Mecca Accord Courtesy: Gateway House
23 September 2026

Essay: Mecca Accord re-engineers regional security?

BY

The sustainability of the Mecca Accord is determined by its response to three geopolitical challenges represented by India, Iran, and Israel. The India test centres on preventing the export of South Asian conflicts to the Gulf, the Iranian test rests on institutionalising sustainable deterrence beyond formulas of perpetual clash, and the Israeli axis tests the mechanisms for reshaping Saudi ties with American security and the future of regional normalisation.

Office of the Pakistani Prime Minister_AFP Courtesy: AFP
27 August 2026

Mecca Accord and India’s energy security

BY

The Mecca Accord between Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan has raised some red flags in the region, and in India. One element remains unchanged: India’s value to Riyadh as an energy importer. With demand security holding more weight than supply security in an uncertain future, a major and growing oil importer like India is more important than the cash-for-security arrangement the Kingdom has signed with Pakistan.

earthquake Courtesy: Hindustan News Hub
2 March 2023

Indian Assistance to Türkiye and Syria

BY

The earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria on 6 February devastated those regions. India established its credentials as an early responder, along with the global community. Humanitarian aid may not lead to a significant change in regional foreign policy, but people’s goodwill has been established in Turkey and a window opened in Syria for normalisation with its Arab partners.

Afg_Province_Poppy_cultivation hp Courtesy: UNODC
19 January 2022

Funding the insurgency: The Taliban in Afghanistan

BY

The Taliban's resurgence since 2001 has been largely funded by the creation of an opium economy and extortion. Now, with the withdrawal of U.S. troops, legitimate aid from Afghanistan and the freezing of Afghan funds abroad, the Taliban will revive its informal sources of finance to stay afloat. A look at the financing that brought the Taliban back to Kabul.

Capture d’écran 2020-02-04 à 16.00.17 Courtesy: Foreign Affairs
4 February 2020

The Unwanted Wars

BY Robert Malley

Countries in the Middle East, such as Iran, Israel or Saudi Arabia, do not want a military confrontation. Yet, current circumstances conduce to the breaking out of just such a war

04 Courtesy: Sameer Patil & Shah Maieen
8 February 2018

The Rohingyas and India’s difficult choices

BY

A recent trip to Cox’s Bazar showed that despite numerous health, social and security challenges, the Rohingya refugees are reluctant to return to Myanmar. India will have to walk a tightrope, keeping in mind humanitarian, security, and geopolitical priorities

Bin_Salman__Reuters_ Courtesy:
9 November 2017

Saudi purge: Arab Spring 2.0?

BY , and

The removal of 11 top ministers in the Riyadh government last week by the young crown prince Mohammad bin Salman, is a geopolitical upheaval, the implications are serious. Domestically, the kingdom is seeking to liberalise its conservative society and move away from oil-dependency – evident from the expected listing of its crown jewel Aramco. For India, which imports oil largely from West Asia, instability could cause a spike in prices, leaving less for its ambitious reforms. Globally, there is now space for new alignments – in the Great Power plays, in the Shia-Sunni rivalry, and in the war on terrorism.