Beyond Nation & State with Smita Sharma Suno India

Now tune into the new season of Beyond Nation and State with Smita Sharma, a seasoned journalist with experience reporting on foreign policy and global events. With her new role as a podcaster, she plans to explore the evolving world and India's position in it. She aims to uncover the behind-the-scenes diplomacy and decision-making that shaped Indian foreign policy in the past, interviewing key figures involved. Additionally, she will analyze current global developments and their impact on India and its citizens, providing insights into the country's future direction.
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In her debut episode today, senior journalist and host of this season of Beyond Nation & State, Smita Sharma is going to talk about a region which hardly finds mention or coverage in Indian mainstream media but it should. She was recently in Uzbekistan to cover a constitutional referendum under its strongman President Mirziyoyev.

So why talk about Uzbekistan? Because the country is opening up and transforming at a great speed with implications for the region and India. The former Soviet republics in the Central Asian region- Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan - have large swathes of territory rich in natural resources and with geo strategic importance. The Central Asian countries are also the key driving force within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation that India is chairing this year. PM Modi will host the SCO Heads of States and Governments in July. 

While in Tashkent- the beautiful Uzbek capital, Smita sat down to speak to a renowned journalist and analyst Dr. Beruniy Alimov, Founder and Director, New Media Education Center, Tashkent about what a changing Uzbekistan means for the region and how ties with India looked upon amid the influence of dominant players Russia and China. She also speaks with Ambassador Ashok Sajjanhar in Delhi who is a retired diplomat who has served as Indian envoy in Kazakhstan, Sweden & Latvia. He is associated with several prominent think tanks including ORF and Ananta Aspen Centre.
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India and the US today are working closely on critical and emerging technology. The US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) will be an important component in talks during the upcoming State Visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington DC. He will be only the third Indian leader after President Radhakrishan in 1963 and Dr. Manmohan Singh in 2009 to be hosted on a State Visit by the American President. 

While the India US relations have undergone massive transformations in the last decade and a half, the one deal that reshaped and reset the contours of this relation was the 123 agreement or the India-US civil nuclear agreement inked in 2008. This marked a strategic repositioning of Indian foreign policy overcoming the deep mistrust of the US in the post Cold War era. It also ended the  nuclear apartheid and discrimination that India was subjected to despite being a nuclear weapons power. 

This deal involved intricate and complicated diplomacy and negotiations over a period of 3 years under the leadership of US President George W Bush and Indian PM Dr. Manmohan Singh. 

On Episode 2 of Beyond Nation and State season 2, we turn back the clock to reflect on what played out behind the scenes in obtaining a special waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group and inking the agreement. What still holds back the deal and the future of nuclear energy. 

Smita Sharma speaks to Ambassador Shyam Saran, former Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister’s Special Envoy, currently the President of the India International Centre. Among the key architects who made the deal a possibility, Saran shares the make it or break it moments and sharp insights from the drawing board table.
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 21st June was declared as the International Day of Yoga on 10TH December 2014 by the United Nations. This was the result of an India led resolution mooted and supported by more than 175 member countries. This happened in less than 3 months of  Record time.  

On Episode 3 of Beyond Nation and State season 2, senior journalist and host Smita Sharma speaks to retired diplomat Ambassador Asoke Mukerji who introduced the resolution on “International Day of Yoga” as then India’s Permanent Representative to the UN. He recalls how the idea that was proposed by Prime M minister Modi was turned into a reality and all the push and pull that went in behind the scenes to get the resolution adopted in record time.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold official talks with American President Joe Biden during his first State Visit to the United States on 22nd June. 

Two key components are expected to be likely deliverables of the state visit - the iCET or the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies and a possible agreement authorizing joint production of GE F-414 jet engines in India to power indigenous fighter aircraft. 

The two defense ministries are also expected to launch an innovation bridge under the framework. 

On this episode of Beyond Nation And State, host Smita Sharma speaks to two expert voices, Sameer P Lalwani - Senior Expert at the Asia Centre, USIP, and Arun K Singh, Former Indian Ambassador to the US, Israel, and France and Senior Non-Resident Fellow, Carnegie India to understand how the iCET can further transform the strategic ties and is it the next historic nuclear deal moment in ties?

Additional Reading:

https://carnegieindia.org/2023/04/17/what-should-india-do-before-next-taiwan-strait-crisis-pub-89515 

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/new-phase-in-india-us-ties-but-there-has-to-be-room-to-disagree/ 

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/india/markey-modi-biden-united-states

https://carnegieindia.org/2023/06/12/india-and-united-states-good-bet-one-year-of-u.s.-india-initiative-on-critical-and-emerging-technology-icet-pub-89926 
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Pushp Kamal Dahal, or Prachanda was on his first official overseas visit to India in June this year in his his current term as Prime Minister of Nepal. There were some important outcomes from his meeting with Prime Minister Modi but also some controversies Ince he returned home including over the mural depicting Akhand Bharat including Nepal, on display in India’s new parliament building. 

What are some of the deep fault lines plaguing India Nepal relations? With 70% of its population less than 40 years of age, how Is Nepalese society changing? Why does democracy remain so fragile and governments unstable in Nepal? What is Nepal’s long view of its relations with India and China? 

In Episode 5 of Beyond Nation and State, Independent Journalist and Host Smita Sharma is in conversation with Kathmandu based Editor and Writer Amish Raj Mulmi. He is the author of the recent book 'All Roads Lead North: Nepal's Turn to China.'
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