Narendra Modi Archives

Young, Female and Diverse: Legislatures Begin to Change to Save Democracy

January 15, 2019 by Barbara Crossette

As many political analysts see democracy weakened by introverted, xenophobic parties and autocratic leaders, a glimmer of hope is offered by a new generation of candidates and voters. This year will test that optimism in a series of important elections around the world. Changes in the composition of national legislatures were already being recorded before … Read more

TOPIC: INDIA

India at the UN: Thorny Questions for the Ambassador

October 2, 2018September 28, 2018 by Soumya Shankar

Now was supposed to be the first thaw in relations between Pakistan and India after talks have been stalled since 2016. But Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan recently tweeted about India’s “arrogant and negative response . . . to my call for resumption of the peace dialogue,” hours after India retracted its position on … Read more

NIKKI HALEY WATCH

What a Stripped-Down State Department Bodes for the UN and Nikki Haley

December 10, 2017November 26, 2017 by Barbara Crossette

In Washington, there is no question that the State Department is in a weakened position, a situation that the Trump White House — and the Trump family — seem to relish. To some in the understaffed, stripped-down Foreign Service and to commentators on United States foreign policy, this is a disgrace linked directly to Secretary … Read more

TOPIC: INDIA

TB in India: Drug-Resistant Strains Are ‘Out of Control,’ New Report Says

November 8, 2017October 27, 2017 by Barbara Crossette

Stephen Lewis is an outspoken and often impassioned Canadian diplomat and former United Nations official with a lot of experience in tracking health crises in Africa. Now he has turned his attention to tuberculosis in India, where he made a fact-finding trip in early October. He was shocked and disheartened by what he saw and … Read more

TOPIC: WOMEN

Nikki Haley, as US Envoy to the UN, Could Empower Indian Business Ties

December 20, 2016December 2, 2016 by Barbara Crossette

Whatever the real reason that led Donald Trump to name Nikki Haley as his ambassador to the United Nations — that she is a “deal-maker,” a woman from an ethnic minority and a moderate Republican voice he may want to remove from South Carolina — a wave of justifiable pride in many Indians and Indian-Americans … Read more

Climate Talks Produce a New Draft Accord and More Hope

December 9, 2015December 9, 2015 by Barbara Crossette

With barely two days left to reach an international agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions to slow global warming, a new version of the draft agreement was released Wednesday in Paris. But outstanding disputes remain over how much nations will be prepared to reduce the use of fossil fuels, which emit the most carbon dioxide, … Read more

Now the Hard Part Begins on Global Climate Talks

December 13, 2015December 7, 2015 by Barbara Crossette

The second and supposedly final week of negotiations on curbing greenhouse gas emissions, amid now-measurable climate change, began on Monday at the COP21 in Paris with a draft global accord on the table. It is, however, littered with hundreds of bracketed words indicating that hard bargaining, and no doubt compromises, lie ahead. Especially vexing, to … Read more

India’s New Populist Prime Minister Planning a Splashy UN Debut

November 10, 2014September 22, 2014 by Barbara Crossette

Not every prime minister, speaking for the first time at the United Nations General Assembly, gets to top that off with a sold-out rally in Madison Square Garden in New York. Narendra Modi, a relatively new face in Indian national politics who became prime minister in May, seems poised to make the most of his … Read more

Women’s Feature Service: Mapping the Struggles of Feminism in India

November 10, 2014September 1, 2014 by Shiwani Neupane

Pamela Phillipose was editor of the Women’s Feature Service, the only syndicated news service in India with a gender perspective, for nearly six years, until she stepped down this year as editor in chief and director. She wore other hats for the publication as well, writing and photographing. The service began operating in India when … Read more

Developing Nations Take Aim at the World Bank

July 16, 2014 by Barbara Crossette

In a direct challenge to Western control of two major international financial organizations, the five countries known as the BRICS — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — announced on July 15 the formation of a new development bank that they will control. The final plans to establish the bank, to be named the … Read more

India’s Election Begins, With Voters Numb to Nepotism and Corruption

April 15, 2014April 9, 2014 by Barbara Crossette

India opened the polls on April 7 for another of its uniquely epic elections. In nine stages of staggered voting that stretch into mid-May, allowing election officials, observers and law enforcement teams to move from place to place, 814 million voters are registered to cast ballots across a country one-third the size of the United … Read more

Parliamentary Group Warns of Political Perils as 2014 Elections Loom

February 6, 2014January 23, 2014 by Barbara Crossette

A committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union met in mid-January, as a busy year of elections globally was beginning, to confront the human-rights violations and sometimes lethal abuse suffered by 262 members of national legislatures in countries that often call themselves democracies. From Jan. 13 to 17, the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s committee on the human rights … Read more