Vikash Yadav

Professor of International Relations and Asian Studies

[Vikash Yadav @vyadav]

I just don't understand the point of Modi going to foreign countries and watching people doing yoga or the local Indian community doing Indian traditional dances. What does this demonstrate? Who does this impress? It seems to show a deep lack of curiosity about foreign cultures, it is the equivalent of Americans going to foreign countries and eating at McDonalds.

[Narendra Modi @narendramodi]

Prezident Pellegrini a ja sme s potešením sledovali špeciálnu ukážku jogy v podaní slovenských školákov.

Keďže sa blíži Medzinárodný deň jogy, teší nás, že si mladá generácia osvojuje jogu a objavuje jej prínosy.

Rovnako nás teší, že joga naďalej spája ľudí v spoločnom úsilí o zdravie, pohodu a harmonický život.

@PellegriniP_

[Vikash Yadav @vyadav]

There was a time when academic dishonesty was a bit more amusing and witty: https://t.co/Hti08iatrv

[Vikash Yadav @vyadav]

As we move from p-hacking dishonesty/motivated reasoning issues to much more problematic completely hallucinated citation scandals, we academics need to have a conversation about incentives. Wherever the quantity of publications and the appearance of rigor (p-values, dense citations) are rewarded, there will be incentives to manipulate the system. As the cost of that manipulation declines with computing power, the system will be overwhelmed, especially if there aren’t easy mechanisms to replicate/verify claims in place. The question is: how to change incentives? The most obvious first-cut solution is to apply an academic version of Goodhart’s Law to a scholar’s publication records and citation counts for tenure and promotion purposes.

[Chris Carothers @ChrisCarothers]

Very disappointed to see that @AramHur's latest paper in @koreaobserver has six completely fabricated citations.

Academic integrity matters, people.

A short 🧵

[Vikash Yadav @vyadav]

One of the few level headed responses to the latest rift in US-India relations.

[Rajesh Rajagopalan @RRajagopalanJNU]

US attack kills 3 Indians
Iranian attacks kill at least 6 Indians, possibly more
Russia kills 49 Indians who were lured and used as cannon-fodder in Ukraine
But guess where all the SM outrage is focused on?
Again, thankfully, GoI is being a lot more sensible and strategic.

[Vikash Yadav @vyadav]

1. The Trump administration is part of the Jacksonian tradition in US foreign policy. They do not care at all about international law, particularly in matters of armed conflict, immigration, and commerce.

2. India cannot realistically resist US secondary sanctions, even if Indians believe their honor has been insulted. (Although we don’t know the full content of that communication.) This is the painful reality.

3. The challenge for India is understanding how to manage a transactional hegemon when it has very little real leverage.

[Suhasini Haidar @suhasinih]

Breaking down US statement, that marks an escalation over the issue of 3 Indian seafarers being killed by US Navy, here's what it says:

1. Vessels must comply with US orders (Why?)
2. US forces are seeking to uphold peace and security( By shooting unarmed ships?)
3. In the Strait (But US ships are in the Gulf of Oman)
4. Violations of US Blockade ( which have been many)
5. Illicit transport of Iranian oil (Not according to international law, and US sanctions are only punitive economically)
6. Won't be tolerated (Regardless of loss of lives, or contravening international law)

Awaiting MEA response.

https://t.co/iSaCjKJU5F

[Vikash Yadav @vyadav]

1. China could escalate in 1999, because it was not enmeshed in the US financial system as India is today.
2. China shows quite a lot of restraint in the face of US FONOP activities in the South China Sea.
It’s important not to project a fantasy image of China just to criticize your own government.

[Dr. Brahma Chellaney @Chellaney]

The Difference Between India and China

India has responded to three separate June 8-11 U.S. airstrikes on foreign-flagged tankers carrying Indian crew members — including one attack that killed three Indians aboard the MT Settebello — with a routine diplomatic protest and apparent efforts to downplay the significance of the attacks. Had the victims been Chinese sailors instead, Beijing would almost certainly have reacted very differently, treating the strikes as a direct and lethal provocation by the U.S. and elevating the incident into a major international crisis.

China's response would have extended far beyond public condemnation. Beijing would likely have sanctioned American defense firms linked to the weapons used in the strikes, suspended military-to-military communications, and frozen broader diplomatic engagement with Washington.

The precedent is the 1999 Belgrade embassy bombing, when U.S. missiles struck China's embassy in Yugoslavia, killing three Chinese journalists. The incident triggered weeks of state-sanctioned anti-American protests, the stoning of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, and a complete breakdown in communications between Beijing and Washington.

[Vikash Yadav @vyadav]

Can India realistically resist or challenge US secondary sanctions enforcement in the Strait of Hormuz? Realistically, no. This isn’t a matter of international law or morality, it’s just pure economic reality. The US is one of India’s top export destination (India runs a trade surplus with the US). Indian firms and banks are not in a position to lock themselves out of the US financial system and dollar denominated transactions. Despite some minor work arounds, there are currently no serious alternatives to the US-led monetary order. Multi-alignment cannot circumvent this basic reality. That is why the GOI is in such a bind…

[Vikash Yadav @vyadav]

1. The US has signed but not ratified UNCLOS. 2. The US follows most aspects of UNCLOS as much of it is customary law. 3. The San Remo Manual and UN Charter are more relevant than UNCLOS in the current context. 4. Polemical assertions are not compelling to serious thinkers.

[Divya Kumar Soti @DivyaSoti]

The not-so-funny fact that GoI and Lutyens Media, who are in the process of rationalising and contextualising the cold blooded murder of Indian sailors by the US Navy on the high seas on the basis of unilateral sanctions, won't like you to know is that the United States does not legally follow the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). It has never signed it. It is a totally rogue state in the matters of Law of the Sea as much as Pakistan is in matters of anti-terrorism. So, stop enforcing its unilateral sanctions in your minds.

[Vikash Yadav @vyadav]

Some of the more over the top and conspiratorial reactions indicate a deep residue of anti-Americanism despite a quarter century of cooperation and partnership.

[Vikash Yadav @vyadav]

At its core, I think the overwhelming outrage at the killing of three Indian sailors seems inflected by a discourse on India’s status ambitions as a perpetually rising power. Indians do not seem as outraged when Iranian kinetic actions lead to Indian casualties as when the deaths are caused by the US. It maybe because Indians rightly blame the US for starting an unnecessary war or it maybe because this yet another opportunity to show the weakness of the BJP in foreign policy. Either way, there is an underlying frustration about the disparity between India’s potential and its actual status.

[Vikash Yadav @vyadav]

Am I mistaken that when Iranian drone attacks killed Indians in Kuwait (March 29-30) and UAE, and again in Kuwait (June 3), there were no condemnations of Iran by Indian elites? Did any Indian speak up against Iran then?

[Vikash Yadav @vyadav]

Marivex - Palau registry (lapsed), Madagascar registry claimed; Settebello - Palau registry; Jalveer - Guinea-Bissau registry. The US is not "picking Indian" ships to attack.

[Vikash Yadav @vyadav]

India's position on whether the US can carry out a FONOP in its EEZ is contested and the US has not ratified UNCLOS. The IRIS Dena sinking was in international waters and India cannot claim sovereignty over a whole ocean. The vessels struck off the coast of Oman were not Indian flagged vessels or under India's jurisdiction. The ships were not in compliance with a US sanctions regime. There is no causal link between these various events.

[Divya Kumar Soti @DivyaSoti]

As US Navy is hunting down one vessel after another with Indian crew members, it is time to realise why people like me objected to GoI's lame reaction to US Navy's aggressive moves through our EEZ around Lakshadweep and sinking of Iranian naval vessel IRIS Dena in Indian Ocean. Those who argued at that time that Indian Ocean in not Indian should be ashamed of themselves. You allow a robber to rob in your neighborhood, your house could be the next one.

[Vikash Yadav @vyadav]

https://t.co/H4yCmO2zPa

[Vikash Yadav @vyadav]

If I am not mistaken, @HindolSengupta has argued recently that Indian scholars residing in the West are compromised and that critical foreign scholarship by non-Indians may be harmful to nation-building and is therefore a form of intellectual imperialism. The aim appears to be to foreclose debate and critical inquiry.

[Eye On Axis @eyeonaxis]

Women harvest wheat near to the Taj Mahal. India, 1996, by Steve McCurry

[Vikash Yadav @vyadav]

@ATabarrok @PolestarCars https://t.co/nMc81eGfrH

You can get the headlight for half that price and ask a shop to install it...

[Vikash Yadav @vyadav]

While there may be balance sheet and distributional inflationary effects, she’s not technically wrong to say that the level of the exchange rate is just a number not worth defending - particularly in the current scenario of a conflict in West Asia. It just might have been wiser if it weren’t said by a government adviser…

[Congress Kerala @INCKerala]

Dr. Shamika Ravi is in Modi's Economic Advisory Council, because she is West Bengal Governor RN Ravi's daughter.

There is no nepotism involved.

[Vikash Yadav @vyadav]

I agree with parts of the original post but let’s keep in mind that NVIDIA was created at a San Jose Denny’s by a guy who washed dishes there and two of his friends in 1993. The aim was to improve gaming graphics. The broader tech environment wasn’t the real catalyst, nor merely monetary stability but the broader investment climate based on a credible commitment to capitalism, law and order. Not every industry will require the same level of R&D investment, so the chip sector isn’t necessarily the best template. But a state that focuses on managing the “software” of development (I.e., law, courts, limited bureaucracy, etc.) will make progress… Indian firms are doing fine in chip design and even have a comparative advantage, so we shouldn’t fetishize the fab firms. India can do more but it’s not hopelessly behind.

[Conrad Barwa @ConradkBarwa]

Also you don’t even need to go to the US for this- if you visit any major Chinese metro you can come across to the same experience- in fact they are prolly ahead in their use of a lot of tech than even the US, never mind India.

[Phil Magness @PhilWMagness]

So this is interesting.

In 1997 the United States filed a WTO complaint against India for maintaining import restrictions. India claimed that such restrictions were permissible because it faced a Balance-of-Payments crisis and could therefore impose restrictions under GATT.

The US successfully argued that India did not meet the legal criteria for a Balance-of-Payments countermeasure, because it did not face a decline in its official monetary reserves.

Trump's Section 122 tariffs are being justified on similar Balance-of-Payments grounds today, without any evidence of a decline in US monetary reserves.

The United States position from the 1997 case against India appears to undermine the case for Trump's tariffs today.