Rishi Gupta

Rishi Gupta

Research Fellow, Asia Society Policy Institute, New Delhi

Dr Rishi Gupta is a Research Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, New Delhi (a division of Asia Society India Centre, Mumbai). He earned his Doctorate in International Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is a Visiting Fellow at the Nepal-based Asian Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs (AIDIA). He was also a Visiting Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, Sichuan University in Chengdu, China. Previously, he was associated as a researcher with the Vivekananda International Foundation, Center for Air Power Studies, Pondicherry University. His areas of interest include Himalayan geopolitics, Indo-Pacific, and South Asian regional security.  

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrive for a signing ceremony during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Qingdao, Shandong province, China, 10 June 2018. (Aly Song/File Photo/Reuters)

The new ‘standard map’: China incurs India’s wrath

In India’s view, a new “standard map” unveiled just before India’s hosting of the G20 summit in New Delhi is a deliberate initiative by China to express its discontent with India on the border issue. With bilateral ties between India and China already in bad shape, the new map further complicates the relationship. Researcher Rishi Gupta explains.
Indian soldiers prepare for the guard of honour before the arrival of India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Red Fort during the celebrations to mark the country's 77th Independence Day in New Delhi, India on 15 August 2023. (Sajjad Hussain/AFP)

India deepens ties with Taiwan

India’s recent high-profile attendance at a security forum in Taiwan suggests it is ready to deepen ties with Taiwan to safeguard its future interests, despite expected pushback from China.
In this photograph taken on 21 July 2023, a yellow-painted building is pictured at the commercial hub of Pettah in Colombo. (Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP)

India, France and Japan join hands to counter China’s influence in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s recent high-level diplomatic engagements with India, France and Japan highlighted the island nation’s importance in the ongoing great power rivalry in the Indo-Pacific region. After obtaining an IMF bailout with the assistance of these nations and dealing with the fallout of the pro-China Rajapaksa family, is the new Sri Lankan administration adopting a more Western and India-oriented vision?
Rickshaw pullers make their way along a street during a rainfall in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 9 June 2023. (Munir Uz Zaman/AFP)

Bangladesh’s Indo-Pacific Outlook: Another anti-China vision?

Researcher Rishi Gupta analyses Bangladesh’s recently released Indo-Pacific Outlook, noting that while it does not state where Bangladesh stands vis-à-vis China and the West, some of the stated goals coincide with the Quad’s interests in upholding a rules-based system, thwarting Chinese aggressiveness, advancing connectivity projects and tackling Indo-Pacific security issues.
Rapid Action Force (RAF) personnel stand guard outside the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, on 14 April 2023. (Narinder Nanu/AFP)

The India-Pakistan saga at the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting: The China factor

Pundits hoping for a sign of detente between India and Pakistan at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa recently would have been disappointed. It is in Pakistan’s interest to keep relations with India testy leading up to its elections, and China’s support may just give it the ammunition it needs.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shakes hands with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi before their meeting at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India, 20 March 2023. (Adnan Abidi/Reuters)

India and Japan: New 'Asian alliance' to deal with China challenge?

Academic Rishi Gupta gives an overview of the outcomes of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s recent visit to India and the implications for Japan-India relations.
Leader of Maoist Centre Party Pushpa Kamal Dahal (right), better known by his nom de guerre Prachanda, waves next to Communist Party Nepal-Union Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) chairman KP Oli, before leaving for the president's office to claim majority for his appointment as the new prime minister, in Bhaktapur on the outskirts of Kathmandu, Nepal, on 25 December 2022. (Dipesh Shrestha/AFP)

Which way Nepal is heading: China, India or the US

After its elections in November 2022, Nepal is now led by a new coalition government formed by parties of the Left Alliance. However, volatile relations and power struggles especially between the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) and the Maoist Centre could mean difficulties in making decisions and implementing policies. The top leaders also have different ideas about foreign relations and great power politics.
Student activists hold torches and shout slogans during a protest over hike in fuel prices in Kathmandu, Nepal, on 20 June 2022. (Prakash Mathema/AFP)

The US-China contest in Nepal

While the last thing it wants is to be caught up in the crosshairs of US-China competition, Nepal is in the spotlight with the recent passing in the Nepali parliament of the US$500 million MCC-Nepal compact with the US. The US and Nepal have both denied that this grant is tied to the US’s Indo-Pacific strategy, but China is riled up as India watches closely.
A picture of Chinese President Xi Jinping overlook a street ahead of the National People's Congress (NPC), in Shanghai, China, 1 March 2021. (Aly Song/Reuters)

The US gets it wrong again

Rishi Gupta gives a critique of the strategy paper “The Longer Telegram: Toward a New American China Strategy”, by “Anonymous”, which was recently published by the Atlantic Council. He says that judging from the paper and several other important geostrategic content released by the US recently, the US has not read the situation in China and its leadership correctly, and hence has a skewed understanding of how it can draw strength globally to compete with its "most serious competitor".