For two and a half decades, India has stumbled and dithered with its submarine development programmes. A combination of structural inefficiencies, budgetary changes, tendering problems, delays, and institutional ad-hocism have hindered India’s submarine manufacturing ambitions. It is now time for India to reinvigorate its arc on submarine building.
The G20 was conceived in 1999 in the wake of the Asian financial crisis as a platform for finance ministers and central bank governors to deliberate on issues pertaining to global finance and economy. In 2008, it was elevated to include the heads of State against the backdrop of global recession. Today, representing more than 80 per cent of the world’s GDP, 75 per cent of global trade, and 60 per cent of the global population amid a crisis of global multilateralism, G20 has emerged as a premier forum for deliberation on global issues.
India and Japan, in July 2023, agreed to collaborate on semiconductors in a bid to create a more resilient supply chain for this critical technology and work together for the joint development of the semiconductor ecosystem. The partnership will focus on five areas: ‘semiconductor design, manufacturing, equipment research, establishing resilience in the semiconductor supply chain, and talent development’, paving the way for government-to-government and industry-to-industry collaborations.
These are surreal times in the US. Even as the political system is gearing up for next year’s Presidential elections, the legal drama being played out in various courtrooms is shaping the political dynamic more potently than political debates. In fact, politics has been subsumed by the legal issues surrounding key political actors, most importantly, former US President Donald Trump.
India is trying to convey that any expansion of BRICS is futile without serious efforts to nurture trust and foster cooperation.
Incidents of sudden disappearance of celebrities have been common in China. But Qin Gang’s case is special. Not only has he disappeared but his public records are also being erased.
