2026

Systemic Sovereign Financial Risk: Re-Anchoring Sovereign Funds in the Sovereign’s Policy Mandate

Systemic Sovereign Financial Risk: Re-Anchoring Sovereign Funds in the Sovereign’s Policy Mandate

By Udaibir Das

Drawing on the public sector balance sheet literature, the economics of sovereign self-insurance, and the Knightian distinction between risk and uncertainty, this paper argues that conventional sovereign asset-liability management is necessary but incomplete.

Why the UAE’s OPEC exit signals a deeper recalibration of state autonomy

Why the UAE’s OPEC exit signals a deeper recalibration of state autonomy

By Udaibir Das

More moves of this kind should be expected, extending beyond energy into critical minerals, technology standards, industrial policy, and cross-border finance. The UAE’s decision is not an outlier. It is a marker — not of fragmentation, but of redefinition.

Expanding India’s Role in the International Semiconductor Ecosystem

Expanding India’s Role in the International Semiconductor Ecosystem

By Sujai Shivakumar, Hideki Tomoshige, and Jeffrey D. Bean

India is positioning itself as an increasingly important node in the global semiconductor ecosystem, building on its established strengths in chip design and deep pool of STEM talent. These efforts come at a time when global semiconductor supply chains remain highly concentrated, creating opportunities for India to contribute to diversification and resilience. 

When conflicts rewire banks

When conflicts rewire banks

By Udaibir Das

Under conditions of armed conflict and state rupture, banking shifts away from decentralized intermediation towards directed, survival-orientated finance. Yet the policy conversation has concentrated on sanctions, commodities and trade — the institutional reorganization of banking under conflict remains less well examined.

The Structural and Political Factors of the U.S. Reset with the World

The Structural and Political Factors of the U.S. Reset with the World

By Dhruva Jaishankar

For countries around the world — whether allies, partners, or competitors of the United States — there are important and immediate questions of how much and to what degree they will accommodate, or hedge against, the United States’ new approach to the world.

The asset side of African debt is the missing variable

The asset side of African debt is the missing variable

By Udaibir Das

Africa’s debt story is usually told as a liability problem: too much debt, the wrong currency, the wrong creditor, the wrong maturity. Those issues matter. But long-run sustainability is a balance-sheet question: is borrowing being converted into assets that raise the repayment base?

Taiwan and India’s Submarine Production — Opportunities for Collaboration

Taiwan and India’s Submarine Production — Opportunities for Collaboration

By Benjamin Tkach and Vasabjit Banerjee

While India-Taiwan collaboration on submarine technology would represent a step change from pre-existing economic cooperation, improving domestic production capacity necessitates pursuing mutual gains wherever possible.

Why AI Is Also A Story About Energy

Why AI Is Also A Story About Energy

By Piyush Verma

Energy need not be a constraint on India's AI ambitions. It can be a competitive advantage. Encouraging data-centre locations that reflect grid readiness and renewable availability can reduce system stress while improving reliability. Expanding frameworks for round-the-clock clean power supported by storage and flexible resources can ensure AI growth strengthens climate goals rather than complicates them.

How do experts view the New Zealand-India FTA?

How do experts view the New Zealand-India FTA?

By Dhruva Jaishankar

For both India and New Zealand, their trade agreement represents, more than anything else, a risk mitigation strategy. Concerned about over-dependence on China and the United States as both producers and consumers — and the failure of multilateral trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization — New Delhi and Wellington have opted to bet on each other and bring a modicum of certainty to an uncertain world.

India–Africa Economic Diplomacy: From Money Flows to Sustainable Balance-Sheet Resilience

India–Africa Economic Diplomacy: From Money Flows to Sustainable Balance-Sheet Resilience

By Udaibir Das

The current metrics of India–Africa economic diplomacy focused on mobilization volume, systematically fail along the diplomatic-financial chain. An integrated balance-sheet framework could realign these incentives through institutional capacity thresholds, end-use governance, and countercyclical safeguards, transforming diplomatic finance from a source of vulnerability into genuine development capital.