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by Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Each week, Milan Vaishnav and his guests from around the world break down the latest developments in Indian politics, economics, foreign policy, society, and culture for a global audience. Grand Tamasha is a co-production of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Hindustan Times.
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- 6 days ago38 min
The U.S. and India—Beyond the Headlines
On this week’s episode of Grand Tamasha, Milan welcomes not one but two new Carnegie colleagues to the show. This summer, Anit Mukherjee joined the New Delhi-based Carnegie India as its brand-new director. Anit is a senior lecturer at the King’s India Institute. He joined King's after ten years in Singapore, where he was an associate professor at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies. He has also served as an officer in the Indian Army. He’s an expert on all things defense and national security and wrote—what many people consider the best book on civil-military relations in India—The Absent Dialogue: Politicians, Bureaucrats and the Military in India, which was published in 2019.And Sameer Lalwani is a new Senior Fellow in the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington, D.C. He was previously a senior expert at the United States Institute of Peace and directed the South Asia Program at the Stimson Center. His work explores military technology competition, deterrence dynamics, alliance politics, and Indo-Pacific security.On this week’s show, Milan speaks with Anit and Sameer about U.S.-India relations, India’s defense and military reforms, and what Washington and New Delhi don’t understand about one another. Episode notes:1. Sameer Lalwani, “As Rubio Lands in India, the U.S.-India Relationship Is Stronger Than It Looks,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, October 16, 2026.2. Anit Mukherjee, “A Halting Turn: India’s Military Transformation,” Carnegie India, August 27, 2026.3. “Rubio’s Visit and India’s Strategic Choices (with Pankaj Saran),” Grand Tamasha, October 27, 2026.
- 1 weeks ago42 min
Rubio’s Visit and India’s Strategic Choices
Rubio’s Visit and India’s Strategic ChoicesU.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent visit to India comes at a moment of uncertainty about the future of U.S.-India bilateral ties—and the wider international order. As New Delhi carefully navigates ties with Washington, Beijing, and Moscow, how can it preserve its freedom of action while advancing its interests? And does India have the capabilities to match its global ambitions?To discuss these questions and much more, Milan is joined on the show this week by Ambassador Pankaj Saran. Ambassador Saran is a former diplomat with forty years of experience in foreign, strategic, and national security affairs. From 2018 to 2021, he served as the Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Affairs under Prime Minister Narendra Modi dealing with regional and global strategy formulation, including maritime security and Arctic affairs, neighborhood policy, and technology and economic security. He has also served as India’s Ambassador to Russia and India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh, and as Head of the Northern Division in the Ministry of External Affairs dealing with Nepal and Bhutan. Ambassador Saran is presently Convenor of NatStrat, a Delhi-based independent centre for research on strategic and security issues. Milan speaks with Ambassador Saran about the significance of Rubio’s visit, the structural shifts in America’s strategic orientation, and the limits and opportunities in China-India ties. Plus, the two discuss Russia-India ties, the significance of the BRICS, and the lasting impacts of Operation Sindoor.Episode notes:Pankaj Saran, “Not a bloc, not anti-West: What India's BRICS hosting really signals,” Economic Times, September 11, 2026.Pankaj Saran, “From Indonesia to Australia to New Zealand, PM Modi charts India's Indo-Pacific arc,”Economic Times, July 7, 2026.Pankaj Saran, “Why India can play a bigger role as the G7 evolves,” Hindustan Times, June 12, 2026.“India and China’s Uneasy Coexistence (with Vijay Gokhale),” Grand Tamasha, October 21, 2026.“China, India, and the New Global Order (with Vince Cable),” Grand Tamasha, October 14, 2026.
- 2 weeks ago50 min
India and China’s Uneasy Coexistence
China remains one of the most consequential—and most difficult—foreign policy challenges facing India today. Even as tensions along the border persist, New Delhi is cautiously rethinking economic ties with Beijing. This rethink, in turn, is taking place against a broader change in the strategic environment as Washington rethinks its own relationship with China.Few people in India have thought more about the changing China-India relationship that Ambassador Vijay Gokhale. Ambassador Gokhale is a nonresident senior fellow at Carnegie India. He retired from the Indian Foreign Service in January 2020 after a diplomatic career that spanned thirty-nine years. From January 2018 to January 2020, he served as the foreign secretary of India. He previously served as India’s high commissioner to Malaysia, ambassador to Germany, and ambassador to the People’s Republic of China. Ambassador Gokhale has written five books on China, the most recent of which is titled China's Wars: The Politics and Diplomacy Behind its Military Coercion. His latest book examines how Beijing uses coercion, diplomacy, and military force to advance its interests—and what those patterns can tell us about China’s behavior today.On the show this week, Ambassador Gokhale tells Milan why he calls China an “opportunistic power,” why the India-Chian relationship is best characterized as one of “armed coexistence,” and whether the thaw in India-China relations reflects a genuine shift in Chinese policy or a tactical pause. Plus, the two discuss the shift in U.S.-China relations, the Xi-Trump summit, and the prospects of a G-2 accommodation between the United States and China.Episode notes:Vijay Gokhale, “Xi-ing Eye to Eye,” Times of India, September 28, 2026.Vijay Gokhale and Chirayu Thakkar, On China: Reflections on Chinese Statecraft (New Delhi: Rupa, 2026).“How India and Pakistan See Each Other—and the World” (with Jacob Poushter), Grand Tamasha, September 23, 2026. “What Do Indians Think About the World?” (with Aidan Milliff and Paul Staniland, Grand Tamasha, June 10, 2026.“Can India Thrive in Trump’s World?” (with Shoumitro Chatterjee, Sameer Lalwani, and Tanvi Madan), Grand Tamasha, April 1, 2026.
- 3 weeks ago46 min
China, India, and the New Global Order
China and India represent two of the most important forces reshaping the global economy, but they have arrived at this moment having followed very different paths. China surged ahead through manufacturing, exports, and an activist, but authoritarian state. India, by contrast, followed a more uneven path, shaped by democracy, a robust services sector, and a different relationship between government and markets. A new book, Eclipsing the West: China, India and the Forging of a New World, by the British economist Sir Vincent Cable examines the bigger question of what the rise of China and India means for the future of the world economy—and the international order. Vince Cable is a British economist, author, and former politician who has spent decades thinking about the changing global economy. He served as Britain’s secretary of state for business, innovation and skills from 2010 to 2015 and later as leader of the Liberal Democrats. Before entering politics, he worked in government, international organizations, academia, and the private sector—including as chief economist at Shell. Today, he is a Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics in the School of Public Policy.To talk more about his new book, Vince joins Milan on the show this week. The two discuss Vince’s first visit to India as a student in the mid-1960s, the contrasting reception to his writings on China and India, and the concept of “superstates.” Plus, the two discuss the ability of India to shape global order, Indian democracy’s “fork in the road,” and three possible futures for an emerging world of superstates.Episode notes:1. Martin Wolf, “Best books of 2025: Economics,” Financial Times, November 19, 2025.2. “A Sixth of Humanity and the Dreams of a Nation (with Devesh Kapur and Arvind Subramanian),” Grand Tamasha, October 22, 2025.3. Devesh Kapur, “Why Does the Indian State Both Fail and Succeed?” Journal of Economic Perspectives 34, no. 1 (Winter 2020): 31-54.
- Oct 7, 202656 min
Why Clean Air Is So Hard to Deliver in India
This week, Grand Tamasha is launching a new four-part series on energy and climate issues in collaboration with CASI—the Center for the Advanced Study of India—at the University of Pennsylvania.Over the next several months, we will be putting a spotlight on some of the most pressing energy and climate issues facing India—from India’s green transition to the effect of climate on its coastlines, and India’s multilateral climate diplomacy. And we will be doing so by leveraging the expertise of many CASI experts and affiliates.The first part of this new series looks at the connection between pollution and politics. Air pollution is often treated as an environmental or public health problem. But it is also a deeply political one—shaped by what voters demand, what politicians believe they will get credit for, which sources of pollution governments choose to target, and which institutions are capable of compelling action. To discuss why toxic air has proven so politically challenging in India—and what it might take to change that—Milan is joined on the show this week by Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar and Tariq Thachil.Vaishnavi is an award-winning science and environment journalist based in Mumbai, and a former Visiting Fellow at CASI. She is a Contributing Correspondent for Science and an editorial consultant with The Times of India. She has previously worked as a staff editor at the Christian Science Monitor and editor of the magazine Time Out Mumbai.Tariq is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. From 2020-2025, he served as the Director of the Center for Advanced Study of India (CASI). Tariq has worked on political parties and political behavior, identity politics, urbanization and migration, but he is also developing a new research agenda on the political consequences of air pollution. The trio discuss why India and South Asia sit at the epicenter of the global air pollution crisis, why toxic air produces such little political pressure, and what politicians actually know about India’s dirty air. Plus, they discuss the role of civil society, the courts, and ordinary citizens in holding politicians accountable on climate issues.Episode notes:1. Shikhar Singh and Tariq Thachil, “Why Is Air Pollution Not a Political Issue? Evidence from India,” Working Paper, March 13, 2026.2. Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar, “Climate Change is Stretching Mumbai to its Limits,” The Atlantic, February 7, 2022.3. Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar, “Optics, Ambition, and a Genuine Transition: Reflections from the Inaugural Mumbai Climate Week,” CASI India in Transition, August 4, 2026.4. Vaishnavi Chandrashekhar, “Mumbai's air quality: ‘Time to look at city’s airshed & not just localised pollution,’”Times of India, October 30, 2023.
- Sep 30, 20261h 0m
India’s Public Finances, Explained
Few subjects are as central to the functioning of government—or as likely to make the average citizen’s eyes glaze over—as how governments collect and spend the public’s money. But public finance shapes nearly every interaction Indian citizens have with the state. How much tax revenue will my state receive from the Centre? Will my local government have the resources to invest in the urban amenities I value? And how can I distinguish between an expensive freebie and a purposeful, targeted cash transfer?A new book, Fiscal Fables: A Citizen’s Guide to Public Finance, demystifies India’s public finances for a lay audience—and explains public finance concepts using relatable stories and examples. The book is co-written by two public policy researchers, Sarthak Pradhan and Pranay Kotasthane. They join Milan on the podcast this week to discuss their joint work.Sarthak is a fellow at the Takshashila Institution, an independent centre for research and education in public policy. He also serves as assistant editor of the Indian Public Policy Review. Pranay is deputy director at Takshashila, where he chairs the High-Tech Geopolitics Programme. He also co-writes Anticipating the Unintended, a weekly newsletter on public policy, and co-hosts Puliyabaazi, a Hindi–Urdu podcast on politics, policy and technology.Sarthak, Pranay, and Milan discuss why every active citizen should care about public finance, the competing visions in India of the purpose of government, and the vagaries of the Indian tax system. They also talk about the much-maligned Goods and Services Tax, the tensions in India’s fiscal federalism, and the rise of ‘competitive populism.Episode notes:1. “India's Tryst With Policymaking” (with Pranay Kotasthane), Grand Tamasha, January 25, 2023.2. “India and the Emerging Chip Race” (with Pranay Kotasthane), Grand Tamasha, January 30, 2024.3. Khyati Pathak, Anupam Manur, and Pranay Kotasthane, We, The Citizens: Strengthening the Indian Republic (New Delhi: Penguin, 2024).
- Sep 23, 202642 min
How India and Pakistan See Each Other—and the World
Nearly eight decades after the partition of British India, Indians and Pakistanis still view one another with deep suspicion—and their perceptions of the wider world are increasingly divergent as well. New data collected by the Pew Research Center offer a revealing snapshot of how people across South Asia view their neighbors, major powers like the United States and China, and India’s growing global role. To unpack what these findings tell us about global public opinion, Milan is joined on the podcast this week by Jacob Poushter. Jacob is the lead author of recent Pew report titled, “India and Pakistan: Rivals with Divergent Views of the Global Order.”He is an associate director at Pew Research Center and an expert in international survey research. He writes about international public opinion on a variety of topics—including the international image of the United States and perceptions of global threats. He is also responsible for designing survey questionnaires, managing survey projects, analyzing data and developing topics for the annual Global Attitudes Survey.Milan and Jacob discuss the work of the Pew Research Center, the hardened views of India and Pakistan towards one another, and the two neighbors’ views of the great powers. Plus, the two discuss how India is viewed by other countries in the neighborhood and the places where India’s standing has experienced a significant decline.Episode notes:1. Jacob Poushter, Sneha Gubbala, and William Miner, “How do South Asians view other countries in the region?” Pew Research Center, August 13, 2026.2. Sneha Gubbala, “Public opinion of India is mixed across 36 countries,” Pew Research Center, August 13, 2026.3. “Neha Sahgal on Religion and Identity in Contemporary India,” Grand Tamasha, June 30, 2021.
- Sep 16, 202651 min
Episode 300: India, Then and Now
This week, Grand Tamasha commemorates the release of our 300th episode. We started this show as an experiment in the run-up to India’s 2019 general elections. Seven years and 300 episodes later, we’re still around, and no one is more surprised than we are.While India has changed in many ways over the past seven years, one constant has been our occasional Grand Tamasha roundtables with Sadanand Dhume of the Wall Street Journal and the Council on Foreign Relations and Tanvi Madan of the Brookings Institution. It seemed only natural to celebrate our 300th episode by having them both on to discuss the latest in Indian politics and foreign policy. This week on the show, Milan, Sadanand, and Tanvi discuss the political fall-out of this summer’s Gen Z protests, the political future of the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), and the churn within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Plus, the trio discuss Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the potential thaw in China-India relations, and whether ties between India and the United States can weather the current turbulence.Episode notes:1. Sadanand Dhume, “An India-China Rapprochement Isn’t in the Cards,” Wall Street Journal, September 9, 2026.2. Sadanand Dhume, “India’s Global Image Problem,” Wall Street Journal, August 26, 2026. 3. Sadanand Dhume, “‘Cockroaches’ Threaten to Overrun Narendra Modi’s Kitchen,” Wall Street Journal, July 29, 2026. 4. Tanvi Madan, “India’s Strategy for Economic Security: Deny, Indigenize, and Diversify,” Asia Policy 21, no. 3 (2026).
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About Grand Tamasha
Each week, Milan Vaishnav and his guests from around the world break down the latest developments in Indian politics, economics, foreign policy, society, and culture for a global audience. Grand Tamasha is a co-production of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Hindustan Times.
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