india

Updated: May 20, 2020 21:42 IST

This week on the Grand Tamasha podcast, Sadanand Dhume of the American Enterprise Institute and the Wall Street Journal joins Milan Vaishnav (Director of the South Asia programme at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) to discuss the Modi government’s Cabinet picks.

Sadanand and Milan discuss the two most notable additions to the Cabinet—Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and Home Minister (and BJP Party President) Amit Shah. The two also discuss the issue of Modi’s second-term mandate as well as the relatively limited institutional checks and balances the prime minister faces going forward.

Then, Milan talks with Sajjid Chinoy, the chief India economist for JP Morgan. Sajjid is a prolific commentator on the Indian economy and a trusted external adviser to the government; he currently serves on the Advisory Council to the Fifteenth Finance Commission.

Sajjid talks with Milan about the economic headwinds the government faces as it takes office and the hard choices the new government must tackle head-on in its first few months. Milan and Sajjid also discuss the global economic environment, the continuing problems ailing the rural sector, and the need to fix India’s economic “plumbing”.