On this episode of New Order, we speak to the former chief of India’s Research and Analysis Wing, Vikram Sood. He discusses why Prime Minister Narendra Modi isn’t personally attending the funeral of Ayatollah Khamenei, Trump’s potential pivot to Ukraine after the war on Iran, whether India is in a better position to deal with threats from the Trump administration, why Russia, China, and India working together could be a formidable power bloc and send a powerful message to the world, the internal and external pressures India faces, the weaponization of human rights by the West, the importance of soft power for India such as film and culture, the importance of the Chabahar Port in Iran for India’s national security, and much more.

Finally, New Order’s Zarah Khan asks questions from you the viewers to Afshin Rattansi. You can send in your questions to @AfshinRattansi on X to be answered on next week’s episode!

New Order with Afshin Rattansi will trace how India and its allies sit at the center of a transformation in world history. Power is moving, alliances are shifting, and the rules of trade, technology, and security are being rewritten. New Order is about diplomatic architecture: The networks of power, the flow of money, and the levers of influence that determine who gains and who loses in a world of tectonic transition.