Mr Indrajit Gupta of Founding Fuel interviewed SFG President Sundeep Waslekar, to shine a light on the important developments in the first quarter of 2021  and what they mean for India and the world. 

Very briefly, here’s what has changed in these three months

• We are beginning to see the world dividing in two camps, led by the US and China. And that has dangerous implications.
• Multilateralism seems to have a new champion in the European Union, led by Germany under Angela Merkel.
• However, even though the New START treaty (the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was a positive move, Britain has decided to remove its caps on nuclear weapons and deployment.
• There is a pivot to Asia in America’s policy to contain China. And this is reflected in the recent naval exercises by the Quad (the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, an informal strategic dialogue between the United States, Japan, Australia and India). But what is its significance vis-a-vis RCEP (the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a trade deal between ASEAN nations)?
• Meanwhile, pandemic politics mirrors the world-in-two-camps. While the US and China are focused on who did wrong last time, the EU has come out with a proposal to make sure how everybody gets it right next time. 
• The other surprising, but positive, development is the India – Pakistan ceasefire.