im-889480 Courtesy: The Wall Street Journal
29 November 2023

Javier Milei’s difficult path ahead

Javier Milei defied expectations when he won the Presidential election in Argentina earlier this month. The public are looking for early and rapid results that will bring the economy back on a steady keel, even through radical reform. But sectors of the entitled old guard have already announced it will oppose any change in the status quo.

us-returns-antiquities-to-india-in-stolen-art-investigation Courtesy: The Times of India
9 November 2023

Bringing home the Nataraja

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.

107279673-1690872117337-gettyimages-1252505626-DSC_7492-10JPG (1) Courtesy: CNBC
26 October 2023

Myanmar, continuing darkness

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.

BRICS 2 website Courtesy: Fox News
31 August 2023

BRICS-XI, the new configuration

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.

National Security Advisors' Meeting Courtesy: Observer Research Foundation
24 August 2023

Jeddah is the ‘new’ Vienna

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.

Niger website Courtesy: Arab News
10 August 2023

Niger shakes off neo-colonialism

The coup has revealed three truths: the long tail of colonialism is reaching its end; alternatives to western control and command have emerged; the younger generation in developing countries have neither awe nor loyalty to the old master and nothing to lose in overthrowing the past, even though they know not their future.

military coup myanmar website Courtesy: Brookings Institution
2 August 2023

Myanmar’s Decade of Hope and Gloom: Implications for India

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.

ASEAN Website Courtesy: Kuwait Times
25 July 2023

ASEAN on a trodden path

The 56th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in Jakarta reflected the grouping’s resilience amidst transformative geopolitical changes in the Indo-Pacific. Striving for unity and centrality, ASEAN tackled challenges posed by COVID-19, economic slowdown, climate change, and U.S.-China competition. However, internal differences on sensitive issues like Myanmar have tested its credibility.

Myanmar website Courtesy: WION
24 July 2023

Myanmar: An empty seat, ASEAN schism and India’s choices

ASEAN's efforts to restore democratic transition and political normalcy in Myanmar have come up against a wall of non-cooperation from the state's current military regime. The grouping's internal unity and credibility has also been challenged by two parallelly unfolding policy lines - one favoured by the grouping and the other pursued by Thailand and its supporters. India, which has vital national interests at stake in Myanmar, has supported ASEAN centrality and the 5PC on Myanmar, while also simultaneously demonstrating an understanding of the Thai unilateral policy.