160067 Courtesy: Al Majalla
17 January 2024

Unfolding Geopolitics | Episode 3, Understanding the Maldivian position

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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.

maldives china Courtesy: Xinhua
15 January 2024

Maldives’ pivot to China

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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

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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.

G20-1 Courtesy: Times Now
16 November 2023

The road ahead for G20

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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.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a news conference in Brussels on July 15, 2020, after a virtual summit with the Indian Prime Minister. (Photo by YVES HERMAN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by YVES HERMAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) Courtesy: CSIS
9 November 2023

Europe’s Challenges in the Indo-Pacific

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Europe's increased focus on the Indo-Pacific and the deepening economic and technological collaboration with India offer mutual benefits. However, the EU's ambivalent approach towards China, and the desire of most European states to maintain neutrality in the U.S.-China rivalry might not be sustainable in the long run.

Elections_Infographic03 Courtesy: Gateway House
5 October 2023

An orchestra of elections in 2023-24

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Between 2023 and 2024, a sweep of democracies across the world are scheduled to hold general elections. 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.

BRICS 2 website Courtesy: Fox News
31 August 2023

BRICS-XI, the new configuration

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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.

Morosini website Courtesy: EDR Magazine
17 August 2023

Connecting Italy’s Mediterranean and India’s Ocean

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The Italian Navy sees in its multicultural "Mediterranean" nature, a similarity with the Indian Ocean as a connecting fabric that has enabled civilizations to flourish and prosper through the centuries. The shared concerns and cooperation between the Italian and Indian navies, now renewed, can bring prosperity with contemporary connectivity.

Colombo-port Courtesy: The Wire
3 August 2023

India-Sri Lanka: Connecting grids

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India and Sri Lanka recently signed six energy agreements, including plans for an oil pipeline from India to Sri Lanka, electricity grid connectivity, and cooperation in renewable energy. Sri Lanka can benefit from India's cost-effective oil sourcing and processing and pay for it in rupees, easing its balance of payments crisis. Its wider use of the Rupee fulfills a long term objective for Indian policymakers.