CPR) speaks to Shailendra Sharma (Education Advisor, Delhi Government) about his experience of working and supporting the oxygen control room that was set up in response to the crisis by the Delhi Government. Why...

The slowdown of economic activity experienced due to the lockdowns resulted in a significant impact on the lives of the poorest. In this episode of India Speak, Yamini Aiyar (President and Chief Executive, CPR) speaks to Dr Maitreesh Ghatak (Professor of Economics, London School of Economics) to discuss India's inequality problem. How unequal is India? Are these inequalities because of COVID or merely economic realities that COVID has now exposed? How do we bring India back on a more...

India embarked on its COVID-19 vaccination roll-out in early January prior to the second wave. In this episode of India Speak, Yamini Aiyar (President and Chief Executive, CPR) speaks to Partha Mukhopadhyay (Senior Fellow, CPR) to discuss India's vaccine policy and guide us through the many bottlenecks, confusions, and successes we have encountered in the last few months. Why didn't India start vaccinating earlier? How did the policy evolve once the second wave hit?

The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic saw rural parts of India get affected as well, unlike the previous year during the first wave. In this episode of India Speak, Yamini Aiyar (President and Chief Executive, CPR) speaks to Anurag Behar (Chief Executive Officer, Azim Premji Foundation) to discuss the impact of COVID-19 in the hinterlands. How are people in those areas responding to the pandemic? What are the economic consequences beyond just the health consequences they face?

Unlike last year during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the second wave witnessed the virus making inroads into rural areas of India as well. To discuss this and more, Yamini Aiyar (President and Chief Executive, CPR) speaks to Abhijit Chowdhury (Chief Advisor, Liver Foundation, West Bengal) in this episode of India Speak. Chowdhury discusses what the on-ground realities look like in rural India. He sheds light on how the health system in these areas can be prepared to respond to...

The State of Working India 2021 report by the Centre for Sustainable Employment (CSE) at the Azim Premji University finds that the pandemic has further increased informality and led to a severe decline in earnings for the majority of workers resulting in a sudden increase in poverty. In particular, the poor, women and younger workers have disproportionately borne the brunt of the pandemic. To discuss key findings of the report and more, Yamini Aiyar (President and Chief Executive, CPR)...

The second wave of the pandemic saw localised lockdowns across India that brought economic activities to a halt. What has been the impact of this on unemployment and labour force participation? In this episode of India Speak, Yamini Aiyar (President and Chief Executive, CPR) speaks to Mahesh Vyas [Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE)]. Through its surveys, CMIE has been closely tracking the health of the Indian economy, particularly...

The Indian economy was going through an unprecedented slowdown that was exacerbated by the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant national lockdown. Just as the economy was showing signs of recovery, the country has been hit by the virulent second wave. With multiple localised lockdowns, a halt on mobility and economic activity and an unprecedented health crisis, this time, the ravages of the pandemic are being felt across the nation, even rural areas. What has been the impact of...