Aspiring diplomat|Political Science |International relations| Cricket| Cleared UPSC CDS,AFCAT,CAPF
Bihar
Joined January 2016
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Honestly, this entire post just validates the depressing argument that men are only truly valued when they’re providing and specifically when they're earning more than their wives. If the roles were reversed and you had lost your job, I seriously doubt he would have thrown that in your face.
You might regret telling him he only earns money because of your car, but people don't just invent things in the "heat of the moment." That’s a resentment you’ve been holding onto for a while that finally slipped out. I genuinely hope he's doing okay mentally, because men rarely open up about this kind of pressure and usually just suffer in silence. Try to show a little more empathy. The guy is likely trying as hard as he can.
SHIVAM THAKUR retweeted
🚨 US LAWMAKERS ARE NOW PREPARING FOR THE AI BUBBLE TO BURST.
House Democrats have introduced a resolution opposing government bailouts for AI companies if the industry crashes.
Instead of rescuing them with taxpayer money, lawmakers want failed AI companies to go through normal bankruptcy.
And the timing is extremely concerning.
Some of the world's biggest tech companies are investing billions into AI startups that spend heavily on their products.
• Nvidia invests in CoreWeave, which buys Nvidia chips.
• Microsoft invests in OpenAI, which spends billions on Microsoft's cloud services.
• Amazon invests in Anthropic, which uses Amazon's cloud infrastructure.
Billions are moving between companies that are becoming increasingly dependent on each other's spending.
And lawmakers are raising concerns about the growing use of borrowed money by Big Tech and Wall Street to finance the AI boom.
The resolution is not law, but it shows that some lawmakers are already worried about what happens if the industry collapses.
If AI startups run out of funding, they could be forced to slash spending or declare bankruptcy, leaving their investors and suppliers facing massive losses.
And without government bailouts, a major failure could spread across chipmakers, cloud providers, banks and the broader stock market.
The biggest risk is that one major AI bankruptcy could trigger losses across an entire industry worth trillions.
SHIVAM THAKUR retweeted
SUMMARY OF FED DECISION (10/28/2026):
1. Fed leaves interest rates unchanged after September hike
2. Rate pause was a 10-2 decision with Cook and Hammack dissenting in favor of a rate hike
3. Fed says economic activity is "expanding at a strong pace"
4. Fed says inflation "remains elevated" and seeks more information
5. Fed notes that "geopolitical developments" are contributing to uncertainty
6. The Fed reasserts that "The Committee will deliver price stability"
"Higher for longer" continues at the Fed.
One of my childhood friend asked me why you don’t socialise with us more, and I really had no answer.
Simply said that I love my own company- it gives me peace, satisfaction and it’s going good.
It's been a while since I finished watching The Diplomat on Netflix, a series brilliantly created and written by Debora Cahn. While it's obviously dramatized for television, it does a sharp job of pulling back the curtain on how diplomacy actually operates as the working engine of foreign policy, from quiet back-channel negotiations and high-stakes state visits to real-time crisis management.
Set against the US-UK "Special Relationship," the show doesn't shy away from the cold reality of power asymmetry.
Even between the closest of allies supposedly equal on paper, there is almost always a senior and a junior partner. When national interests collide, the side holding the leverage and structural dependency doesn't hesitate to sideline, arm-twist, or coerce the other, sometimes pushing leaders into decisions that go straight against their domestic politics or sovereign instincts. That isn't just good TV drama, that's how balance-of-power politics plays out in the real world.
At its core, though, the series captures the impossible tightrope every Ambassador or High Commissioner has to walk, tiercely advancing your own country's strategic interests without alienating the host nation you're posted in. Even Dr. S.
Jaishankar recently mentioned at the NDTV World Summit that he's been watching it.
Fair warning, if you genuinely follow geopolitics, statecraft, and the mechanics of foreign policy, you'll love every minute of it. If you don't care for diplomatic terminology and political subtext, it'll probably feel slow and completely out of left field.
#TheDiplomat #Geopolitics #ForeignPolicy #Diplomacy #Foreignpolicy
SHIVAM THAKUR retweeted
The Cold War ended 35 years ago. Yet, the same old dynamic is back in play. Marco Rubio is openly calling for Cubans to turn into agents of the CIA and bring about regime change. Earlier this year, Donald Trump had likewise publicly exhorted Iranians to rebel and overthrow their government and coordinate with the American military attack on their country. From careful isolationism in his first term to brazen hyper-interventionism in his second term, we are witnessing the full range of American foreign policy from one extreme end to another. This could happen only under the most mercurial president ever. I called Trump the ‘enfant terrible of world politics’ in my 2019 book, ‘Trumped’. He is living up to that title to the hilt!
SHIVAM THAKUR retweeted
Rubio’s trip to India was mostly about getting the trade deal done and talking energy amid Global System Rupture. He says the trade agreement is basically finished, almost 99% there, just some wording left to sort out, and it should be ready in a matter of weeks, not months. I am quite convinced that the waiver on Russian energy exports for India (and China among other customers) was also launched to not stand in the way of the trade deal and the energy agreements. On energy, he’s pushing India to buy and refine more oil from places other than Russia (especially Venezuelan crude, since India is good at refining heavy oil). That’s why he’s also heading to Reliance’s big refinery in Jamnagar. If this is possible, we will see quite an interesting game in using India's major refining capacities operating in both worlds - the US one which will rely on Venezuelan refined oil; and the DragonBear one which relies on the Russian refinied oil. This is just a potential scenario, just watch this space!
Rubio kept saying the US and India are strongly aligned on the big stuff that matters to both countries, and that better ties with Pakistan or China won’t come at India’s expense. Overall, the message was: the relationship is very important, the trade deal is almost close, and energy is the next big area to work on together. Which all makes sense given the simultaneity of disruption in the three choke points and the two proxy wars adding more pain to the global system, including Indian economy. India being the pragmatic geopolitical bridge between the two world right now will benefit from improving the relationship with the US on top of stabilizing the relation with China and further deepening the relation with Russia.
SHIVAM THAKUR retweeted
During his Indian tour, Rubio sought to get India to buy more U.S. energy as well as more oil from Venezuela, whose export revenues are directly deposited into an account controlled by the U.S. Treasury, with Washington determining when, how much and for what purposes the funds are released. Rubio wants the world’s largest oil-refining complex in Jamnagar to process more Venezuelan crude.
Washington appears not to be content with India’s rapid emergence since May as a top global buyer of U.S.-sourced and U.S.-controlled energy supplies. The U.S. has already become India’s largest supplier of both liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). At Washington’s urging, India has also become the largest destination for Venezuelan oil exports.
A key U.S. goal is to weaken the Indo-Russian relationship by steering India farther away from Russian crude. While Rubio framed India’s efforts to diversify its energy portfolio as a “smart thing to do,” Washington’s underlying diplomatic objective is to get India to substitute Russian oil with U.S. crude and U.S.-controlled Venezuelan oil.
SHIVAM THAKUR retweeted
The inordinate length of this post shows how insecure this supposedly Singapore based AI assisted Chinese anonymous handle feels about India’s rise and hence this broadside.
Regional Power, Global Pretender: India’s Great Power Illusion
From 1962 to Quad: Washington’s Favorite Sidekick
I wrote this article after chancing on a post by Kanwal Sibal claiming “We should not belittle ourselves (India) by classifying ourselves as a middle power”. See image attached.
So here we are again, folks, with the eternal question: Is India a Great Power? Spoiler alert—no. At best, India is a regional power, a convenient pawn for Washington to wave around whenever it needs someone to “balance China.” The U.S. pats India on the back, whispers sweet nothings about “shared democratic values,” and then quietly reminds itself: “Hey, didn’t China thrash India in 1962? Yeah, let’s keep them around as our junior partner.”
The 1962 Border War: India’s “Great Power” Reality Check
Let’s start with the elephant in the room—or should I say the dragon. In 1962, India strutted onto the Himalayan stage, puffed up with Nehru’s rhetoric about “non alignment” and “moral leadership” but unfortunately he has an Intelligence Chief that told him erroneously that the PLA will not react if he occupy the disputed region on the Chinese side of the border. Then China showed up, slapped India across the mountains, and sent its army running downhill faster than Bollywood plot twists.
That war was India’s baptism of fire—and humiliation. A supposed “Great Power” doesn’t get thoroughly defeated in its own backyard. Yet India did. And ever since, the U.S. has been dangling India like a battered sword, hoping it can still scare China. Spoiler: it can’t.
Economy: Big Numbers, Small Reality
Yes, India has a massive population. Yes, it has a big GDP in aggregate. But per capita? Still scraping the bottom compared to actual great powers. A billion people with smartphones doesn’t equal industrial depth. India’s economy is like a Bollywood set—flashy on the outside, hollow scaffolding inside.
Great powers build aircraft carriers, hypersonic missiles, and AI ecosystems. India builds call centers, software outsourcing hubs, and WhatsApp forwards. The U.S. loves to hype India’s “potential,” but potential doesn’t win wars or shape global orders.
Dependent of Remittances from Overseas Indian Workers
India’s “Great Power” fantasy collapses when you look at its rural economy, propped up not by industrial might but by remittances from overseas workers. And not the glamorous expat elite—think construction workers, kitchen help, and labourers sweating in the Gulf. Their wages flow home through the underground Hundi network, untaxed and invisible, because many are working without proper visas. The untaxed remittances complicate GDP estimation for the rural economy and inflate it during recession.
A supposed global power shouldn’t rely on shadow finance from illegal migrant labour to keep villages afloat. Yet India does. Great powers export technology; India exports cheap manpower. That’s not sovereignty—it’s dependency dressed up as pride.
Military: Import Nation
A true great power makes its own weapons. India buys them. Russia sells India jets, France sells it Rafales, Israel sells it drones, and the U.S. dangles Patriots and F 21s like candy. India’s military is a Frankenstein’s monster stitched together from foreign suppliers.
Imagine calling yourself a great power while begging Moscow for spare parts and Paris for upgrades. That’s not autonomy—that’s dependency. And dependency is the opposite of power.
Technology: The Missing Link
India likes to brag about its space program—“We put a probe on the Moon!” Sure, but so did China, Russia, and the U.S. decades ago. Great powers dominate cutting edge tech: AI, quantum computing, aerospace, cyber warfare. India? It’s still trying to figure out how to keep its domestic chip industry alive.
Meanwhile, Indian IT firms are busy fixing bugs in American software while China is building sovereign AI ecosystems that empower the world. That’s not great power behavior; that’s subcontractor behavior.
Geopolitics: The Junior Partner
Here’s the kicker. India’s role in global geopolitics is basically: “Be the sidekick.” In BRICS, it’s the cautious one. In the Quad, it’s the hesitant one. In U.S. strategy, it’s the “swing state”—translation: useful, but not decisive.
Washington loves India because it’s not China. That’s it. India is the “Not China” option. The U.S. doesn’t see India as an equal partner; it sees India as a convenient counterweight. A regional power to poke Beijing, nothing more.
The Pretender Syndrome
India talks like a great power but acts like a middle power. It waves its population size like a trophy, but when push comes to shove, it can’t project decisive power beyond South Asia. Its navy is still struggling to dominate the Indian Ocean, let alone the Pacific. It’s 2 aircraft carriers are nothing but glorified floating platform, as they lack air wings as India is still waiting for the delivery of Rafael M fighter jets, which will probably not come till after 2035 as France is prioritizing NATO’s requirement in the event of a war with Russia.
China builds Belt and Road; India builds excuses. China builds infrastructure across continents; India builds bureaucratic bottlenecks. China shapes the global order; India debates whether it should even show up.
Why the U.S. Loves This Setup
For Washington, India is perfect. Big enough to look impressive on paper, weak enough to stay dependent, and insecure enough to cling to American approval. The U.S. doesn’t need India to be a great power—it needs India to be a regional foot soldier in its rivalry with China. Think of India as the geopolitical equivalent of the junior recruit in a military drill. The U.S. is the seasoned commander, China is the rival competitor across the field, and India is the eager soldier who stumbles in the first skirmish but still insists it’s “part of the campaign.”
The 1962 Lesson Still Echoes
India’s defeat in 1962 wasn’t just a military loss—it was a strategic revelation. It showed that India’s ambitions outstripped its capabilities. And sixty plus years later, not much has changed. India still talks big, still gets flattered by Washington, and still lacks the hard power to back it up. Not surprisingly India is still afraid to release the 1963 Indian Army’s Henderson Brooks–Bhagat Report outlining why India suffered the catastrophic defeat by China.
Great powers don’t get used as pawns. They set the board. India is still a pawn, sometimes promoted to knight when Washington feels generous, but never the queen.
Conclusion: India the Regional Power
So, let’s cut through the rhetoric. India is not a Great Power. It is, at best, a regional power—a South Asian heavyweight that can balance Pakistan, poke at China, and provide Washington with a convenient talking point.
But global power? No. India lacks the economy, the military autonomy, the technological depth, and the geopolitical leverage. It remains a junior partner, a subcontractor, a sidekick.
And until India stops sending its men overseas to work as cheap labourers, stops importing weapons, stops outsourcing its tech talents, and stops clinging to Washington’s approval, it will remain what it has been since 1962: a regional power that talks like a giant but gets humbled whenever the real giants step onto the stage.
SHIVAM THAKUR retweeted
Point made in the article about big Indian corporates becoming assets for Indian foreign policy is valid.
But the corporates should also not be allowed to become so powerful as to control politics and government policy , as is the case in the US with the military- industrial complex.
While US waiving sanctions on Russian diesel- to be reviewed after 60 days Rubio now says- gives us reprieve but there are uncertainties ahead.
This is a tactical decision by the US in view of the mid- terms. The current US administration has shown repeatedly that it can change its position.
The temporary lifting of sanctions on Russia does not mean that pressure on India to buy more energy from the US and less from Russia will end.
Let us not assume a stable, longer term change in US policy on Russian oil.
No change of heart here, only opportunism.
On US Sec of State Rubio’s visit to the Reliance refinery in Jamnagar, and the power of capital in diplomacy
indianexpress.com/article/op…
SHIVAM THAKUR retweeted
Donald Trump is facing backlash — even from Republicans — over his Russian diesel deal, which could hand Vladimir Putin a financial lifeline.
But will the deal even do what Trump wants it to do, which is to help US consumers?
I asked former Obama White House senior energy policy official @JasonBordoff:
SHIVAM THAKUR retweeted
Trump on Ukraine:
My decision on Russia is a very simple one. I am in the process of negotiating Peace in the war between Russia and Ukraine, and don’t want to do anything that will drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table.
Great progress is being made, and that includes current hostage negotiations! Signing that document at this time will do that, and I can sign it later, or any time that I want! Perhaps more importantly, Russia is doing very little, if anything, to help the Islamic Republic of Iran, compared to what they could be doing, and I want to keep it that way, and will, unless stupid people get in the way.
Lastly, Zelenskyy is using Diesel Refineries in Russia as a target, knowing that these attacks are seriously hurting the world diesel markets, including those in the United States. Farmers, ranchers, and businesses of all kinds are suffering greatly from this, but Russia is, nevertheless, sending, at a low price, millions of barrels of diesel to the World. Zelenskyy doesn’t care, and frankly, with all of the money that Europe is famously giving him, and that Crooked Joe Biden gave him in the past, he doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did.
He could have made a better deal two years ago than he can now. His country is in shambles, a large portion of his land is lost, his oceans and seas are gone, and his male population is low, wounded, and/or dead. I WANT THIS WAR END! Thank you for your attention to this matter.
SHIVAM THAKUR retweeted
Semantics aside, I think India is a middle power for 4 reasons:
1. Weight: Sitting at #6 in nominal GDP—comfortably in the middle tier of global power.
2. Blocs: Balancing between US–China and US–Russia.
3. Bridge: Straddling the rich North and poor South.
4. Capability: Neither too weak to depend entirely on others, nor powerful enough to do without them.
SHIVAM THAKUR retweeted
A wave of cost-of-living, education and housing protests swept across Europe, with France at the center and violent clashes in several cities.
🇫🇷 France: About 550,000 marched nationwide; Limoges town hall and a Lyon tourist office were set on fire, around 1,800 people were arrested and about 150 police officers injured.
🇧🇪 Belgium: Student-led protests in Brussels and Liège turned violent, with police using tear gas and water cannons and making about 45 arrests in Liège.
🇮🇹 Italy: About 100,000 marched peacefully in Rome, while clashes near Milan’s Duomo led to around 50 detentions.
🇵🇹 Portugal: Tens of thousands protested the housing crisis and low wages, with demonstrators camping overnight in Lisbon.
🇦🇱 Albania: Student-led protests demanding Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation entered a fifth day, with hundreds detained and more than 120 police injured.
🇪🇸 Spain: An ongoing housing movement has drawn mass marches and protest camps, contributing to the snap election set for November 29.
The protests are largely uncoordinated but share anger over rising prices, housing costs and underfunded public services, and early signs of mobilization have been reported in Greece, Germany and Austria.
SHIVAM THAKUR retweeted
instagram has brainwashed an entire generation into thinking expensive international trips are a life goal, even when they don’t even own a house.
the west convinced you to fly thousands of miles, blow your savings, take 200 pictures and call it “finding yourself.”
every country has mountains, beaches and pretty streets.
western tourism propaganda is working exactly as intended.
SHIVAM THAKUR retweeted
< We live in a orchestrated life>
- Born
- get study
- for 20 years
- get a job
- and work for 50 years
- paying taxes 20-30%
- over prices
- inflation
- shit healthcare
- subsiding billionaires
- wars with out taxes
- greedy politicians
- loopholes for tax evasions
And this system is a carefully designed art and we can’t even go against them.
System is rigged, do not fair a rigged game where others cheat.
SHIVAM THAKUR retweeted
In the face of India’s toponymy strategy in Aksai Chin that made a lot of buzz in China’s strategic circles, I am reposting an article I wrote in April 2026 on China’s toponymy strategy in Arunachal Pradesh !
In today's op-ed I argue that after Galwan, India–China border management shifted as trust and confidence-building frameworks eroded, exposing agreement limits and prompting sustained forward deployments. In this context, China’s expanded toponymic assertions, evident in its sixth batch of standardised place names, enhance territorial signalling, cartographic precision, and legal positioning. Though largely symbolic, these measures may intensify patrol friction, complicate negotiations, and gradually harden competing claims along the unsettled Line of Actual Control.
sundayguardianlive.com/opini…
SHIVAM THAKUR retweeted
Lot of people ask me how I write: my method. I get up at 5am, walk and run till 6am thinking about what concerns the world today and the right way to analyse it, structure it, scribble the outline in a diary. From 6-7am I write the first draft on paper, brute force and discipline, no going back. Then the redrafting and publication. Pick your poison.
