Opinion

Opinion | China May Be Turning Pak Into A Military Nightmare For India

Beijing has steadily become Islamabad's principal defence supplier. But the emerging nexus goes beyond weapons

Opinion | Akash Missile Could Be India's Next Big Export. But There's A Problem

India's reported sale of its indigenous Akash surface-to-air missile system to Tajikistan and Turkmenistan could mark an important step in the country's ambition to become a major global arms exporter. Beyond the commercial value of the deals, the entry of Akash into Central Asia would open a new market for Indian defence technology in a region whe...

Opinion | Marine Engines: Why India Must Own The Power Behind The Platform

India's warship-building story is progressively one of indigenous design, construction, and systems integration. But an uncomfortable contradiction lies at the heart of this progress: India can build sophisticated warships, yet remains dependent on foreign sources for some of the most critical machinery that actually makes those ships move - marine...

Opinion | AI vs Skills: What Does Indian Economy Really Need?

India's quarterly GDP growth were revealed recently, and one thing is very clear: India needs manufacturing of greater scale. However, India's manufacturing debate is asking the wrong question. It is increasingly framed as a choice between two futures: one in which factories are powered by artificial intelligence, automation and autonomous machi...

Opinion | India Wants A 6th-Generation Fighter. But A Lot Could Go Wrong

India might just be building too many fighter jets to focus on any one of them well. A recalculcation is needed.

Opinion | The Big Reset In How India Builds Its Defence Is Here

The real transformation underway in India's defence ecosystem is visible now in a new missile or a fighter jet, but in how India is building its military technology.

Opinion | DRDO Is Being Restructured. But The Real Problem Remains Unsolved

Three big questions are ailing the DRDO and its progress

Opinion | India's Defence Deals Have A Serious Problem Nobody Talks About

For over 20 years, India believed that its defence deals would help nourish the domestic industry. Now, a parliamentary report suggests that never quite happened.

Opinion | Kaveri To J-20, How China Overtook India In A 40-Year-Old Race To Build Fighter Jets

Both launched ambitious military jet engine programmes during the 1980s. Both depended heavily on Soviet and Russian technology. Four decades later, however, the finish line tells two dramatically different stories.

Opinion: What's Chipping Away At The Nitish Kumar-BJP Alliance

To check the status of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's relationship with senior partner BJP, take a quick look at three incidents from the four-day assembly session last week.

Blog: Chirag Paswan Tried To Be Too Clever By Half

The damage report for Chirag Paswan is in - and it's leaving the 38-year-old looking awfully shaky. He's been displaced as the leader of his party by a disgruntled uncle who today reportedly refused to meet him in Delhi.

Blog: Why Prashant Kishor's Next Job Matters A Whole Lot

Having announced his sanyas from one-party campaigns, Prashant Kishor is now his own client; his experience in rebranding will need to turn inward.

Blog: Chirag's Games Won't Dislodge Nitish. He Will Be Chief Minister

While Chirag Paswan may be acting out in public and Nitish Kumar in private, it is the BJP whose beat is thumping. For the first time, it is contesting nearly the same number of seats as Nitish Kumar, proving its growing dominance in their arrangement.

Blog: Nitish Betrayed PM Modi, I Revere Him - By Chirag Paswan

I'm in politics and and I also have a dream - of a different Bihar. Let me make it clear that I don't have any thing personal against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who is also the face of the NDA in the approaching election. My decision to go solo and break from the NDA in Bihar was borne of my conviction that if my state has to develop, then it needs a double-engine go...

Blog: I Was With Kanhaiya Kumar When His Car Was Attacked

For the seventh time in two weeks, Kanhaiya Kumar's convoy was targeted today as he drove through Gaya, part of his journey across Bihar to galvanize support against the controversial new citizenship law.

Blog: Behind The Scenes Of Nitish-BJP's Hard Pass On Cabinet Spots

For Mr Kumar, then, this is a double role that must drag on: in public, the polite but self-assured ally who will stand his ground; privately, the politician who is boxed in by the knowledge that he is being put - and kept - in his place.

Blog: Nitish Kumar Cracks Down On BJP In Bihar To Prove He's Boss

Nitish Kumar's supporters argue that his immediate clamping down on BJP leaders linked to last month's riots evidences his determination to put the BJP in its place if it crosses lines he has drawn an is unwilling to redraw.

Blog: Tejashwi Yadav Proves He's No "Pappu" - And Wins Big

The big learning in Bihar is this - Tejashwi Yadav can lead his party to victory even without his father at the centre of the RJD. His other message to Bihar is tongue-in-cheek - Chacha, he says, isn't old enough to lead you much longer; me, I can serve you for another 50 years; choose wisely.

Opinion: PM Modi's Snub To Nitish Kumar, Witnessed By 5,000 People

Nitish Kumar offered Prime Minister Narendra Modi the opportunity to turn the once-prestigious Patna University into a campus entitled to funding from the centre. The Prime Minister passed. An audience of nearly 5,000 witnessed the exchange. And unsubtly, the Bihar Chief Minister was put in his place -again - by his new boss.

Opinion: In Amit Shah's Best Interest To Not Offend Nitish For Now

It was the Olympic Gold of political somersaults and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar seemed to manage a perfect landing right next to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for years his main rival.