Nikita Singla, Associate Director

Nikita Singla is Associate Director at New Delhi-based Bureau of Research on Industry and Economic Fundamentals (BRIEF). Over the last decade, she has focused on Regional Cooperation, International Trade and Logistics, Economic Integration, Overseas Development Assistance, and Women Empowerment with a focus on South Asia.

She has also worked with the World Bank Group’s Macro, Trade and Investment Practice, based in Washington DC and continues to consult with different multilateral institutes including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank on trade and logistics-related issues. She has also been a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Strategic Studies under the President of Azerbaijan based in Baku, and has worked with the French Agency for Development (AFD) in Sri Lanka. She is a part of the Advisory Council of TalentNomics India, a non-profit organization working towards creating a gender equitable South Asia.

In just a few years, Nikita has moved across countries (including Azerbaijan, France, Sri Lanka and the US) before coming back to India. Her specialization and passion lie in international trade, logistics and regional cooperation in South Asia.

She has written for various Indian and international newspapers and journals on different economic and socio-political issues including Regional Cooperation in South Asia, Multilateral Governance, South Asia trade, Public Private Partnership, Sufism and Politics, Economics of Women Talent, Gender Violence, and other infrastructure, trade, investment, and gender issues.

She is an Engineer from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and studied International Economic Policy from Sciences Po Paris. She blogs@ nikitasingla.wordpress.com

Publications:

National Time Release Study (TRS) for the implementation of the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation in India, BRIEF-National Committee for Trade Facilitation & KPMG, 2019-2023
Building Back Better, Reducing Risk and Building Business Resilience, Future-Proofing SMEs, BRIEF-WASME, 2022
Improving Rail Efficiency and Share in India’s Freight Transport, BRIEF-NITI Aayog, 2021
Bridging the Divide, Cross-Line of Control Trade, BRIEF, 2021
Unilateral Decisions Bilateral Losses, assessing the socio-economic impact of the face-off between India and Pakistan in 2019, on border economies, BRIEF, 2020
The Dubai Angled Triangle, assessing the changing trends of indirect trade between India and Pakistan, BRIEF, 2020
Peace through Trade at the Line of Control, BRIEF, 2020
Sub-national Diplomacy: Restructuring Constituent Foreign Policy of India, Economic and Political Weekly Vol. 52, Issue No. 22, 03 June, 2017
Potential of Public Private Partnership (PPP) in the development of Azerbaijan’s infrastructure (ISSN: 2218-8436), Centre for Strategic Studies under the President of Azerbaijan, 2016
Regional Trade Barriers in South Asia: SAARC lagging behind ASEAN, Samvad SIBM Pune Research Journal, Vol XII, 54-61, December 2016

Trade and trade facilitation-related research articles:

India conducts annual assessment of its cargo clearance at ports, The Financial Express, January 2023
India’s Export Story: Expeditious regulatory clearance coping with the logistics of uncertainty, May 2022
Is cross-Line of Control trade on the new menu?: Financial Express, June 2021
Good Neighbours series explores how people-to-people activities advance regionalism in South Asia, World Bank Blogs, May 2021
Hope Floats For India-Pakistan Trade Developments: Outlook, April 2021
Cementing Bangladesh-India ties through border haats: Hindustan Times, March 2021
The Hidden Human Costs of Suspending India-Pakistan Trade: The Wire, March 2021
More The Trade Friction, Bigger The Twin Trade Account Between India And Pakistan: Outlook, December 2020
For goods sensitive to time and cost, circuitous routes can’t replace direct ones, The Outlook Magazine, August 2020
Amid tension with China, India’s trade with Pakistan seems to have fallen off the policy charts, The Financial Express, August 2020
Making trade more digitized, The Hindu, July 2020
Going Vocal for Local: The Case of Localized Regional Supply Chains in South Asia, Outlook, May 2020
Why Cross-LoC Trade Must Resume After the Covid-19 Crisis, The Wire, April 2020
China Pakistan FTA-2: A New Regional Hub For Cotton Garments In The Offing?, Outlook, March 2020
Changing trade dynamics and South Asia’s soya saga, Live Mint, November 2019
A Time Tested Way to Trade Away Conflict, The Hindu, October 2019
Putting The Skids Under Border Trade, The Hindu, September 2019
Connecting communities through India and Bangladesh’s cross-border markets, World Bank Blogs, September 2018
Bicycles can boost Bangladesh’s exports, World Bank Blogs, October 2017
The Pitfalls of Multi-Lateral Governance in a Multi-Polar World, The Huffington Post, October 2015
Is India a level playing field for investment, South Asia Journal, January 2015