Celebrating Independence & Planning India's Future
Dear Reader,
Wish you a very Happy Independence Day!
In today’s edition of the Takshashila Dispatch, we look back at Takshashila’s national security doctrine for India and also bring to you our latest from the past week on India’s future prospects, the US-India tech partnership, global healthcare and updates from our alumni meet-ups.
National Security Doctrine for India
As India celebrates its 75th year of independence, it is imperative that we have a clearly articulated national security doctrine for safeguarding Indian interests. In August 2019, The Takshashila Institution put together a draft of ‘A National Security Doctrine for India’.
We proposed that yogakshema, an idea pioneered in the Arthashastra, should be the guiding light of India’s national security doctrine. Simply put, the State must provide security and economic opportunities to all its citizens. Beyond India’s borders, in an anarchic, multipolar world, we argued that India must amass and project power across all domains, so it can defend its citizens’ interests.
To Shape the Future We Must Stop Obsessing About the Past
Taking inspiration from the evergreen song “Chhodo Kal Ki Baatein”, Nitin Pai writes in his column for The Mint that while it is important to pause and celebrate our achievements from time to time, as a young republic and a youthful nation, India should be looking forward:
This is not a call to forget history. Rather, it is an argument to bring the future into public conversations, into our civic lives and into our politics. Let bygones be bygones. We are often so consumed with relitigating the backlog of history that we have little time to prepare for the future. Yes, India has done well for itself over the past 75 years; but we could have done better. This is not merely perfect hindsight.
At every stage in our post-independence history, there were contemporary voices who drew attention to unfolding opportunities or warned us of impending threats. One reason why we didn't heed them – and indeed why we struggle to even today – is our preoccupation with the past, our indulgence in the fallacy of sunk costs. Of course, we need good rear view mirrors, but they should not be bigger than our windshields.
India @ 75
In a special Independence Day edition of Anticipating the Unintended - a newsletter on public policy concepts, frameworks, and ideas - Pranay Kotasthane and RSJ present to you an enriching journey through the past 75 years of Indian policy and politics. They highlight a landmark event from each of the last 75 years. In their own words,
This year we thought it would be fun (?) to run through every year since 1947 and ask ourselves what happened in the year that had long-term repercussions for our nation. This kind of thing runs a serious risk. It can get tedious and all too familiar. Most of us know the landmark events of recent history and what they meant for the nation. Maybe. Maybe not.
The Story of Article 370
The free e-book “Hamīñ Ast”, authored by Arghya Sengupta, Jinaly Dani, Kevin James and Pranay Modi and written for the general reader, throws fresh light on the historical context in which Article 370 of the Indian Constitution was introduced, negotiations over its content, its use to bring J&K closer to India, and finally, its nullification.
In last Thursday’s episode of our daily podcast All Things Policy, Mihir Mahajn joins Arghya Sengupta to walk through Article 370 and the constitutional challenges the nullification action faces.
Rise of Monkeypox in India
Monkeypox is an emerging threat to India’s health security. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared monkeypox a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” In a Takshashila Issue Brief, Dr. Harshit Kukreja writes that India must concentrate its efforts on ring vaccinations, diagnostics, and information and education programmes to combat monkeypox in India.
iCET & the India-US Tech Partnership
Recently, India and the US have entered into an Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) to expand the existing partnership between the two states in specific strategic technology sectors. Arjun Gargeyas writes in The Quint on the potential of iCET and its benefits for both the countries:
The focus must be on emerging technology areas that have the potential to use any given technology to create different applications and products to tackle some of the biggest challenges faced by both countries. Improving agriculture output, mitigating climate change effects and similar research can be prioritised for funding. Another area of focus would be to identify areas of technology that might dominate in the near future. Developing state-of-the-art quantum computer systems and building telecommunication networks using 6G are just a few among the plethora of technology areas that the iCET can spend its resources on.
Reimagining Global Health Architecture
Shambhavi Naik, Head of Research at The Takshashila Institution, participated in the panel on ‘Reimagining the Global Health Architecture’ at the ORF India Think Tank Forum 2022 organised by the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi. The speakers at the panel included Gagangdeep Kang, Chandrakant Lahariya, Sonalde Desai, and Sanjay M. Pattanshetty and the session was moderated by Saachi Bhalla.
The G20 has asserted that a coordinated approach to global health threats and reforms to the global health architecture are necessary. During India’s upcoming presidency of the G20, how might the G20 balance the immediate imperatives of pandemic financing with the quest for sustained, long-term health financing?
Takshashila Alumni Meet-up in Chennai
We hosted an alumni meet-up on Friday, August 12, 2022 at Chennai. The event was led by Sowmya Nandan and Ritul Gaur from The Takshashila Institution. A diverse crowd of alumni ranging from those working in areas such as rural governance and education to the Indian railways to civil services aspirants participated and exchanged ideas.
We plan to conduct many more alumni-meet ups across India in the coming weeks – for regular updates on future alumni events, please follow our alumni newsletter ‘Sandesh’ and alumni platform ‘Kalpa’.
Run The Marathon to Transform India - Applications Close Soon
Applications for the September 2022 Graduate Certificate in Public Policy (GCPP) cohort are open till August 27, 2022. The GCPP is offered over 12 weeks and is the ideal introductory course to public policy and governance for working professionals. It will help you master the fundamentals of economics, policy evaluation, ethical reasoning, effective communication and public persuasion.
The GCPP is available in three streams: Defence and Foreign Affairs (DFA), Technology & Policy (TP) & Advanced Public Policy (APP).
The DFA stream will teach you how to analyse current international affairs by providing a solid foundation in international relations, strategic studies and economic analysis.
The TP stream is for those who wish to understand the political economy of technology. Participants will be equipped to navigate the rapidly evolving technology ecosystem to capitalise on the opportunities while managing the risks.
The APP stream will equip you with a tool kit to help you make better sense of the economy and governance structures. It provides you with frameworks to understand the interplay between politics and the economy and ways to navigate through them.
The next cohort of GCPP begins on September 3rd.
That’s it from us. Take care and stay safe!