Amitendu Palit

Amitendu Palit

Senior Research Fellow and Research Lead (trade and economics), Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore

Dr Amitendu Palit is Senior Research Fellow and Research Lead (Trade and Economics) at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. He is an economist specialising in international trade and investment policies, FTAs, supply chains, connectivity, cross-border data flows and the Indian economy. He sits on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Trade and Investment and is also a senior research fellow (honorary) at the Wong MNC Centre and an adviser for Athena Infonomics. Earlier, he worked for several years in the Ministry of Finance and other ministries in India. Amitendu has edited and authored several books including Seeking Middle Ground: Land, Markets and Public Policy (OUP, 2019; co-edited) and The Trans-Pacific Partnership, China and India: Economic and Political Implications (Routledge, 2014). In addition, he is a columnist for India’s Financial Express and a regular contributor to East-West Centre, East Asia Forum and China Daily. He also provides expert views for media outlets such as the BBC, Bloomberg News, CNA, CNBC, ABC, CGTN and Doordarshan (India).    

A woman shelters from the sun with an umbrella during a hot summer day in Chennai, India, on 16 May 2023. (R. Satish Babu/AFP)

Expanding the BRICS: New challenges for the embattled world order

Voices discussing the expansion of the BRICS are getting louder, leading up to the meeting of BRICS foreign ministers to be held this week in Cape Town. While China sees possible expansion of the BRICS as a useful development in growing its influence, other members of BRICS like India may view it with mixed feelings. ISAS academic Amitendu Palit explains.
A screen shows a CCTV state media news broadcast of Chinese President Xi Jinping, addressing the BRICS Business Forum via video link, at a shopping center in Beijing, China, 23 June 2022. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Can the BRICS reinvent itself?

In an age where any global economic agenda is hardly viewed outside the prism of geopolitics, it would take enormous resolve for BRICS to make an impactful comeback on the global stage, says ISAS academic Amitendu Palit.
An electric-rickshaw transports passengers along a street in the old quarters of New Delhi on 15 September 2020. (Jewel Samad/AFP)

Hostile ties with China make it impossible for India to return to RCEP

Without India, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) stops short of being a regional construct for the Indo-Pacific, says ISAS academic Amitendu Palit. However, India is unlikely to reconsider its decision in the foreseeable future because of its worsening relations with China. While China has expressed its interest to be part of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), might India’s domestic concerns lead it to miss the boat once again, to its own detriment?