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Uttam Kumar Sinha is a leading scholar and commentator on transboundary rivers, climate change and the Arctic. He is currently Co-Chair of the Think-20 Task Force on ‘Accelerating SDGs: Exploring New Pathways to the 2030 Agenda’ during India’s G20 Presidency.
After a brief stint in the print media and a doctoral degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University, he joined the MP-IDSA in 2001, where he coordinates the Non-Traditional Security Centre and is the Managing Editor of Strategic Analysis published by Routledge, the institute’s flagship journal.
He is a recipient of many fellowships and leadership programmes including senior fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (2018-2020); US-South Asia Leader Engagement Programme at the Harvard Kennedy School (2015); Chevening ‘Gurukul’ leadership at the London School of Economics and Political Science (2008) and a visiting fellow at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (2006).
His recently published work is Indus Basin Interrupted: A History of Territory and Politics from Alexander to Nehru (Penguin, 2021). His other works include the Riverine Neighbourhood: Hydro-politics in South Asia (Pentagon Press, 2016) and Climate Change Narratives: Reading the Arctic (2014). His edited and co-edited volumes include Modi: Shaping a Global Order in Flux (Wisdom Tree, 2023); MODI 2.0: A Resolve To Secure India (Pentagon Press, 2021); The Modi Doctrine: New Paradigms in India’s Foreign Policy (Wisdom Tree, 2016); Non-Traditional Security Challenges in Asia: Approaches and Responses (Routledge, 2015); Arctic: Commerce, Governance and Policy (Routledge, 2015) and Emerging Strategic Trends in Asia (Pentagon Press, 2015).
Blue-Green Growth Needs Science and Socioeconomic Intelligence
Senior Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Uttam Kumar Sinha's co-authored opinion piece 'Blue-Green growth needs science and socioeconomic intelligence' was published in Hindustan Times, on April 28, 2023.
It is important to spend time and money on scientific planning and adopt incentives to prioritise conservation over the destruction of natural resources, say the authors.
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India and G20: A New Direction
Senior Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Uttam Kumar Sinha's views on India and G20 have been published on the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Research Foundation website on 19 March 2023.
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Pakistan Must Course-Correct
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Uttam Kumar Sinha’s article ‘Pakistan Must Course-Correct’ has been published in Open Magazine on 10 February 2023.
For Pakistan, playing to the gallery will no longer be tenable. The outstanding problems are engineering in nature, requiring matching solutions. If Pakistan wants the treaty to continue, it needs to do a course correction, says Dr Sinha.
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Understanding China–Russia Cooperation in the Arctic
The Ukraine crisis, shifting geopolitical alliances in the Indo-Pacific and Western-imposed economic sanctions on Russia have strengthened China–Russia cooperation in the Arctic.
Introduction
We live in a world of values even if we fail to ascertain it or remain unaware. Global values such as democracy, secularism, liberty, and free speech interact with the religious, cultural, community, family as well as individual values. The ravages of the Second World War had strengthened the belief in most governments of a new and just world order and many of these values became a vehicle for peace and stability, productivity and well-being. In his ‘Four Freedom’ speech of January 1941 explaining the reasons for America’s involvement in the War, President Franklin D.
India in the G-world Order
Senior Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Uttam Kumar Sinha’s op-ed ‘India in the G-world order’ has been published in BlitzIndia on 18 November 2022.
The G20 ‘Troika’ of the past, present and forthcoming leadership (Indonesia, India and Brazil) marks not only the rediscovery but the re-energising of the Global South. India’s G20 presidency can potentially become a watershed moment in global governance, says Dr Sinha.
LIFE will help fight climate change
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Uttam Kumar Sinha’s opinion piece ‘LIFE can help fight climate change’ has been published in Nationalist, on 27 October 2022.
BOOK CHAPTER: India-China Riparian Relations: Upstream-Downstream Dynamics
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Uttam Kumar Sinha's chapter ‘India-China Riparian Relations: Upstream-Downstream Dynamics’ has been published in the volume ‘Strategic Challenges: India in 2030’ (Harper Collins), by Jayadeva Ranade.
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Jai Anusandhaan: Prime Minister Modi’s clarion call for innovation and progress
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Uttam Kumar Sinha's article ‘Jai Anusandhaan: Modi's clarion call innovation and progress’ has been published in the July-August 2022 edition of Nationalist Magazine, Syama Prasad Mukherjee Research Foundation.
To protect the Sundarbans, Delhi and Dhaka Must Unite
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr Uttam Kumar Sinha’s co-authored opinion piece ‘To protect the Sundarbans, Delhi and Dhaka must unite’ been published in The Hindustan Times on 29 September 2022.
Between the two countries, a joint commission on the Sundarbans with a joint secretariat could be set up to plan and implement climate resilience of the Sundarbans and communities dependent on this ecosystem, writes Dr Sinha along with Mr Sanjay Gupta.