Courtesy: Outlook
Bhutan’s newly elected People’s Democratic Party is inclined to modernize the bilateral ties with India through investment and commercial ties with cities like Mumbai and Bangalore. This is the moment for New Delhi to view Bhutan with a new, non-linear lens, to deepening ties with a valuable neighbhour.
Courtesy: CivisDaily
The Oslo Accords’ two-state solution for Palestine-Israel, visualised Gaza and the West Bank as self-governing entities under the Palestinian Authority. That political hope existed in an expanding global economy led by the U.S. and secured by American armies, with the promise of capital flows and investments to develop Palestine on its way to statehood. All this changed in the 2000s, as both Israelis and Palestinians became significant regional actors.
Courtesy: Xinhua
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.
Courtesy: Institute for Security & Development Policy
Japan and the EU have a stable and long engagement with India. As India grows in economic and geopolitical significance, both partners must change the lens they view India with. Japan has done better, especially with investment, and because of a common interest and activity in the Indo-Pacific. The EU is driven by Brussels still and needs must overcome that limitation to better leverage India.
Courtesy: VivaLanka
At the COP28, Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe stated the need for $12 billion in FDI for renewable energy sources by 2030 to fulfill the country’s climate commitment. For that funding to yield benefits and translate into long-term growth, Sri Lanka must now work hard to enhance its overall business environment and revisit its foreign investment strategy to focus on renewable energy and manufacturing.
Courtesy: Jurist
The parallel political and security crises in Myanmar and Manipur have led Indian authorities to consider abolishing the Indo-Myanmar Free Movement Regime (FMR). However, without long-term policy efforts to ameliorate the political and economic situation along the border, ending the FMR and fencing the Indo-Myanmar border is unlikely to resolve India’s security problems in the region.
Courtesy: The Wire
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.
Courtesy: The Economist
After a year affected by a sustained polycrisis, global geopolitics in 2024 remains a delicate dance between hope and realism. Ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza cast uncertain shadows, while Taiwan and the South China Sea present potential flashpoints. Indian diplomacy will have to navigate old and new challenges, while promoting India’s expertise in digital technology, as also managing its own upcoming parliamentary elections.
Courtesy: CNBC
A well-supplied oil market, along with new investments in oil exploration and production means that pending a major disaster, India will not have to worry about oil prices in the coming year.
Courtesy: Swarajya
The inaugural summit of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), hosted by India earlier this month, drew special attention given the dramatic strides made in the field in the past year. As it prepares to chair the GPAI in 2024, India can draw on its large workforce, the university system and the technology stack to steer conversations on AI regulation, innovation and deployment towards a balanced and equitable path.