SA trade Courtesy: Hindustan Times
15 February 2024

South Asia’s trade architecture matters

South Asia requires resilient and cost-effective regional supply chains. This can be achieved through Indian investment, fostering local linkages while reducing dependency on Chinese financing of regional partners. A new approach enhances India's regional influence, creating a win-win scenario for the entire South Asian neighbourhood in a changing global landscape.

ap24027436647060-4396770c18818334aeb094b20153e05d90e91439-s1100-c50 Courtesy: The Time of India
1 February 2024

Unfolding Geopolitics | Episode 4, Indian seafarers at risk

Recent attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden by the Houthis have led to increased costs and global trade disruptions, and drawn the Indian Ocean into the ongoing conflict in West Asia. Most at risk are Indian seamen, who comprise the officer and saillor class of these vessels. Michael Pinto, former Secretary, Ministry of Shipping, Government of India, speaks with us about ensuring maritime security and safe passage.

bhutan_20181001 Courtesy: Outlook
18 January 2024

Bhutan’s elections matter

Bhutan’s newly elected People’s Democratic Party is inclined to modernize the bilateral ties with India through investment and commercial ties with cities like Mumbai and Bangalore. This is the moment for New Delhi to view Bhutan with a new, non-linear lens, to deepening ties with a valuable neighbhour.

160067 Courtesy: Al Majalla
17 January 2024

Unfolding Geopolitics | Episode 3, Understanding the Maldivian position

Maldives’ President Mohammed Muizzu’s desire to have an independent foreign policy has steered it away from India and closer to China. It has added a new dimension to the strategic contestation in the Indian Ocean. Rajiv Bhatia, Distinguished Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies, shares his insights on the Maldives’ strategic importance in the region, the ‘India Out’ campaign, and the way forward for Indian diplomacy in South Asia.

israel-hamas Courtesy: CivisDaily
17 January 2024

Israel-Palestine: two states … or one?

The Oslo Accords’ two-state solution for Palestine-Israel, visualised Gaza and the West Bank as self-governing entities under the Palestinian Authority. That political hope existed in an expanding global economy led by the U.S. and secured by American armies, with the promise of capital flows and investments to develop Palestine on its way to statehood. All this changed in the 2000s, as both Israelis and Palestinians became significant regional actors.

maldives china Courtesy: Xinhua
15 January 2024

Maldives’ pivot to China

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.

nawaz-modi-saarc-reuters Courtesy: The Wire
9 January 2024

India and South Asia: what to expect in 2024

The more India enjoys cooperative relations with its neighbours, the greater its ability to exert influence in the world. Meanwhile, neighbours looking at India with a reasonable mindset may internalise that cooperating with the world’s fifth largest economy is clearly in their interest.

guyana Courtesy: Revolutionary Communist Group
14 December 2023

Unfolding Geopolitics | Episode 2, Essequibo dispute: colonial shadows and resource riches

Venezuela's claim to the Essequibo region of neighbouring Guyana has focused world attention on yet another colonial-era border dispute. With elections coming up, the declining Venezuelan economy laying claim to newly-discovered rich oil and mineral deposits in Guyana has some traction. For Guyana, the claim to its land is non-negotiable as this developing country looks forward to accessing its own wealth. Purvi Patel, Visiting Fellow at Gateway House and Latin America expert, offers her insight.

China-Flag-Country-Africa-Map-Silhouette_News Courtesy: Global Trade Observer
23 November 2023

How will 2023 BRI Reset Impact Africa?

President Xi’s speech at the 3rd BRI Forum for International Cooperation in October 2023 has grabbed the headlines in suggesting a vision for a reset BRI, ten years on. Is it a case of ‘old wine in new bottles’ or something radically different? And what does it mean for African development, the poorest continent on the planet?

G20-1 Courtesy: Times Now
16 November 2023

The road ahead for G20

The outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war less than a month after the conclusion of the New Delhi Summit has heightened the geopolitical anxieties that hovered over India’s G20 presidency year. As the baton passes to Brazil, purposeful action, careful diplomacy and managing conflicting interests will be key to the implementation of the Summit’s commitments.