C. Raja Mohan

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Reading between Trump’s lines: He will dial up pressure – and wants a way outSubscriber Only

April 02,2026 19:07:44 PM

Who holds Hormuz becomes key; US-Iran chasm deep but current positions may be seen as opening bids

India must reboot neighbourhood policy — trade is the keySubscriber Only

April 01,2026 06:20:05 AM

The rapidly changing international context makes early action on neighbourhood trade urgent

C Raja Mohan writes: The Gulf’s geopolitical predicament cannot be solved. It can only be managedSubscriber Only

March 25,2026 06:13:11 AM

Iran is too strong to be ignored, but not strong enough to exercise unilateral dominance. The Gulf Arabs cannot balance Iran on their own and will continue to depend on the United States for security

C Raja Mohan writes: During Nowruz, Iran’s Persian culture collides with regime’s ideologySubscriber Only

March 18,2026 06:10:47 AM

The Islamic Republic was founded in part on a rejection of nationalism and traditional culture. But in practice, the Iranian state has never escaped the gravitational pull of Persian identity

Taking sides in conflict: Delhi’s past record tells a complicated storySubscriber Only

March 11,2026 06:12:49 AM

For decades, India framed its Middle East policy around two broad contradictions: The US versus the region, and Israel versus the Arabs. But Indian debates paid far less attention to the region’s internal rivalries.

As Iran confronts existential threat, its minorities will shape internal contest and political modernisation in Middle EastSubscriber Only

March 04,2026 06:15:32 AM

Nation-building across the post-colonial world has always wrestled with these twin imperatives: Centralisation for state-building, and accommodation of minorities for widest possible political legitimacy. Only a few have managed the balance successfully.

Bid to undo 1979 Islamic Revolution | Tectonic shifts in Tehran: why they cast long shadow in region, worldSubscriber Only

March 01,2026 20:30:39 PM

Coming weeks may well redraw political boundaries, reconfigure energy markets, alter the logic of great-power alignments

C Raja Mohan writes: With Israel and the broader Middle East, India now has a diplomacy of interests — not slogansSubscriber Only

February 25,2026 07:16:56 AM

PM Modi’s visit comes as Israel faces global criticism for its regional policies. But that is not weighing heavily in Delhi’s calculus. Israel today enjoys greater room for manoeuvre in the region than ever before.

C Raja Mohan writes: Modi and Trump, in different ways, reshape global discourse on AISubscriber Only

February 19,2026 20:10:13 PM

Washington wants dominance of American stack; for Delhi, AI is an agent of economic progress – with help from Silicon Valley

C Raja Mohan writes: With Emmanuel Macron’s visit, Delhi and Paris chart a ‘third way’, across traditional dividesSubscriber Only

February 18,2026 06:47:34 AM

The Macron moment is not merely about personal and bilateral warmth. It reflects a broader shift in Delhi’s geopolitical imagination — towards a more differentiated understanding of the West

Bhabha, Cold War, nuclear technology, 1955: Dos and don’t for India in AISubscriber Only

February 17,2026 06:57:19 AM

No nation can afford to treat AI as only a public good. The calls for international cooperation at the summit then coexist uneasily with pursuit of national interest.

AI shakes statecraft: Prediction markets test diplomats, spiesSubscriber Only

February 16,2026 06:28:50 AM

While governments discuss how to regulate the transformative technological revolution, AI-driven prediction markets are beginning to constrain state behaviour — including on decisions about war and peace.

C Raja Mohan writes: From rewiring of society to jobs anxiety, the questions looming before AI SummitSubscriber Only

February 15,2026 05:17:27 AM

Three  books — by Yanis Varoufakis, Alex Karp, and the late diplomat Henry Kissinger — offer sharply different answers and, between them, pointers for India to the road ahead on AI and its development.

C Raja Mohan writes: In the new world order, economic policy is also foreign policySubscriber Only

February 11,2026 06:31:23 AM

The Covid crisis exposed the fragility of global supply chains. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 drove home the new concerns. By the time the Group of Seven leaders met in Hiroshima in 2023, “economic security” had replaced the promotion of globalisation as the highest priority

C Raja Mohan writes | Decisive break from past: Closing deal with US, India emerges more confident negotiatorSubscriber Only

February 07,2026 20:00:11 PM

If the 1990s reforms helped India adjust to economic globalisation, today’s world is defined by intense geo-economic competition. The interim deal positions India well to navigate this

C Raja Mohan writes | Resilience and patience helped Delhi weather Trump’s tariff storm. India-US partnership is structurally sound, durableSubscriber Only

February 03,2026 12:38:46 PM

The convergence of strategic interests and the creation of a dense architecture of cooperation in the last quarter of a century was not going to be easily wrecked by personality clashes or even serious differences on any one issue

C Raja Mohan writes | India-Europe deal isn’t a byproduct of Trump’s America. It’s been long in the makingSubscriber Only

January 27,2026 14:45:23 PM

The agreements on trade, defence cooperation, and mobility unveiled this week were not conceived overnight. They reflect a sustained diplomatic effort stretching back to the early years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first term — an effort too often overlooked in the broader narrative of Indian foreign policy

C Raja Mohan writes: A question at Davos — are we back to the era of kings?Subscriber Only

January 21,2026 06:44:31 AM

The return of kings and lords is reshaping the international landscape. Neo-royalism concentrates power at the top in sovereign leaders ruling through courts and loyalists

C Raja Mohan writes | Beyond Gaza: With his Board of Peace, does Trump seek to bypass UN Security Council?Subscriber Only

January 18,2026 17:15:31 PM

US President looks at expanding UN mandate, India’s task cut out

C Raja Mohan writes: Narendra Modi and Friedrich Merz are looking at ‘Indo-Europe’ to balance America and ChinaSubscriber Only

January 13,2026 16:30:54 PM

As Europe’s leaders prepare to deepen engagement with India, the challenge will be to give the Indo-European idea concrete meaning. The Modi-Merz talks have taken an important step in that direction.

C Raja Mohan writes: On Maduro, there’s a reason for Delhi’s restraint — and a window of opportunity in the regionSubscriber Only

January 05,2026 15:33:05 PM

The past fascination with Fidel Castro or Che Guevara produced more posters and T-shirts than purposeful policies. As South America enters a new political phase — shaped by deep internal churn and restructured great power relations — India must seek to deepen and widen its own footprint in the region

C Raja Mohan writes: In 2026, navigating a world without normsSubscriber Only

January 02,2026 07:10:25 AM

Governments will continue to invoke the language of norms but employ it selectively and inconsistently. India is no exception

C Raja Mohan writes: Indian Communism is 100 years old. And it’s too early to write its obituarySubscriber Only

December 17,2025 07:09:09 AM

The conditions that once gave rise to communism — deep inequality, agrarian distress, precarious labour, the persistence of feudal values, and global economic turbulence — are sharper than ever. There is also renewed global interest in socialist and left-wing ideas, even in advanced economies

C Raja Mohan writes: MAGA agenda is now America’s global strategySubscriber Only

December 10,2025 07:24:36 AM

The NSS is notably harsh on US allies in Europe. It castigates Europe’s liberal polities and astonishingly promises to support right-wing movements seeking to overturn the continent’s current political order

C Raja Mohan writes | With Putin in Delhi, an opportunity: With old BFF Russia, go beyond defenceSubscriber Only

December 03,2025 06:46:35 AM

The difficult negotiations over Ukraine open the door to a potential restructuring of relations among the US, Europe, and Russia. But Delhi must first correct the distortion in its Russia policy