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South Asia Chat

South Asia Chat podcast series will feature conversations with analysts, academics and thought leaders on topical issues impacting South Asia.

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All Episodes

01:03:40

Episode 99: Subscribe, Unsubscribe?

South Asia Chat ·

2021/08/10

The Indian government recently announced a new set of rules to hold social media companies and OTT platforms accountable for content. While the government believes that these will prevent the "misuse and abuse" of these platforms, others feel that they are aimed at policing the Big Tech companies. To discuss various facets of these new guidelines, Dr Karthik Nachiappan, Research Fellow at ISAS spoke to Dr Narayan Lakshman, Associate Editor, the Hindu and Prof Nalin Mehta, Dean, School of Modern

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30:01

Episode 98: The Kashmir Issue

South Asia Chat ·

2021/08/03

Territorial disputes over the Kashmir region between India and Pakistan have been going on since 1947. To discuss the current situation in the four major regions of Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh and Gilgit-Baltistan as well as the recent initiatives taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, we spoke to Mr Sanjeev Tripathi, former Chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's premier intelligence agency. Mr Tripathi not only provides a good background to the problem here but also makes

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34:56

Episode 97: The Future of Afghanistan

South Asia Chat ·

2021/07/27

Following President Joe Biden's announcement in April, more than 90 per cent of its troops have been withdrawn from Afghanistan. With no substantial progress in the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, the country faces an uncertain future. In this epsiode, Dr Imran Ahmed, Visiting Research Fellow, ISAS, speaks to Dr Srinjoy Bose on the impact of the American withdrawal, an advancing Taliban and other recent developments in the region. Dr Bose is Senior Lecturer in

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23:16

Episode 96: Disaster in the High Seas

South Asia Chat ·

2021/07/21

On 20 May 2021, Sri Lanka witnessed the worst marine environment disaster in its waters. The X-Press Pearl, a cargo ship carrying chemicals that caught fire off the coast of Sri Lanka, has left in its wake an environmental disaster that the island nation will have to live with for several decades. To discuss the environmental and economic consequences of the incident, Dr Chulanee Attanayake, Research Fellow at ISAS, spoke to Dr Ranil Nanayakkara. Dr Nanayakkara is a conservation biologist

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45:24

Episode 95: Bangladesh-Sri Lanka Currency Swap

South Asia Chat ·

2021/07/13

Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh’s central bank, has in principle approved a S$200 million currency swap agreement with Sri Lanka, which will help Colombo deal with its foreign exchange crisis. This is unusual since Bangladesh, which has only recently qualified for graduation from the list of Least Developed Countries, has not been viewed so far as a provider of financial assistance to other countries. To discuss various aspects of the currency swap arrangement, including the changing economic balance of

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29:05

Episode 94: From Tourism to Terrorism

South Asia Chat ·

2021/07/06

The recent bomb attack on former President Mohamed Nasheed clearly indicates the wave of radicalisation sweeping the Maldives. Some of the factors that have led to this development include socio-economic ills, societal tensions and political polarisations that have created social exclusions, especially among the youth. To discuss more on the impact of radicalistion, Amit Ranjan, Research Fellow at ISAS spoke to Dr Azim Zahir, Research Fellow, School of Social Sciences, Discipline of Political

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28:13

Episode 93: How China and Pakistan Negotiate

South Asia Chat ·

2021/06/22

Since its official launch in April 2015, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the "flagship project" under Chinese President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative. While there has been much discussion on the geopolitical implications of this project, very little attention has been paid to how the two countries negotiate the terms of the CPEC deal. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace recently published a paper on this subject authored by Prof Katharine Adeney, Director of the

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31:16

Episode 92: India's New Vaccine Policy

South Asia Chat ·

2021/06/15

Recently the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a new vaccine policy wherein the central government would procure 75 per cent of the vaccines leaving 25 per cent for the private sector at a higher price. This is a departure from an earlier announcement where the Centre had allowed the States to procure vaccines independently. To share more insights into this policy and how India is ramping up vaccine supply, we spoke to Mr Vinod Rai, Distinguished Visiting Research Fellow at ISAS.

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18:33

Episode 91: China's Stake in the Afghan Peace Process

South Asia Chat ·

2021/06/08

With the United States preparing to leave Afghanistan this September after two decades, China's interest in the Afghan peace process has been growing. Apart from hosting multilateral talks with some key players, it is also one of the largest investors in the country. Dr Li Li, a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at ISAS shares more insights into China's views on American withdrawal, how it could leverage its relationship with Pakistan to bolster its economic interests in Afghanistan and its concerns on

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24:35

Episode 90: Sri Lanka and the UNHRC Resolution

South Asia Chat ·

2021/05/25

In March 2021, the United Nations Humans Rights Council (UNHRC) passed Resolution 40/1 promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka. The resolution gives the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to investigate and collect evidence of human rights violations in the country. The Sri Lankan government has, however, unequivocally rejected the mandate. To discuss the rationale behind the rejection as well as the impact of the resolution on Sri Lanka

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43:08

Episode 89: India's Climate Change Policy

South Asia Chat ·

2021/05/18

Climate change has come under the spotlight ever since the United States (US) Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, John Kerry, visited India in early April. This was particularly noteworthy as the Leaders' Summit on Climate hosted by US President Joe Biden took place soon after, on 22 and 23 April 2021. To discuss Kerry's visit, net-zero debates, India's progress on the Paris Agreement since 2015, and the international politics around climate change, Dr Karthik Nachiappan, Research Fellow at ISAS

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25:42

Episode 88: Assembly Elections Special - DMK Sun...

South Asia Chat ·

2021/05/06

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has returned to power in Tamil Nadu after remaining in the opposition for 10 years. While it won comfortably, the party did not sweep the polls as expected. As its leader M K Stalin is set to become the new chief minister, there are many challenges ahead of him including managing the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bharatiya Janata Party has meanwhile won Puducherry giving it another small opening in South India. To discuss more on these two outcomes, we spoke to Dr Narayan

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27:08

Episode 87: Assembly Elections Special – West Bengal...

South Asia Chat ·

2021/05/05

Of the four states and one union territory that went to election over March and April, West Bengal, rightly or wrongly, was the centre of attention. On election day, it was West Bengal once again that invited the most discussion. This was partly due to the overwhelming verdict in favour of Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Bengal despite the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi having focused considerable energies and resources on the state. The result also

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19:31

Episode 86: Assembly Elections Special – Left is...

South Asia Chat ·

2021/05/04

The recent Legislative Assembly elections in Kerala has been a historic one with the Left Democratic Front (LDF) returning to power for the second time in a row. The return of an incumbent party has not happened in the last 40 years and is a reaffirmation of the leadership of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. What led to this victory and why did neither the Congress nor the Bharatiya Janata Party make a visible dent? We spoke to Mr Vinod Rai, Distinguished Visiting Research Fellow at ISAS to share

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28:40

Episode 85: Pakistan In Focus

South Asia Chat ·

2021/04/27

Recent anti-France protests by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan turned violent leading to the government banning it. Alongside Pakistan is expected to play a key role in the Afghan peace process, following the withdrawal of American troops. With the Taliban almost certain to come into power, would this embolden such religious groups? To discuss more on these developments, we spoke to Dr Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, Non-resident Fellow at ISAS and Associate Professor of Political Economy at the National Institute

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21:49

Episode 84: India-Russia Ties

South Asia Chat ·

2021/04/20

The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was in India on a two-day visit, followed by a stopover in Pakistan which underlined the changing nature of bilateral relations between the two countries. He pointed out Russia's opposition to the Quad by calling it "Asian Nato" while also referring to its relationship with China as being "at the highest in history." To learn more, Nithya Subramanian, Editor at ISAS spoke to Mr Nandan Unnikrishnan, a Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation,

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19:33

Episode 83: India's Civil-Military Relations

South Asia Chat ·

2021/04/13

India’s military strength has increased in the past decades. However, it has still some way to go in developing the processes which makes the use of military force effective. The civilian bureaucracy within the Ministry of Defence and military establishment tends to be out of touch in setting national priorities and corresponding military objectives. The book, Absent Dialogue: Politicians, Bureaucrats and the Military in India, captures much of this dysfunction. The author, Dr Anit Mukherjee Deputy

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19:09

Episode 82: India’s Privatisation Policy

South Asia Chat ·

2021/04/06

The Finance Ministry has announced an ambitious disinvestment plan and decided to exit most sectors except four strategic ones. Dr V Anantha Nageswaran, Non Resident Senior Fellow, ISAS and Member (Part Time), Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, shares his views on the challenges that the government could face and how it could overcome them, as well as how the Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-reliant India) programme ties in with its privatisation plan.

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24:31

Episode 81: Assembly Elections in India

South Asia Chat ·

2021/03/30

The ongoing elections in the four states of West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well as the union territory of Puducherry are significant as these will be a test of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s dominance and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s continuing popularity. These will also evaluate the party’s ability to perform well in areas which are not its traditional bastions and the capacity of regional parties to resist one-party dominance. To discuss the polls and analyse the possible trajectory

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28:40

Episode 80: Quad Summit 2021

South Asia Chat ·

2021/03/24

The first Quad Summit, where leaders of the United States, India, Australia and Japan met virtually, signalled a continuation of Trump's policy for the Indo-Pacific. It also announced a huge vaccine initiative as well as cooperation in rare minerals which not only challenges China's dominance, but also indicates that the group's focus has not been primarily related to security concerns. To tell us more on the significance of this Quad meeting and what it means for China and the rest of the world, we

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