Crackdown on free speech a risk: Oxford Analytica

The elevation of Rahul Gandhi as the president of the Congress, the principal Opposition party, offers an Asian regional “opportunity” while suppression of the right to expression manifesting in attacks on journalists is among political and policy risks for 2018, according to analysts at Oxford Analytica.

Presenting the risks and opportunities for the next year, the Oxford-based global analysis and advisory firm said the business and investment risk drivers would not diminish in 2018, but that they would be secondary to growing political and policy-driven risks from the global down to the sub-national level.

Besides North Korean political developments, it said crackdowns on the freedom of expression in India and China were a risk. “This is happening most blatantly in China, where the government is censoring the internet more and more aggressively, regardless of the effect this has on businesses. It is also starting to demand that foreign businesses collaborate in this censorship,” said Oxford Analytica. There are similar authoritarian trends in other countries, too. It cited the example of India, where “journalists and academics who criticise the government are increasingly facing legal pressure and are even being physically attacked”. A third risk involves Pakistan’s general election, which is likely to take place in mid-2018. The election could see Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s government unseated by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Khan coming to power may elevate risks to two of Pakistan’s key bilateral relations.