Courtesy: Gateway House
India’s sovereign AI strategy prioritises chips, compute, data, models, and talent, but overlooks a critical pillar: energy security. As AI-driven electricity demand surges globally and the IndiaAI Mission rapidly expands computing capacity, reliable power is becoming a defining constraint on AI ambitions. Energy security must therefore be recognised as a core pillar of India’s sovereign AI strategy, not merely as supporting infrastructure.
Courtesy: Outlook Business
The legacy of the Modi-Takaichi Summit will extend well beyond the bilateral. It demonstrates that middle powers, through responsible and sustained action, are capable of shaping the future of the Indo-Pacific through strategic intent and the resilient economic networks that back it up to promote regional stability. For India and Japan, economic security is the foundation upon which the next generation of the bilateral will be built.
Courtesy: Körber-Stiftung
The third Emerging Middle Powers Report reveals interesting trends. In every recent year, the five countries surveyed – India, Germany, South Africa, Brazil, and Indonesia – have been tested by events to prove they can prevail over the contested terrain of global politics. A pattern has emerged linking them together: non-alignment is their preferred response to a fragmenting order.
Courtesy: South China Morning Post
Prime Minister Modi’s Indo-Pacific tour begins in Indonesia in early July. The two countries are expected to achieve a more aligned worldview, especially with the wars in Ukraine and the Gulf. The emerging entente cordiale between the U.S. and China will have a significant impact on the region, where India and Indonesia are leading players with the Indo-Pacific as their shared home.
Courtesy: Gateway House
President Trump’s January 2025 executive order ending birthright citizenship has reignited the global debate over citizenship and migration. Dual citizenship has become increasingly popular since the Second World War, but it is now viewed with growing anxiety over migration and national identity, prompting some countries to tighten restrictions. This infographic maps which countries permit, restrict, or prohibit dual citizenship.
Courtesy: Prime Minister's Office of Japan
The 52nd G7 Summit, held in Evian-les-Bains from June 15-17, reflected both the challenges and continued relevance of the grouping. While the G7’s share of global GDP has declined, it remains influential. India’s participation as an invited guest drew attention as a major representative of the Global South. As BRICS chair this year, India has an opportunity to explain the motivations of both the G7 and BRICS to each other's members.
Courtesy: Nayanima Basu
The arrival of the sacred Piprahwa relics in Leh in May 2026 was more than a religious event; it was a powerful act of cultural reclamation and civilisational diplomacy. Linked to the Buddha’s Sakya clan, the relics reaffirm India’s place as the birthplace of Buddhism while sending a strong signal to China. As Beijing increasingly politicises Tibetan Buddhism and the Dalai Lama’s succession, this heritage carries growing geopolitical significance.
Courtesy: Gateway House
After eight years of its nomenclature, on 16th June the U.S. Pacific Command dropped the 'Indo' from its military command title. It reflects clearly that the U.S. does not consider the Indo-Pacific region to be the most consequential theatre of geopolitics today. Yet its significance as the platform on which great-power contestation in political, military, technological, and economic domains will play out cannot be overstated.
Courtesy: Sifra Lentin
The holy relics of Buddha Shakyamuni, part of the relics originally excavated in 1898 from the Piprahwa Stupa in the Terai region of northern Uttar Pradesh, were repatriated to India in 2025 after 127 years. Marg magazine’s volume 77 (2) is a deep dive into the history, Buddhist cultural landscape, colonial archaeology and museology, and Buddhism’s veneration of these relics.
Courtesy: x/@MEAIndia
The recent visit of Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing to India has re-engaged the two neighbours politically after a six-year gap. Critics and pragmatists had much to say, but the outcome spoke for itself: constructive border management, defence agreements and economic cooperation. And a reminder that India has not forgotten about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy icon.