Swasti Rao

Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Swasti Rao’s opinion piece ‘Braverman’s exit and Cameron’s entry is good news for India. It can fast-track FTA’ has been published in ‘The Print’ on 17 November 2023.

Braverman’s remark of Indians being the largest group of visa overstayers had irked New Delhi. Therefore, from India’s perspective, a change in the govt might mean fast-tracking FTA, says Dr Rao.

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• Published: 17 November, 2023

Associate Fellow Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Swasti Rao’s article ‘For IMEC to have any real impact, fix the finance first. Only then it can counter China’s BRI’ has been published in The Print on 07 October 2023.

In the aftermath of an unequal economic recovery from the pandemic, several interconnected factors are transforming global capital markets. De-risking financing for IMEC remains a crucial challenge in harnessing its full connectivity potential and pursuing plans for expansion, says Dr Rao.

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• Published: 7 October, 2023

Associate Fellow Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Swasti Rao’s opinion piece ‘Europe can’t de-risk from China fully. It’s not the era of cowboy capitalism’ has been published in The Print on 22 September 2023.

There is more work to be done when it comes to India being a direct beneficiary of the EU diversifying its investments from China, says Dr Rao.

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• Published: 22 September, 2023

Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Swasti Rao’s opinion piece ‘How do you count the takeaways from India’s G20? It’s as simple as ABCD’ has been published in The Print on 10 September 2023.

The connectivity partnership between the US, EU, UAE, Saudi Arabia, India is a truly big ticket announcement that will be a game-changer, says Dr Rao.

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• Published: 10 September, 2023

Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Swasti Rao’s opinion piece ‘At the G20 minus Xi, EU looking to further its China+1 strategy—partnership with Asia’, has been published in ‘The Print’ on 08 September 2023.

The real takeaway for the bloc at the G20 would be to posit and reiterate itself as a development partner to the Global South, says Dr Rao.

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• Published: 8 September, 2023

Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Swasti Rao’s article ‘American F-16s had a tough flight to Ukraine – the journey ahead isn’t easy either’ has been published in ‘The Print’, on 25 August 2023.

How fast Ukraine can be trained for a completely different type of air machine remains to be seen, says Dr Rao.

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• Published: 25 August, 2023

Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Swasti Rao’s article ‘Saudi Arabia latest to join mediators in Ukraine war. But it was a PR exercise for Zelenskyy’ has been published in ‘The Print’ on 11 August 2023.

The list of mediators is only growing: Saudi Arabia has joined Israel, Turkey, China, India, and Brazil. But all the talk is only rhetoric until the 2024 US election, says Dr Rao.

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• Published: 11 August, 2023

Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Swasti Rao’s opinion piece ‘Germany’s China document a sign of Europe’s changing perception. It’s shifting to New Delhi’ has been published in ‘The Print’ on 28 July 2023.

Pessimists sighed at its ambiguity and optimists saw it as a balancing act. But it is a harbinger of the end of the golden era of Germany-China relations, says Dr Rao.

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• Published: 28 July, 2023

Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Swasti Rao’s article ‘25 years of France and India — a template of how to conduct relations in an unstable world’, has been published in ‘The Print’ on 14 July 2023.

France and India's desire to shape the emerging global order is key to their partnership — they are not “free riders, but free thinkers” that take pride in their own perspective, says Dr Rao.

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• Published: 14 July, 2023

Associate Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Swasti Rao’s article Wagner Group is a shadow instrument of Russian policy, product of a ‘deny-endorse’ paradox’ was published in ‘The Print’ on 30 June 2023.

Private military company Wagner has kept operating within the grey zone as a shadow instrument of State policy, giving the Russian Army a perfect alibi to invoke deniability, wrote Dr Rao.

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• Published: 30 June, 2023