Kishore Mahbubani is widely regarded as one of Asia’s most well-known diplomats, commentators, and strategic analysts. Having grown up in poverty in Singapore in the 1950s, however, there was nothing preordained about Mahbubani’s success.

But over the course of the second half of the twentieth century, he would go on to become one of the most recognizable and revered diplomats of his generation.

Mahbubani served in Cambodia, Malaysia, and the United States. He was Permanent Secretary at the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs and twice served as the country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. He later served as founding dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

Mahbubani chronicles his life journey in a new memoir titled, Living the Asian Century: An Undiplomatic Memoir.

Mahbubani’s journey mirrors Singapore’s own metamorphosis and the book sheds equal light on Mahbubani’s life as it does the Asian country’s own improbable evolution.

To talk more about the book, Kishore Mahbubani joins Milan on the podcast this week. They discuss Kishore’s childhood poverty, his “Indian soul,” and his lifelong interactions with former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. Plus, Milan and Kishore discuss the explosion of cultural self-confidence in Asia and what this means for the emerging world order.

Episode notes:

1. [open access] Kishore Mahbubani, The Asian 21st Century (Springer, 2022).

2. Kishore Mahbubani, “It’s Time for Europe to Do the Unthinkable,” Foreign Policy, February 18, 2025.

3. Tony Chan et al., “America Can’t Stop China’s Rise,” Foreign Policy, September 19, 2023.

4. Kishore Mahbubani and Lawrence H. Summers, “The Fusion of Civilizations: The Case for Global Optimism,” Foreign Affairs (May/June 2016).

The Indus Valley Annual Report, published by Blume Ventures, is an annual deep-dive into the Indian macroeconomy, the Indian consumer, and the innovation ecosystem in India. The report has become one of the most highly anticipated reports on the economy—pored over by policy wonks, economic analysts, and India watchers.

The lead author of the report is Sajith Pai. Sajith is a partner at Blume Ventures, an early stage venture firm with offices in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, and San Francisco. Sajith oversees consumer and India B2B investing at Blume. Prior to joining Blume, Sajith had a two-decade career in various corporate strategy roles with the Times of India Group.

To talk more about this year’s report, Sajith joins Milan from his office in Noida. The two discuss the origins and objectives of the Indus Valley Annual Report, India’s post-pandemic recovery trajectory, and India’s low (and declining) savings rate. Plus, the two discuss the trials and tribulations of India’s manufacturing sector and whether India can become an artificial intelligence (AI) powerhouse.

Episode notes:

1. Abhishek Anand et al., “How quality control orders are crippling India's trade competitiveness,” Business Standard, March 4, 2025.

2. Abhishek Anand et al., “Multiplying multi-plants: A new and consequential phenomenon,” Journal of Development Economics 174 (May 2025).

3. “Sajith Pai Unpacks the 2024 Indus Valley Annual Report and the Changing Indian Consumer,” Ides of India (podcast), July 4, 2024.

4. “Will India's Budget 2025 Turn the Economic Tide? (with Sukumar Ranganathan),” Grand Tamasha, February 5, 2025.

Europe is not typically the focus of the Grand Tamasha podcast but recent developments involving Europe, the United States, and India raise fresh questions about the future shape of the international order.

Last week, a high-level European Commission delegation embarked on a historic trip to New Delhi, where the two sides spoke optimistically of a promising new chapter in their relationship. Across the ocean in Washington, however, there were alarming signs of a breakdown in the Trans-Atlantic relationship, with the unprecedented Oval Office dressing down of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

To discuss where things stand in Europe, India, and the United States, Milan is joined on the show this week by Tara Varma. Tara is a visiting fellow in the Center of the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution. Until December 2022, she was a senior policy fellow and the head of the Paris office of the European Council on Foreign Relations. She has previously worked and lived in Shanghai, London, New Delhi, and Paris.

Milan and Tara discuss the growing wedge between the United States and Europe, the significance of the recent EC visit to New Delhi, the prospects of an EU-India trade pact, and the prospects of a “New Yalta” summit between China, Russia, and the United States. Plus, the two discuss the emerging bonhomie among right-wing nationalists and the prospects of the Trump administration engineering a Sino-Russia split.

Episode notes:

1. Sophia Besch and Tara Varma, “A New Transatlantic Alliance Threatens the EU,” Carnegie Emissary (blog), February 20, 2025.

2. Patricia M. Kim et al., " The China-Russia relationship and threats to vital US interests,” Brookings Institution, December 16, 2024.

3. Tara Varma and Caroline Grassmuck, “What is going on in France?” Brookings Institution, December 13, 2024.

4. C. Raja Mohan, “In Trump’s world, India and Europe need each other,” Indian Express, February 27, 2025.

Vishwa Shastra: India and the World is the new book by the scholar and foreign affairs analyst Dhruva Jaishankar. The book provides a comprehensive overview of India’s interactions with the world—from ancient times to the present day.

The book also serves as a comprehensive resource for those seeking to understand how India might define the emerging world order. In so doing, it rebuts the conventional wisdom that India lacks a strategic culture.

Dhruva is Executive Director of the Observer Research Foundation America, which he helped establish in 2020. He has previously worked at Brookings India, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

Dhruva joins Milan on the podcast this week to talk more about his book and the evolution of Indian foreign policy. The two discuss why India’s approach to the world is so poorly understood, misperceptions of India’s strategic culture, and the pre-independence drivers of Indian foreign policy. Plus, Dhruva and Milan assess the state of India-Pakistan relations, challenges to India’s ability to connect with Southeast Asia, and whether and how Trump 2.0 alters India’s strategic picture.

Episode notes:

1. Dhruva Jaishankar, “Foundation for layered India-America relations,” Hindustan Times, February 17, 2025.

2. Gunjan Singh, “Vishwa Shastra: A comprehensive guide to India's evolving foreign policy,” Business Standard, January 9, 2025.

3. Dhruva Jaishankar and Tanvi Madan, “The Quad Needs a Harder Edge,” Foreign Affairs, May 19, 2022.

There are two narratives doing the rounds about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Washington to break bread with U.S. President Donald Trump.

The first narrative, touted by the government and its backers, is that Modi skillfully threaded the needle with Trump, standing up for Indian interests but also giving the president some important early wins that can position India well for the future. The second narrative suggests a more pessimistic vision: that U.S.-India relations are at a precarious juncture, where a volatile and transactional president just might upend bilateral ties at a time when India can scarcely afford it.

To discuss where U.S.-India ties sit in the aftermath of the Modi visit, Milan is joined on the show today by Rajesh Rajagopalan. Rajesh is professor of International Politics at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. He is an expert on nuclear policy, Indian foreign policy, and U.S.-India relations. He’s also the author of a new article in ThePrint titled, “India-US ties stuck in cute acronyms. Delhi must wait out the chaos.”

On this week’s show, Milan and Rajesh discuss Joe Biden’s foreign policy legacy, India’s longstanding demands for technology transfers, and the plateauing in bilateral ties. Plus, the two discuss Delhi’s view on Elon Musk and the future of U.S.-China relations.

Episode notes:

1. “Trump and Modi, Part Deux (with Sadanand Dhume and Tanvi Madan),” Grand Tamasha, February 19, 2025.

2. Rajesh Rajagopalan, “India-US ties stuck in cute acronyms. Delhi must wait out the chaos,” ThePrint, February 17, 2025.

3. Rajesh Rajagopalan, “Trump’s blanket desire to avoid all wars can lead to the same wars he wants to avoid,” ThePrint, November 11, 2024.

4. “Dr. S. Jaishankar on the Future of U.S.-India Relations,” Grand Tamasha, October 2, 2024.

5. Rajesh Rajagopalan, “India keeps making the same foreign policy mistakes. World doesn’t think we’re being moral,” ThePrint, September 11, 2024.

6. “Looking Back at U.S.-India Relations in the Biden Era (with Ashley J. Tellis),” Grand Tamasha, September 11, 2024.

7. Rajesh Rajagopalan, “India-US ties under Modi echo Nehru’s reluctance to commit. Hope consequences aren’t the same,” ThePrint, July 17, 2024.

The news from India has been coming fast and furious.

On February 1, the finance minister revealed the latest Indian budget amidst a backdrop of slowing economic growth. On February 8, a new government in the state of Delhi was elected and, for the first time in a quarter-century, it’s headed by the BJP.  And on February 13, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had his first face-to-face sit-down with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in the Trump 2.0 era.

To discuss the latest events and what they mean for India, Milan is joined on the show this week by Grand Tamasha regulars by two Grand Tamasha regulars, Tanvi Madan of the Brookings Institution and Sadanand Dhume of the American Enterprise Institute and the Wall Street Journal.

They discuss the BJP’s striking political resilience, the fortunes of the Aam Aaadmi Party, and India’s current economic malaise. Plus, they discuss Modi’s high-stakes meetings with Trump and Elon Musk and the future of the China-India-United States relationship.

Episode notes:

1. “Will India's Budget 2025 Turn the Economic Tide? (with Sumukar Ranganathan)” Grand Tamasha, February 5, 2025.

2. Sadanand Dhume, “Foreign Lessons in the Perils of DEI and Affirmative Action,” Wall Street Journal, January 29, 2025.

3. Tanvi Madan, “Top Gun and Scattershot,” Times of India, January 20, 2025.

4. Sadanand Dhume, “Manmohan Singh’s Mixed Economic Legacy,” Wall Street Journal, January 1, 2025.

5. Tanvi Madan, “India is Hoping for a Trump Bump,” Foreign Affairs, December 5, 2024.

On September 5, 2017, the journalist Gauri Lankesh was shot and killed outside of her house in Bangalore by armed assailants traveling on a motorbike. Lankesh, a journalist and social activist, was known for being a fierce critic of right-wing Hindutva politics and her murder has widely been seen as retribution for her outspoken views.

A new book by the journalist Rollo Romig, I Am on the Hit List: A Journalist's Murder and the Rise of Autocracy in India, recounts the extraordinary life and tragic death of Gauri Lankesh. Rollo is a journalist, essayist, and critic. He has been reporting on South India since 2013, most often for The New York Times Magazine.

To talk more about his new book and his years reporting from South India, Rollo joins Milan on the show this week. They discuss Rollo’s love affair with Bangalore, Lankesh’s complex character, the shadowy rightwing organization Sanatan Sanstha implicated in her killing, and the police investigation into her death. Plus, the two discuss Gauri Lankesh’s legacy and what her murder tells us about the state of contemporary India.

Episode notes:

1. Nitish Pahwa, “A Reporter Who Risked and Lost Her Life in Modi’s India,” New York Times, August 6, 2024.

2. Rollo Romig, “How to Steal a River,” The New York Times Magazine, March 1, 2017.

3. Rollo Romig, “What Happens When a State Is Run by Movie Stars?” The New York Times Magazine, July 1, 201

4. Rollo Romig, “Masala Dosa to Die For,” The New York Times Magazine, May 7, 2014.

On February 1st, India’s finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her eighth Budget of the Modi era. This year’s budget was tabled at a precarious economic juncture, for India and for the world. India has been challenged by slowing growth, persistent inflation, and global uncertainties motivated in part by the return of Donald Trump to the White House just a few weeks ago.

So, how has the finance minister approached this delicate moment? What are the government’s priorities for the coming fiscal year? And has it made the tough decisions that could revive underlying animal spirits?

To discuss these and many other questions, Milan is joined on the podcast this week by Sukumar Ranganathan, editor-in-chief of the Hindustan Times.

Long-time listeners will know that Sukumar has regularly appeared on the show to share his insights on India’s political economy with us. On this week’s show, Milan and Sukumar discuss India’s worrying growth slowdown, the government’s pitch for deregulation, and a generous tax cut for the middle class. Plus, the two discuss the potential impacts of Trump’s tariffs on the Indian economy.

Episode notes:

1. “Anticipating the Unintended,” issue 287, February 2, 2025.

2. Roshan Kishore, “What the budget does for politics,” Hindustan Times, February 2, 2025.

3. Roshan Kishore, “What the budget does for demand,” Hindustan Times, February 2, 2025.

4. Roshan Kishore, “What the budget does for the fisc,” Hindustan Times, February 2, 2025.

5. Roshan Kishore, “What the budget 2025 means for economic reforms,” Hindustan Times, February 2, 2025.

6. “Previewing India's 2024 General Election (with Sukumar Ranganathan),” Grand Tamasha, April 17, 2024.

2024 was widely hailed as the year of elections with 73 countries holding elections in and more than 1.5 billion voters exercising their franchise. On Grand Tamasha, we’ve discussed the 2024 Indian general election as well as the recent U.S. presidential election at some length. But there was another important election in South Asia which has important ramifications both for India and the wider Indo-Pacific. In September 2024, for the first time in Sri Lanka’s history, a third-party candidate was elected president.

According to Neil DeVotta, our guest on the show this week, the election was nothing short of a peaceful revolution that represents a dramatic political realignment in the island nation.

Neil DeVotta is a professor of politics and international affairs at Wake Forest University, where he works on South Asian security and politics, ethnicity and nationalism, conflict resolution, and democratic transitions. And he’s also the author of a recent essay in the January 2025 issue of the Journal of Democracy, called “Sri Lanka’s Peaceful Revolution.”

To kick off the thirteenth season of the podcast, Milan sits down with Neil to discuss the tumultuous political history of Sri Lanka, its charismatic new president Anura Kumara Dissanayake, and the state of the Sri Lankan economy. Plus, the two discuss how Dissanayake will delicately balance relations with both India and China.

Episode notes:

1. Neil DeVotta, “Sri Lanka's Peaceful Revolution,” Journal of Democracy 36.1 (January 2025): 79-92.

2. Neil DeVotta, “Colombo's Controversial New President,” East Asia Forum, 24 July 2022.

3. Neil DeVotta, “A Win for Democracy in Sri Lanka,” Journal of Democracy 27.1 (January 2016): 152–66.

4. “South Asia's Economic Turmoil (with Ben Parkin),” Grand Tamasha, September 21, 2022.

5. “Inside Sri Lanka's Economic Meltdown (with Ahilan Kadirgamar),” Grand Tamasha, May 18, 2022.

One of the most talked about policy experiments in India in recent memory is the reform of government schools in the city-state of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. Under the leadership of the Aam Aadmi Party, the Delhi government has implemented an innovative program to equip students with foundational literacy and numeracy. But while these reforms are much discussed, they have been surprisingly under-studied. A new book by the scholar Yamini Aiyar tries to remedy this gap.

Yamini’s new book, Lessons in State Capacity from Delhi's Schools, draws on three years of ethnographic research where she and a team of colleagues were embedded in a cluster of schools across the national capital.

Yamini is currently Visiting Senior Fellow at the Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia and the Watson Institute at Brown University. Many of our listeners will know her from her work with the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, where she served as President from 2017 to 2024.

To kick off season thirteen of Grand Tamasha, Yamini joins Milan on the show this week. They discuss Yamini’s decade-long adventure studying India’s public schools, the core elements of the Delhi education model, and the mysterious ways in which the India bureaucracy operates. Plus, they discuss whether the Delhi experiment can travel beyond the national capital.

Episode notes:

1. “How Bureaucracy Can Work for the Poor (with Akshay Mangla),” Grand Tamasha, March 29, 2023.

2. Yamini Aiyar and Shrayana Bhattacharya, “The Post Office Paradox: A Case Study of the Block Level Education Bureaucracy,” Economic & Political Weekly 51, no. 11 (2016).

3. Lant Pritchett, “Is India a Flailing State?: Detours on the Four Lane Highway to Modernization,” HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP09-013, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 2009.

4. Devesh Kapur, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, and Milan Vaishnav, Rethinking Public Institutions in India (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2017).