the iNdiaN exPress The Ideas Page l WhaT The OTheRS SaY “taking stakes in ai companies would not increase the government’s ability to control those companies. the opposite is more likely.”— The New York Times Read. Think. ShaRe. scan the Qr code to explore curated editorials and opinions from leading voices 9 moNday, auGust 10, 2026 l Proof of a deep-tech fund is in its outcomes. that’s the audit worth doing V aNaNtha NaGeswaraN O n ITs first day, the committee that would decide where India’snewdeep-techfundput its money was handed a hard brief: There is very little deep tech in this country. Here is two thousand crore. Go and find it. so they did. They went to the ventures they knew — the ones they had watched, mentored, argued with, and in some cases carried through the years when no one else wouldwriteacheque.Theybackedthecompanies whose science had already been proven.andlastweek,thispaperpublished aso-calledinvestigativereportthattheyhad donesomethingtroubling:62percentofthe firstroundhadgonetofirmsinwhichpanel members held an interest. I read the story with sadness, not anger — and let me own my position at once. I serveinthisgovernment,soweighwhatfollows with whatever discount you think that deserves;theargumentdoesnotneedmyofficetostand.Thesadness,inanycase,isnot aboutasinglereport,asinglejournalist,ora singlenewspaper.Itisaboutahabitofmind that keeps us scoring self-goals while the world races ahead. Thequestionofconflictofinterestisafair one. public money deserves scrutiny, and it is good that this is being discussed openly. Gopal srinivasan of the panel said exactly thatwhenthepaperreachedhim.accountability is the condition of trust. What is in dispute is the frame. and the frame rests on a fact the investigation never grasped: How the one lakh crore is actually spent. The money does not go out in a single round through one committee. It is expected to be disbursed over five years through several fund managers, of whom only two have been appointed so far. More aretocome.TheTechnologydevelopment Board’s first cohort is a sliver of the whole, and it was appraised on a first-come, first- IllustratIon: C r sasIkumar served basis. The companies that applied firm.Membersmustdisclosenotonlytheir earliest were the ones that heard about the own interests but their interests in a rival fundearliest—andtheonesthatheardear— a standard stricter than most private liest were, unsurprisingly, close to the ecoboards keep. selection needs a super-masystem.Thatiswhythefirstbatchlooksthe jority, so two or three doubts sink a propowayitdoes.TheBoardhasalreadysaidthat sal. The government’s exposure is capped in the second cohort, one of 13 firms has a at half the project cost. The whole thing panellink.not62percent.Thenumberthe passes a second time through a board of headline was built on was always going to secretaries. recusals are declared in adfall because it was an artefact of sequence, vanceandrecorded.Thisisnottheabsence not a pattern of favour. of guardrails. There are more of them than now to the harder charge, and the most of our institutions bother with. fairer one: a small circle of experts clearWhichbringsmetothetestthatmatters, ing one another’s ventures, recusing one and that the story never applied. The proof at a time, does not pass the smell test. It ofafundisinitsoutcomes.Wereundeservdeserves an answer. ing ventures funded? Were deserving ones Here is the answer. If you want to find turnedaway?Thatistheauditworthdoing. validated deep-tech ventures quickly, you judge the decision on what was knowable ask the handful of Indians who actually then,notonwhathindsightrevealsnow.We know the field. anyone in India who knows rightly tell our bureaucracy to pursue outthis field has touched these companies — comesratherthanhidebehindprocess.Itis mentored them, funded a founder, sat on a astrangedaywhenthepressasksittodothe board.Itisthereasontheywerechosen.The opposite. Here is the bitter part: We who money is the tip of the iceberg of count the “conflict of interest” whatthisgrouphasgiventoIndian todayarethesamewhowill,adecwere undeserving ventures deep tech. ade from now, write funded? were deserving ones critique lampooning thea harsh sothedesigndoesnotpretend governturned away? Judge the to eliminate the overlap. It manmentforlettingIndiafallbehindin ages it. Firms that a member theverytechnologiesthisfundwas decision on what was founded, owns, or runs cannot built to seed. knowable then, not on what even apply, however good they The likely effect of a “62 per hindsight reveals now are. a stake of more than 10 per cent” headline is not cleaner govcent automatically disqualifies a ernance. It is a chill. The founders Letters to the editor Rationingexercise IndIa’s proposed amendments in the food-security framework risk turning a rights-based approach into a rationing exercise, echoing outdated charity models rather than modern welfare states. (‘Food security act amendments will hurt the poorest,’ Ie, august 8) The writers warn that the proposed changes erode the moral foundation of India’s food security regime. By curtailing entitlements under the antyodaya anna Yojana, the state appears to privilege fiscal arithmetic over the Gandhian ethic of safeguarding the “last person”. In essence, food and nutrition must be treated as rights, not a fiscal “burden”. Abhinav Shah, Lucknow Acruelprocess Tarun Tejpal’s case is also a study of India’s justice delivery system and how much has changed between 2012 and now, despite the more stringent law against offenders. (‘Behind Tejpal verdict, survivor’s long journey,’ Ie, august 7). The sessions court took eight years to decide the case that the High Court called perverse. now the survivor has to wait for the case to be taken before the supreme Court. This makes the search for justice expensive, and the end of the survivor’s agony seem impossible. Nicolas Blarel aNd sumit GaNGuly Rahul Gaur, Gurgaon have two important consequences. at a domestic level, elements within the Congress who have been sceptical of the steady embrace of the netanyahu governmentunderModiarelikelytohighlightthese disclosures and try to embarrass the ruling party.suchanattempt,however,isunlikely to gain a great deal of traction when most of India’s public is focused on the student agitation in the wake of the exam paper leaks. externally,inthearabworld,itmaydraw someattentionandleadtoafewexpressions ofpublicdispleasure.nevertheless,itishard tobelievethatIndia’skeyarabpartnerswere wholly unaware of India’s expanding defence and security links with Israel. More to thepoint,unlikedecadesagoduringtheCold War,thereisnounifiedarabopiniontoward Israeldespitetheirperiodic(andmostlycosmetic) denunciations of Israel’s handling of thepalestinianissue.afewMuslimnations, outsidethearabworld,rangingfromTurkey toMalaysia,mayexpressdiplomaticoutrage but, once again, new delhi is unlikely to change its policies because of it. These political considerations aside, the largerquestionoftheethicsofparticipating inthejointproductionofweaponrywiththe current government in Israel — whose conduct of the war in Gaza has drawn widespread global disapprobation — may be deserving of debate. Blarel is associate professor of International Relations, Leiden University. Ganguly is senior fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University GitaNJali J aNGmo R eCenTlY,IwrotethatthesansadChaloprotestwas sanatandharmainaction.Youngpeoplehadcome fromdifferentcornersofIndia,fromdifferentfaiths, castes, and backgrounds. They stood together for education, a cause larger than themselves. They sharedfood,madespaceforstrangers,protectedoneanotherand somehow became a community without asking who belonged to which community. To me, that was sanatan dharma. But it metwithahugebacklash.Myresponsesectiongotfilledwithlabels. sanghi. Bjp stooge. rss sympathiser. It made me wonder: Whendidspeakingofsanatandharmaautomaticallyplaceyou ononesideofIndiaspoliticaldivide?perhapstheproblemisnot sanatan dharma. perhaps it is what politics has done to it. To understand this, remember what many Indians thought they were voting for in 2014. It was more than a change of government. after generations of looking at ourselves through borrowedeyes,Indianswerebeginningtolookinwardagain.Millions wantedmorethaneconomicgrowth.Theywantedtorediscover themselves. The Bjp understood that longing better than any other party. It presented itself not merely as an alternative government but as the custodian of India’s Hindu inheritance. In doingso,itcametodefinewhat“Hindu”politicslookedlike.But what if much of what we now associate with that politics is the opposite of the tradition invoked in its name? sanatan dharma is not an identity to be defended against another.Itisadisciplineofliving:Satbeforepropaganda,nyaya before power, dhairya before intimidation, purvapakshya, understanding the opponent’s point of view before indoctrination, and lokasangraha, the welfare of all before one’s tribe. set againstthese,perhapswhatwehavewitnessedinthelast12years is not the flowering of sanatan dharma but its shrinking. Consider intolerance and stereotyping. If you question the government, you are labelled anti-national, foreign-funded, a Chinese agent. How did this happen in the land of the upanishads?ourfoundationaltextsareconversations,dialogues,debates. The Bhagavad Gita exists because arjuna questions Krishna, Gargi questioned Yajnavalkya. Hindu thought accommodatedanastonishinglydiversespectrum.disagreementwas evidence that it was alive. This is why stereotyping in popular culture troubles me too. WhenfilmssuchasDhurandharrepeatedlyplaceMuslimorpakistani characters within a familiar silhouette of villainy, I worry notonlyaboutthesocialconsequencesbutaboutthestorytelling. realhumanbeingsareinconvenientlycomplicated.Greatstorytelling unsettles our prejudices. propaganda confirms them. ThenIgetintomycarandmeetehsan,mydriver.HeisMuslimandhasonedaughter.Hedoesnotplantohavemorechildren but aspires to educate her, and give her choices his generation did not have. The stereotype collapses. Many of our problems with population or social reform, that welazilyturnintoareligiousone,areoftenaneducationanddevelopment problem. When we start focusing on education, women’s agency, healthcare and economic security, they begin to change. It is for this same reason secularism must also mean equality before the law. If India is secular, why should governmentsruntemples?Whatformsofstatesupportforreligiouspilgrimages are justified? and why should marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption or polygamy be governed differently dependingonone’sreligion?religiousfreedomcannotmeanunequal citizenship. These are the questions a uniform Civil Code shouldallowustodebateopenly.reformwhatneedsreform,but through parliament, law, education and reason. alivingsocietyquestions.aconfidentgovernmentanswers. Therein lies the deeper challenge before the Bjp. If sanatan dharma is truly the inheritance it seeks to protect, it cannot appear only in temples, speeches and election campaigns. It must become visible in the conduct of ministers, the fairness of institutions, and the behaviour of karyakartas and pracharaks. sri aurobindo said at uttarpara, “When it is said that India shallrise,itisthesanatandharmathatshallrise.”Hewasspeakingofinnertransformationaboveouterconquest,recognisinga deeper unity beneath our differences. The opportunity before theBjpwasextraordinary.Itwasgivenboththepoliticalmandate andtheculturalmomenttoreclaimsanatandharmabybuilding a modern India upon its principles: Confident enough to question, just enough to protect the dissenter and inclusive enough to embrace diversity. Dharma asks something infinitely harder ofusthandefendingHinduidentity.Itasksustotranscendidentity. To encounter the person before the label. The human being beforethevote.Thatwouldbebeingvishwaguru:Indialivingher wisdom well enough for the world to emulate. WhethertheBjpbecomestheinstrumentofthatrenaissance isnowuptotheBjpitself.Ifitcanlivethedharmaitclaimstodefend, it may yet play an extraordinary role in helping India fulfil her destiny. If it cannot, another instrument will emerge to carry itforward.sanatandharmadoesnotneedtheBjptosurvive.The questioniswhethertheBjpwillchoosetobecomeworthyofit. The writer is founder, Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh Delhi-Dhakaneedreset,mustletgoofpoliticalbaggage Letartbe arT BY its very nature ought to imagine alternative realities and question conventional thought. It was how, for years, a parallel art industry thrived in the Hindi film ecosystem, and gave us numerous gems. (‘Blame the ecosystem, not the industry,’ Ie, august 7) For many years now, majoritarian politics has come to define the creative psyche of the nation. The Indian film industry, Hindi films most of all, needs a nurturing and supportive ecosystem where filmmakers are free to explore every idea under the sun and push their artistic boundaries without fear of being cancelled and shut down. The writer is the 18th Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India. Views are personal A strategic partnership faces an ethical question longerconfinedtoimportingIsraelisystems aMnesTY InTernaTIonal’s recent rebut increasingly extends to manufacturing port alleging that India sent at least 2,596 equipment and supplying components. shipments of military equipment and comItispreciselythisevolutionthatgivesthe ponents to Israel since the outbreak of the amnesty report its significance. If the findGaza war has generated understandable atingsareaccurate,theysuggestthatIndiahas tention. Yet, the revelations do not mark a becomemorethanjustacustomer;ithasalso dramaticshiftinIndia’sdefencerelationship emerged as a contributor to Israel’s defence withIsraelsomuchasunderscorethedepth supply chain during one of its most controand maturity of a strategic partnership that versial military campaigns. at a time when hasbeenbuiltoverthepastquartercentury. IsraelhasfacedmountinginternationalcritiThe foundations of India’s defence relacism,legalscrutinyandgrowingpressureon tionshipwithIsraelwerelaidduringthe1999 defenceexportsfromseveraltraditionalsupKargil War, when Israel emerged as one of pliers, India’s manufacturing capacity apthe few countries willing to rapidly provide pearstohavehelpedmitigatesomeofthose criticalequipment,includingammunition, supply-chain constraints, particularly in drones and precision-guided munitions. such areas as drones and ammunition. That experience established Israel as a reForyears,Indiahassoughttobalancean liable defence partner and accelerated a reincreasinglyclosestrategicpartnershipwith lationshipthathasexpandedeversince.unIsrael while maintaining its longstanding like many Western suppliers, Israel has also support for the palestinian cause and its exdemonstratedawillingnesstotransfersophpandingeconomicandenergyrelationships isticated military technologies to India. with the Gulf states. That has become more over the last decade, however, the partdifficultastheGazaconflictintensified.renership has evolved beyond a conventional portsofsustainedmilitaryshipmentswillinbuyer-seller arrangement. under pM narevitablyinvitegreaterscrutinyfrompartners endra Modi’s “Make in India” initiative, Isacross the Middle east and beyond. raeli defence companies have increasingly Given the complexity and depth of the establishedjointventuresandlocal India-Israel relationship, which reports of sustained military runs the gamut from agricultural manufacturing partnerships within India. The production of technologytoweaponsproduction, shipments will inevitably drones,electronics,missilesystems it is unlikely that new delhi will invite greater scrutiny from and components has become emabruptly terminate its defence ties partners across the middle bedded within India’s expanding regardless of the revelations in the east and beyond defenceindustrialbase.Thislocalamnesty International report. isationmeansthatIndia’sroleisno However, the disclosure is likely to Y G Chouksey, Pune whowere,forthefirsttime,animatedbythe sense that the system had faith in them will read it and grow wary. Technologists of globalstandingwhomighthavejoinedthenext committee will think twice about lending theirnamestoabodythatistreatedasacartel. a watchdog is meant to prevent harm. Hereitrisksproducingtheveryharmitexists to guard against. noneofthisasksthepresstofallsilent.It askstheopposite.Therewasagenuinelyimportantstory,andthepaperiswellplacedto tell it. Where does follow-on capital come fromoncetheseventuresoutgrowtheirfirst loan? How do we build funds large enough tocarrythem?shouldwemonetiseidlepublic assets to seed a sovereign fund for this? Those questions decide whether India’s deep-tech ambition survives its infancy. They are harder to write than a conflict-ofinterest headline. They are also worth incomparably more. There was an easy path here and a hard one.Theeasypathwasatidynumber,awhiff ofimpropriety,atakedownthatwritesitself. The hard path was slower — to sit with the committee,understandhowitworks,weigh the trade-off it was asked to make, and then decide whether the deviation, if any, was gross, reasonable, or none at all. Too often, we take the easy path and call it diligence. This is the price of a democracy. authoritarian systems are spared these noises; they are also spared the correction that noise can bring. But a democracy has to learn the difference between holding power to account and reaching reflexively forsuspicion.Getthatwrongoftenenough, andtheresultisnotvigilance.Itisparalysis dressed as virtue. Ikeepreturningtoaplainfear.Theworld is about to change in ways we can scarcely picture. We, in India, have a choice. The political class, the bureaucracy, the watchdogs and the media, all of us can spend the decade pulling the rug from under one another’s feet and keep India where it is while everyone else moves. or, we understandthestrategicimperatives,re-examine our trade-offs, our red lines and ways of working.Thechoiceisourstomakeandthe consequences ours to bear. Problem is not Sanatan Dharma. It’s what politics has done to it PraBir de THe so-Called sonali adhyay, or golden phase of India-Bangladesh relationsafter1971,appearstohavereceded. Tradeintegration,cross-borderconnectivity, energy interdependence, and the political economy of regional cooperation now face multipleconstraints.althoughBangladesh continuestobeoneofIndia’sprincipaltrade partnersinsouthasia,thetraderelationship standsatacriticaljuncture,caughtbetween the possibility of renewed cooperation and the risk of reversal. WhileimportsfromIndiahavedeclined, imports from China and Malaysia have re- portedly increased in the post-sheikh Hasina period. energy cooperation illustrates the growing material interdependence between the two economies. India’s electricity exports to Bangladesh, the Maitree super Thermal power plant, and the India-BangladeshFriendshippipelinehave expanded cross-border energy flows and createdamoreinstitutionalisedframework for infrastructure cooperation. Future collaboration may increasingly depend on renewable energy, grid modernisation, storage technologies, and market-based cross-border power trading. In this sense, energy cooperation is not simply a sectoral issuebutamechanismforbuildingregional public goods. Trade diversion away from Indiaislargelydrivenbythegrowinguseof non-tariff measures (nTMs), including sudden land-port restrictions, the withdrawaloftransshipmentprivileges,anti-dumpingduties,andstringenttestingorcertificationrequirements.Theseregulatorybarriers raise overall trade costs and disrupt supply chains,particularlyforgarments,foodproducts, and production materials. India-Bangladeshrelationsshouldnotbe heldhostagetothequestionofHasina’sstay in India. she, her father Bangabandhu sheikh Mujibur rahman, and her party playedahistoricroleinBangladesh’snationbuilding,butthefutureofbilateralrelations india-Bangladesh relations should not be held hostage to the question of hasina’s stay in india must be shaped by the interests of both societies.second,bothcountriesshouldallow afreerflowofgoodsandservicesacrosstheir borders. If trade retaliation continues to grow, friendship will weaken, and the two countries may remain neighbours without functioningasatrueneighbourhood.Third, Bangladeshshouldnotoverlooktheadvantages of being located next to one of the world’s largest economies. a well-designed bilateralagreementcouldshifttherelationship from a narrow goods-trade model toward a broader framework covering investment, services, standards harmonisation, digital trade, logistics facilitation, and regionalvalue-chaindevelopment.ForBangladesh, such an agreement is especially relevant in light of its forthcoming graduation from least developed country status, which Kolkata will gradually alter its preferential access to major external markets. For India, deeper economicintegrationwithBangladeshsupportsbothitsneighbourhoodFirstapproach and its act east orientation. Thecurrentpoliticalfluxdoesnotimply aninevitablebreakdownofeconomiccooperation.adurableresetwillrequirebothgovernmentstorebuildtrustthroughformaldiplomatic channels, transparent communication, and mutually beneficial economicframeworks.standingatthiscrucial turning point, the relationship requires a reset that moves beyond accumulated political baggage. The writer is professor, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), New Delhi