Counterview

By Nava Thakuria  The 18th BRICS Leaders' Summit, hosted by India at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on 12-13 September 2026, has concluded with leaders formally adopting the New Delhi Declaration. The gathering, themed "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability," drew Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other leaders of the now 11-member bloc, along with heads of partner organisations such as ASEAN, the African Union and the Eurasian Economic Union. Diplomats had worked through the final hours to bridge differences — notably between Iran and the UAE over West Asian tensions — before the declaration was signed.

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  In a recent interview on Firing Line with Margaret Hoover , broadcast on 4 September 2026, Salman Rushdie drew a parallel between the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Irish Republican Army (IRA). It is a comparison so historically hollow and ideologically jarring that one wonders whether it was a careless slip or a calculated provocation. 

By Bharat Dogra   Due to its data cut-off date, the latest edition of the Global Peace Index (2026) has been able to capture only very partially the impact of the Iran war and its related aggressions and risks. Even so, this index, prepared by the Institute for Economics and Peace, presents clear evidence that the world is becoming an increasingly dangerous place, with conflicts and wars on the rise. The report states clearly that geopolitical risks now exceed the levels seen during the Cold War.

By Harsh Thakor*  Released last year,  Jarod Kimber ’s The Art of Batting is not merely a cricket book; it is a forensic yet poetic examination of what makes a batsman great. It dissects technique with the precision of a scientist while celebrating strokeplay with the sensibility of an artist, spanning generations and continents with equal authority.

Counterview News   The devastating flood that swept through Nepal 's Rasuwa district on August 26, 2026, was likely triggered by climate change , but the scale of the tragedy was determined by human decisions — including the unchecked proliferation of hydropower projects in a fragile Himalayan landscape, according to Himanshu Thakkar , coordinator of the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP).

Dr. Ponnada Srinivas*  The recent Nepal flash floods that killed thousands of pilgrims near the China-India-Bhutan border is not an isolated tragedy. The involvement of Isha Foundation and Jaggi Vasudev drew attention this time, but the 2013 Chardham floods that washed away 6,000 pilgrims—mostly Telugu-speaking—caused equally devastating pain. That most northbound pilgrims originate from South India, particularly Andhra and Tamil Nadu, raises uncomfortable questions about the economic and cultural dynamics at play.

By A Representative   A call for unity among OBC, SC, ST and minority communities to defend constitutional rights took centre stage in Ahmedabad, as scholar and social activist Dr. Laxman Yadav’s two books, “Professor Ki Diary” and “Jati Vasti Ganana,” were launched at a public dialogue on democracy and social justice. Speaking at the event, Yadav urged marginalised communities to overcome divisions, build a collective voice and organise around issues of rights, representation and social justice.

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan  A video has been doing the rounds, and it stopped me mid-scroll. A thirsty crow lands beside an outdoor tap that is already running. It simply puts its beak under the stream and drinks. No searching. No experimenting. No problem to solve. Just an open tap. It is hard not to think of the other crow—the one from our childhood story.

​By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  ​Amid ongoing debates over the expanding influence of artificial intelligence, commercial developers are experiencing an unprecedented financial boom. Industry estimates suggest global AI revenues reached $229 billion by mid-2026, tripling year-over-year, with projections indicating a potential disruption of up to $4.7 trillion in enterprise profits by 2035.

By Tings Chak  The television series Asking the Vast Earth (问苍茫, 2023) opens with a scene of a young Mao Zedong swimming in the Xiang River, swollen from the heavy rains. A fisherman calls from the bank to the lone swimmer: ‘You fool, you’re asking to die! The river is raging after the storm—there are boats, why are you swimming?’ Mao laughs and calls back: ‘Never mind how fierce the water is. Once you understand its temper, you can handle it. Just like you with your fishing—where the fishing is easy, there are no fish. Where the swimming is easy, there is no joy.’