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Mihir Sharma
While there’s no evidence of deliberate manipulation, increasing opacity and inconsistent data have led to doubts about the accuracy of India's official gross domestic product figures.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 10, 2024
India’s statistical challenges mirror China’s past issues
India's once-strong institutional credibility in terms of economic data is weakening, much like China's, though perhaps for different reasons.
China has shifted the economic narrative. The country's rapid growth and production under a repressive regime challenges the idea that good institutions are necessary for wealth.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 18, 2024
Beijing’s success is a conundrum for Nobel winners
China has shifted the economic narrative. The country's rapid growth under a repressive regime challenges the idea that good institutions are necessary for wealth.
Managing India's regional tensions will be critical for the nation's future, as demographic shifts and economic disparities threaten to exacerbate existing divides.
COMMENTARY / World
May 23, 2024
Hindu-Muslim split isn’t India’s most dangerous divide
If the long-established consensus around states’ rights continues to erode, India will be in real trouble.
Despite being a major player in industries like technology and manufacturing, South Korea's defense exports have historically lagged behind.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 25, 2024
South Korea’s cheap weapons still won’t sell themselves
Despite being a major player in industries like technology and manufacturing, South Korea's defense exports have historically lagged behind.
The PTI party of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan triumphed in Pakistan's Feb. 8 elections despite not having the backing of the country's powerful military.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2024
Has Pakistan’s military finally lost its mystique?
Many Pakistani voters supported PTI, Imran Khan's party, in recent elections, showing the military that it has a rival powerhouse to contend with.
A protest is held in Toronto on Sept. 25, a week after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised the prospect of New Delhi's involvement in the murder of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 27, 2023
India’s denials of Sikh separatist plots ring hollow
Now that the U.S. is also raising concerns about New Delhi-orchestrated plots against Sikh separatists, why are many Indians reacting with a shrug?
India's exports represent about 40% of rice's global trade. New Delhi has banned or taxed rice and wheat exports to counter domestic food inflation.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 14, 2023
India pushes the world toward another rice crisis
Spooked by volatile foodgrain prices ahead of a general election next year, India’s government has banned or taxed rice and wheat exports.
Prominent Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed on the grounds of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in British Columbia, Canada, in June.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 26, 2023
India-Canada clash should be a wake-up call on diaspora extremism
Western countries are failing to keep the radicalization of certain migrant communities in check. They have much to lose.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 4, 2022
Pakistan won’t quickly recover from Imran Khan’s shooting
The attack on the former prime minister is likely to put any political equilibrium out of reach for years.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 18, 2022
There’s one way to wean India off Russian weapons
Switching to Western platforms is expensive. Instead India needs to do the hard work of developing a viable domestic defense industry.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 31, 2022
Forgiving student debt is a bad idea — just ask Indian farmers
Evidence from elsewhere in the world is clear: Canceling out debt incentivizes bad choices among borrowers and political leaders.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2022
The roots of Salman Rushdie attack lie in India, not Iran
British-era laws against insulting religion led to the banning of “The Satanic Verses” 30 years ago and continue to exact a high price in the subcontinent today.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 11, 2022
Shinzo Abe forged a new Asia
Shinzo Abe transformed “Indo-Pacific” from a catchphrase into an aspiration, defining a security and economic architecture to preserve free thought and free trade in the region and beyond.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 29, 2022
The death of the WTO has only been delayed
For the organization to recover its relevance, China and the U.S. both need to make more serious compromises.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2022
Companies should go green abroad, not just at home
Companies need to be rewarded for reducing emissions globally, not for scaling down their ambitions to focus on geographies where greener manufacturing is easiest.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 23, 2022
Why India is losing faith in the West
Criticizing India for continuing to buy oil from Russia is especially galling, given that European nations have yet to wean themselves off Russian energy supplies.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2021
Biden’s democracy summit is a South Asian diplomatic flub
As in many parts of the world, including in South Asia, the Biden's Summit for Democracy summit is likely to do more harm than good
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 31, 2021
Modi’s green new deal might actually work
There is no growth story left in India's economy that can enthuse voters and investors, so Prime Minister Modi is hoping a green-growth narrative will pay off economically and politically.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2021
Big tech crackdown could have unintended victims
Global efforts to rein in U.S.-based social media giants such as Twitter and Facebook Inc. risk restricting democratic freedoms.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 7, 2021
The world should learn from India’s COVID-19 cataclysm
Strategies that kept the pandemic at bay in 2020 won't necessarily work in 2021.

Longform

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