Beyond the Indus

Pakistan and the Economics of Diplomacy

Khurram Husain, one of Pakistan’s most widely read business and economy journalists and a columnist at Dawn, joins host Tushar Shetty to examine whether Pakistan’s recent diplomatic gains are translating into meaningful economic progress.  They discuss the tangible but limited economic benefits of Pakistan's geopolitical revival, the impact of the Iran conflict and Hormuz blockade on Pakistan's fuel supply chain and inflation, the emergence of a new regional grouping around Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Pakistan and the trade complementarities unlocked by Iran's reintegration, the mixed legacy of CPEC and China's retreat from large-scale economic engagement with Pakistan, the structural roots of Pakistan's IMF dependency in successive cycles of military rule, the prospects for India-Pakistan stabilization and a peace dividend, the drivers behind Pakistan’s rapid solar adoption, and the limits of geoeconomics as a substitute for domestic fiscal and structural reform.

The Thorium Gamble: India’s Nuclear Breakthrough

In this episode of Beyond the Indus, Dr. Anil Kakodkar, former chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission and one of the principal architects of India’s civilian nuclear program, joins us to discuss the history and future of India’s three-stage nuclear program in the wake of this year’s landmark breakthrough at Kalpakkam.  We discuss the strategic logic behind Homi Bhabha’s 1950s vision for a thorium-based path to energy independence, the science and engineering challenges of fast breeder reactor technology, India’s decades of nuclear isolation, the safety record of nuclear power and how public perceptions have been shaped by Chernobyl and Fukushima, and the role of nuclear energy as a complement to renewables in the global push for net zero. Dr. Kakodkar also makes the case that India’s thorium fuel cycle represents a proliferation-resistant model for meeting the world's long-term energy needs.

Is the Indian Army Ready for the Next War?

In this episode of Beyond the Indus, host Tushar Shetty sits down with Colonel Ajai Shukla – a former Indian Army officer, war correspondent, and strategic affairs editor at Business Standard – to examine the structural challenges facing India's military and what it will take to prepare for the wars ahead. Drawing on decades of experience in both uniform and journalism, Col. Shukla assesses Operation Sindoor and the lessons India should be drawing from Ukraine on the evolving role of armor, drones, and counter-drone technology on the modern battlefield. They discuss the manpower-versus-modernization dilemma at the heart of India’s defense budget, the Agnipath scheme’s merits and limits as a response to it, and why India remains one of the few major powers without a published national security strategy or integrated joint theater commands. Shukla also examines India’s dependency on Russian arms in the wake of the Ukraine conflict, the credibility of the Atmanirbhar Bharat indigenization agenda, and how India must rebalance its force posture along the Line of Actual Control to meet the growing challenge from China’s rapidly modernizing military.

India on the High Seas: Hormuz and the Future of Maritime Security

In this episode of Beyond the Indus, host Tushar Shetty sits down with Vice Admiral R.B. Pandit, former Commander-in-Chief of India's Strategic Forces Command and a veteran flag officer of the Indian Navy, to assess the maritime consequences of the Iran conflict and the long-term shifts reshaping the Indian Ocean's strategic order. Drawing on four decades of operational and strategic experience, Vice Admiral Pandit examines why the Hormuz crisis represents a watershed moment for global naval doctrine. They discuss the legal and strategic implications of the sinking of IRIS Dena and why the horizontal escalation of the conflict into the Indian Ocean sets a dangerous precedent for the rules-based maritime order. Pandit also examines India's evolution as a resident security guarantor of the Indian Ocean, the challenge of underwater domain awareness in an era of covert infrastructure attacks, and how India's MAHASAGAR initiative positions itself as a cooperative alternative to China's Belt and Road strategy across the Indian Ocean littoral.

The War on Oil: Iran Conflict and the Global Energy Crisis

In this episode of Beyond the Indus, host Tushar Shetty sits down with Adi Imsirovic, a veteran oil trader with over 35 years of experience in global energy markets and former Global Head of Oil at Gazprom Marketing and Trading, to assess the impact of the Iran war’s impact on global oil and gas markets. Drawing on decades of front-line trading experience, Imsirovic explains why the current disruption to the Strait of Hormuz represents the gravest energy shock of his career, surpassing even the Gulf Wars of the 1980s. We discuss the mechanics of P&I insurance, why futures markets are fundamentally misreading the crisis, and how Iran and Russia have long used shadow fleets to circumvent Western sanctions. Imsirovic also examines Russia's unexpected financial windfall, South Asia’s energy vulnerability and the erosion of dollar dominance in global energy trade.