Courtesy: X
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Mauritius reinforced the strategic partnership between the two nations amid growing geopolitical competition in the Indian Ocean. The visit introduced the Mahasagar vision for regional security and growth while advancing cooperation in trade, defence, digital infrastructure, and people-to-people ties. With the shared historical, cultural, and economic ties, Mauritius remains pivotal to India’s Indo-Pacific strategy.
Courtesy: India Spend
The anti-migration movements in the West have had a dampening effect on students traveling for study. There is diminished intake, higher fees and no guarantee of a job after graduation. This can play well for India, whose new education policy seeks to attract foreign students to its shores. Delhi must offer reciprocal work visas to foreign students, creating a cohort of those with valuable India experience.
Courtesy: Atlantic Council
The recent visit of the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and the EU College of Commissioners to India, is a testament to its view of India as a key voice in the Global South and a stabilising force amidst a rapidly changing global dynamic. However, a strong push is required to elevate their transactional relationship into something more meaningful for both parties.
Courtesy: Reuters
Sri Lanka is playing a balancing act as it manages its ties with India and China. It is heavily dependent on the two rival Asian giants for its economic revitalisation and future growth, but it must be strategic in its approach with both countries as it attempts to manage its foreign debt and ensure project sustainability while maintaining geopolitical neutrality.
Courtesy: Investopedia
The Bank of England was in the news because of the ‘gold squeeze’- traders moving gold from London to New York to profit from the price arbitrage. An informal version of this is taking place between Bangladesh and India.
Courtesy: Gateway House
A visit to Israel in the last week of January coincided with the six-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the 80th anniversary of the Holocaust in which 6 million Jews were killed during the Second World War. It revealed a country at war and in mourning, yet one whose natural resilience looked to the future with optimism.
Courtesy: X
The first plurilateral meeting attended by new U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the Quad, a day after assuming office. The meeting reinforced the commitment to the Indo-Pacific but with the change in government, the Quad's trajectory in 2025 remains a question. Part of the answer lies in its past interactions, while the rest depends on how the U.S. and India will approach China.
Courtesy: Reuters
India and the U.S. have a big agenda, bilaterally and geopolitically, to discuss when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump meet in Washington on Feb 12-13. Trade, China and migration are central points of discussion. So will ensuring that Trump allies with India on its neighbourhood as an area of common concern. The big election win in New Delhi will strengthen Modi’s negotiating hand.
Courtesy: AFP
February 1 marks four years of the military coup in Myanmar, which plunged the country into a bloody civil war, still on-going. The crisis is deepening, as the struggle between the Junta forces and a fragmented resistance wages on with no resolution in sight. A stalled mediation by ASEAN, and lack of consensus amongst neighbouring countries on how to help, leaves Myanmar’s future uncertain.
Courtesy: News 18
The India-Australia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement will be signed this year. It will complete a unique, two-part trade agreement that will bring India into global trade regimes in a calibrated manner, and with a helping hand. For Australia, with its deep global trading knowledge and pragmatic approach to such agreements, gaining it first-mover advantage in India’s large market is a major win