With 970 million registered voters – or more than the combined population of the United States, the European Union, and Russia – India boasts the largest electorate in the world. On April 19, 2024, India’s general elections kicked off a 44-day long process that will culminate with the counting of votes on June 4. The results of the world’s largest-ever democratic exercise will determine the political direction of the world’s most populous nation for the next five years, and shape the geopolitical dynamics of South Asia and beyond.

What do the results of this election mean for India’s economy, democracy, and position in the Global South? What are the next government’s policy priorities, both at home and abroad? What are the geopolitical implications, and how are nations around the world reacting to the outcome? How should we interpret the election results in a global context?

In this closed-door Executive Roundtable, scheduled just six days after the results will be announced, Milan Vaishnav, Senior Fellow and Director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., will give us a debriefing of this mammoth undertaking and discuss its far-reaching implications.
 

Milan Vaishnav will join us virtually. To offer a platform for networking and exchange, the roundtable is taking place in person at our office in Zurich. Drinks and light refreshments will be served.
 

This event is invitation only. Want to receive an invitation? Become a Passport Member today and receive regular invitations to our Executive Roundtables and other exclusive events. More information here.
 

Milan Vaishnav is Senior Fellow and Director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C. His primary research focus is the political economy of India. He is the author of When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics and host of Grand Tamasha, a weekly podcast on Indian politics and policy. Before joining Carnegie, he worked at the Center for Global Development, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Council on Foreign Relations. He is an adjunct professor in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University (on leave) and has previously taught at Columbia and George Washington Universities. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University.