Courtesy: Arab News
The conflict in Myanmar is now three years old. It has created a power struggle within the military, and between the army, political class, and armed ethnic groups, a civil war with little hope for victory. India's policy towards Myanmar needs reassessment, given the rising refugee influx and security concerns.
Courtesy: Xinhua
A tiny nation of half a million people, Maldives has drawn enormous attention from the media, diplomats and informed public since Muizzu’s election last September. The interest has only risen after the recent diplomatic row with India and Muizzu’s increased bonhomie with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Courtesy: The Economist
After a year affected by a sustained polycrisis, global geopolitics in 2024 remains a delicate dance between hope and realism. Ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza cast uncertain shadows, while Taiwan and the South China Sea present potential flashpoints. Indian diplomacy will have to navigate old and new challenges, while promoting India’s expertise in digital technology, as also managing its own upcoming parliamentary elections.
Courtesy: Gateway House
A sweep of democracies across the world are scheduled to hold general elections in 2024, including seven of the 10 most populous countries. India has an interest in several of these: its own national election and those in its immediate neighbourhood; in the G20, of which India is still part of the troika; and in BRICS-plus, where a new global game is afoot.
Courtesy: Scroll
From COP to COP, the discussions focus on climate change and its impacts. But none have yet addressed a critical issue: the definition of a “climate refugee” or climate-related forced migration. Some contend that the issue requires a revision in the 1951 Refugee Convention. But with refugee and migrant flows to the borders of Western democracies, the term “refugee” is often re-framed as a concern about preservation of culture and values.
Courtesy: The Times of India
This year, India recovered over 100 stolen antiquities from different countries, part of 324 brought back to the country over the decade. This is part of an increasing global effort to tackle art trafficking. India can use the momentum to strengthen its own legal and policy mechanisms for accelerated recovery, restitution, and conservation of its cultural heritage.
Courtesy: CNBC
Prolonged violence between the military and opposition forces in Myanmar has eroded political stability in the country and led to large-scale displacement within the country. Despite diplomatic efforts led by ASEAN and other nations to find effective solutions, Myanmar’s on-ground situation appears unlikely to see any significant improvement in the near future.
Courtesy: Fox News
The decision to invite six countries — Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE — to join BRICS as full members has opened the grouping to a new geopolitical era. India can now play a seminal but challenging role in this evolved dynamic, given its growing cooperation with the West on the one hand and its active pursuit of the interests of the Global South on the other.
Courtesy: Observer Research Foundation
In West Asia, nations such as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are starting to understand their pivotal geopolitical positioning in world affairs – and are making calibrated and strategic moves to preserve or recover global stability. It’s welcome at a time when more than two dozen conflicts are ongoing, when geopolitical rivals have hardened their positions, and diplomacy has failed to de-escalate in the primary contests.
Courtesy: Brookings Institution
Two years on since the military coup in 2021 and the continued absence of security and stability has only worsened the political and economic situation in Myanmar has only worsened in the absence of security and stability. India's long-standing strategic and economic interests in Myanmar will not be achieved if it doesn't proactively step up now to prevent the from becoming a flawed polity or a dependent of China.