shutterstock_44385856 Courtesy: Shutterstock
2 January 2020

India’s diplomatic agenda in 2020

India will host four prestigious international conferences, such as the India-Africa Forum Summit and the subsidiary SCO Summit in the course of the next three years. These are historic opportunities for the country to show global leadership and fulfil a diplomatic agenda that involves handling strategic competition and advancing partnerships

BN-WC464_BURMAP_GR_20171113114119 Courtesy: The Wall Street Journal
6 June 2019

Suu Kyi, more politician than icon

The Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy, which has been in power for three years, has shown a modest score card, winning more censure than praise. Suu Kyi’s civilian-military equation has been good, but not her reluctance on the Rohingya issue. What chances does her party have of winning in Myanmar’s elections in 2020?

merlin_155315436_159aa613-01d1-4b5e-8c01-f33ad69d0626-superJumbo Courtesy: NY Times
30 May 2019

Foreign policy continuum with the BJP

India’s foreign policy is increasingly blended in with its domestic agenda – and vice versa. Prime Minister Modi’s past proactive foreign policy has paid dividends in bringing global attention to India, a fact young voters have noticed and approved. In his second term, what will India’s foreign policy look like? A continuum of the past, but also new frameworks for the future

modi-768x432 Courtesy: CNBC TV18
28 May 2019

PM Modi’s foreign policy 2.0

India's foreign policy under the second Modi government will take account of a turbulent world in which the old verities are disappearing and domestic political compulsions exert overwhelming influence on external postures

ibc-center-oil-gaz-4-696x392 Courtesy: ibctrain.com
2 April 2019

India & the influential SCO Energy Club

The main objective of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Energy Club, when Russia formed it, was to market its member states’ substantial oil and natural gas reserves. This map shows some of the important natural gas pipelines, originating from Russia and its neighbouring countries that are not members of the SCO. What can India do to secure supplies from these abundant but currently inaccessible natural gas reserves?

359864_3622116_akhbar Courtesy: thenews.com.pk
7 March 2019

Gwadar 2.0: Pakistan’s Saudi vs. China play

Pakistan’s aspirations for oil and gas prospecting off its Makran coast, south-western Balochistan, are diverging from those of China, which has had a nearly two-decade long presence in Gwadar as an infrastructure provider. To turn Gwadar into the petrochemical hub it desires, Pakistan has sought out other benefactors, changing geopolitical equations in the region

aashna-china Courtesy: Gateway House
14 May 2018

Gwadar: trade hub or military asset?

China’s ostensible intentions are to turn Gwadar port into a focal point of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor. But the geography of the region is a major stumbling block in the realisation of these ambitions and raises questions about the project’s underlying motives

2017_10$largeimg11_Wednesday_2017_013201128 (1) Courtesy: The Tribune
18 April 2018

Punjab’s unshakable drug smuggling networks

Since 2017, the Punjab government has been cracking down on drug networks. The campaign has so far targeted small-time drug peddlers, but deep smuggling networks that cross international as well as state borders remain intact, posing a major national security threat

04 Courtesy: Sameer Patil & Shah Maieen
8 February 2018

The Rohingyas and India’s difficult choices

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