Economy

Narendra Modi speaks to victorious party workers at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi in May 2019: His Hindu majoritarian agenda has divided a multireligious society.
Opinion

Narendra Modi has turned India into a quagmire

Hindu supremacist agenda has dangerously divided a multireligious society

26 January 2021
Migrants take shelter at a construction site in Ahmedabad, India, during the coronavirus crisis. Experts warn the pandemic could lead to greater inequality, as workers who cannot adapt to telework are left behind.
WEF in Singapore

Mind the digital gap in Asia's post-COVID economy: Davos panelists

Singapore minister and others stress workforce upskilling for 'inclusive growth'

26 January 2021
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends the launch of the pan-India COVID-19 vaccination drive via video conference in New Delhi on Jan. 16. (Photo courtesy of Government of India)
Coronavirus

Vaccine diplomacy: Indian supplies reach Bangladesh and Nepal

New Delhi's aid shipments come amid China's own COVID outreach to the region

21 January 2021
Daily wage workers wait for buses to transfer them to a shelter during a nationwide lockdown in the old quarters of Delhi in April 2020: those who will bear the brunt are the poorest.
Opinion

COVID-ravaged India will limit Biden's efforts to counter China

Increase in poverty just one example of the damage wrought by pandemic

20 January 2021
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's gives a speech inaugurating the country's COVID-19 vaccination program via video link in New Delhi on Jan. 16. (Photo courtesy of Government of India)
Coronavirus

India's Modi kicks off world's largest COVID vaccination drive

Prime minister gives emotional tribute to health care and front-line workers

16 January 2021
A temporary vaccination center on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. India's goal is to vaccinate 300 million people by "July-August," health minister Harsh Vardhan says.
Coronavirus

India embarks on world's largest COVID vaccination drive

Modi plans to inoculate 300m with Oxford-AstraZeneca and Bharat Biotech vaccines

15 January 2021
A cutout of the Hindu goddess Lakshmi adorns an electronics store in Jaipur: India's goods imports from China dropped in 2020 amid fraying bilateral ties.
Trade

India's imports from China drop 20% as border tensions simmer

New Delhi pushes 'self-reliance' with focus on domestic industries

13 January 2021
Four years ago, the Trump administration vowed to bring back industrial jobs from Asia and revitalize American manufacturing. But things haven't worked out as planned. (Nikkei photo illustration)
The Big Story

The next wave of globalization: Asia in the cockpit

Don't worry about the future of globalization. Make sure you have a place in it

13 January 2021
Farmers participate in a tractor rally to protest against the newly passed farm bills, on a highway on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, Jan. 7.
Politics

India's Supreme Court puts contentious farm laws on hold

Judges to set up expert group to hear farmers' grievances after 'lesson' to Modi

12 January 2021
Narendra Modi's self-reliance strategy has had the effect of threatening to de-globalize India.
Opinion

India self-isolates as China's economic might enfeebles West

New Delhi shows little understanding of China's growing power

7 January 2021
While the impact of the virus will be felt for decades to come, there are many reasons to be optimistic as we head into 2021.
Asia Insight

An optimist's guide to 2021 in Asia

The pandemic has been a catalyst for change in health, tech and working practices

29 December 2020
Cargo terminal of the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, which will be used as a vaccine handling center, pictured on Dec. 22: India does not have the necessary infrastructure such as extreme cold storage.
Opinion

India cannot vaccinate itself, let alone the rest of the world

Critical infrastructure and technology shortfalls hamper local production

25 December 2020
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. India is arranging to inoculate 300 million of its people by August while also providing shots to nearby nations.
Coronavirus

Vaccine powerhouse India markets affordable COVID shots for Asia

Bangladesh, Bhutan and Qatar show interest as New Delhi looks beyond fellow nationals

24 December 2020
Haze over Bangkok, Thailand. Economists have predicted that while ASEAN's biggest economies will start to turn around in 2021, their recovery will be slow.
Economy

Asian economies to regain pre-COVID scale in 2022: JCER

Economists foresee slow recovery in 2021, with vaccines key to progress

21 December 2020
Vials of AstraZeneca's Covishield inside a lab at Serum Institute of India in Pune, pictured on Nov. 30: the COVID-19 vaccine is of particular value in developing nations.
Opinion

Indian-made COVID vaccines will save the world

China and US no match when it comes to manufacturing capacity and safety

14 December 2020
A health care worker administers Covaxin, an Indian government-backed experimental COVID-19 vaccine, during trials in the country on Nov. 26.
Coronavirus

India gears up for massive vaccine distribution drive

COVID warriors among first in line to receive shots targeting 300 million people

13 December 2020
Beijing's central business district: China is poised to become a high-income country by 2023 and exceed the U.S. GDP later this decade.
Economy

China to overtake US economy by 2028-29 in COVID's wake: JCER

Forecasts chart next 15 years for India, Vietnam and other key economies

10 December 2020
A faster-than-expected recovery from the pandemic in China has helped to pull up the economic projection for the whole Asian region. 
Economy

ADB forecasts rapid growth for China and India in 2021

Expansions in the two large economies improve outlook for developing Asia

10 December 2020
Stream article image
Asia Insight

Cities after COVID: How Manila and others can 'build back better'

For Asian metropolises, crisis offers chance to emerge cleaner, greener and safer

8 December 2020
Studies show that global warming is increasing water vapor in the atmosphere, which increases precipitation in certain places. (Source photo from Japan Meteorological Agency)
Datawatch

Asia at risk of losing annual $8.5tn from climate change

China and India to be hit hardest; need for infrastructure investment grows

5 December 2020
Shaktikanta Das, the Reserve Bank of India governor, projects retail inflation of 6.8% for the October-December quarter and 5.8% for January-March.
Economy

India central bank projects economy to shrink at 7.5% pace

RBI upgrades negative forecast by 2 percentage points as rural demand picks up

4 December 2020
A woman counts cash as her shop opens in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Economy

Out of RCEP, India seeks an export passage to Africa

New Delhi shuns Chinese imports as it focuses on domestic growth

3 December 2020
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping. India and China see a chance to deepen their geopolitical influence in cash-strapped and increasingly vulnerable Sri Lanka and the Maldives, both strategically located in the Indian Ocean.
Asia Insight

India and China compete over Indian Ocean debt-relief diplomacy

Sri Lanka and Maldives seek bailouts as Asian giants dangle dollars to gain edge

1 December 2020
A woman shops inside a Mumbai store amid India's ailing economy, which analysts think has a long way to go before getting better.
Economy

India hit by recession as GDP shrinks 7.5% in July-September

Contraction eases but real picture on sustainable recovery yet to emerge

27 November 2020
A virtual meeting of leaders from 15 RCEP member countries, pictured in Hanoi on Nov. 15: the impetus came from ASEAN. (Photo by Tomoya Onishi)
Opinion

ASEAN must counter Chinese attempts to own RCEP trade agreement

Multilateral trade agreement will shore up the group's Asia centrality

27 November 2020