Dr. Uttam Kumar Sinha is an Indian scholar and leading commentator on transboundary water issues and hydro-politics. He is with the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, where he heads the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies and serves as managing editor of Strategic Analysis. He has held fellowships and academic appointments at Harvard Kennedy School, the London School of Economics, the Peace Research Institute Oslo and the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. His books include Riverine Neighbourhood: Hydro-Politics in South Asia and Climate Change Narrative: Reading the Arctic.
The article examines the controversy surrounding the planting of a purported Sri Maha Bodhi sapling at Vadunnagala, an ancient Buddhist archaeological site in northern Sri Lanka, by politician Sarath Weerasekara. It links
Nepal’s UN speech was powerful in its portrayal of climate vulnerability but far less complete in explaining the forces behind it. Its strongest arguments about climate justice, broken supply chains and unequal global power also reveal the limits of turning
Germany’s postwar democratic stability is often attributed to a constitution designed to prevent another Weimar collapse. But Weimar already had powerful tools to defend
Why people become politically engaged when the personal costs can be real and the right course of action is rarely certain. Drawing on Albert
This article is adapted and abridged from a speech delivered by the author at the Sarmaya Art Foundation, Mumbai, on 8 August 2026. The text is based on the author’s two books
More
