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India has asked scholars and experts from BRICS nations, attendng the Academic Forum meeting, to offer solutions and new ideas to meet global challenges.

This report builds on the discussions during the 5th ORF Kalpana Chawla Space Policy Dialogue 2019 organised by ORF. The report has three sections: the first covers questions of strategy in space; the second discusses policy dimensions; and the final one explores the role of private enterprises in the space domain. While some sections may include global perspectives, the report views the various challenges in space primarily from an Indian standp

For Lima and Paris climate change negotiations to succeed in achieving consensus, the issue of equitable response to the climate crisis must be creatively reimagined. And, to negotiate action on climate change despite many challenges, India should promote a more fine-tuned form of differentiated responsibility -- not just between countries, but within them as well.

While many countries still regard cyber security and space security as 'future challenges', or issues that will need to be dealt with in the coming years, India is already tackling them today.

India’s G20 Presidency has identified the mandate for the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) as thus: “capacity building of the ecosystem for financing sustainable development.” The aim is to scale up efforts in mobilising large pools of global capital for sustainable projects, particularly in emerging and developing economies. Under the aegis of the Sustainable Finance Working Group (SFWG), the G20 proposes the developmen

India has made significant strides in agricultural production since the days of green revolution and has valuable lessons to share with its development partners, including countries in the African continent. This paper argues that there is a strong rationale for India-Africa collaboration on food security, given their common challenges of hunger, undernutrition, and low productivity. The paper finds that India plays an important role in augmentin

India and Southeast Asia share a long cultural history, which over the years has helped shape economic and commercial relations between them. This partnership garnered an impetus following the launch of India’s ‘Look East Policy’ in the early 1990s, rechristened ‘Act East’ in 2015. This brief analyses the trade and investment relations between India and the member states of ASEAN. It highlights the various challenges in the relationship

Amidst the challenges like less liberalised service sector of certain ASEAN members, there exists an opportunity for India to harness the gains from trade in services in the wake of the comparative advantage that it enjoys in certain services.

India-ASEAN relations have traversed a long, dynamic path interspersed with multiple achievements to reach the year 2017, when the two are celebrating 25 years of their partnership. India and ASEAN uphold each other’s centrality in shaping the evolving regional architecture. In pursuit of this objective, India’s ‘Look East’ policy had morphed into ‘Act East’ by 2014. Common concerns and aspirations bind the ASEAN countries and India a

Keeping in mind the historical and civilisational ties of India and Bangladesh and their geographic proximity, ORF-Kolkata undertook a year-long study on India-Bangladesh connectivity, using extensive field visits and interviews with relevant stakeholders. The findings of the study were collated in a report, titled, India-Bangladesh Connectivity: Possibilities and Challenges, and released just before the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi

At the release event of the report on India-Bangladesh Connectivity: Possibilities and Challenges, participants stressed the need for leveraging the positive political climate and emphasised pro-active role of state governments in cross-border connectivity.

From the SCO and BRICS to the United Nations, the ongoing rivalry between India and China has expanded beyond their borders, posing new challenges

Since Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, the Indian prime minister and his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe, have been instrumental in what has been the most dramatic leap forward in India-Japan bilateral relations. While the two countries have made strides in strengthening cooperation in recent years, there are limitations that need to be overcome. This brief examines the challenges that remain in the relationship, including their sub-par bila

This report presents an initial stocktaking of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) announced in 2023 following a meeting in New Delhi between the leaders of India, the US, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Italy, France, Germany, and the European Commission. Given that the participating economies contribute to almost half of the global GDP, there are many opportunities and challenges associated with the economic corridor.

The just-concluded round of India-Pakistan dialogue (July 27) was an opportunity for both the countries to articulate their positions on two critical challenges facing the region, terrorism and Afghanistan.

The India-Russia military technical relationship has withstood the test of time. Despite strains since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the relationship has remained highly critical both in terms of the level of trust between the two states and the imperatives of sustaining a military-technical relationship to counter the growth of Chinese power. A more synergistic military-technical is possible, and Moscow and New Delhi must explore ways to con

The Indo-Pacific region has become a crucial area of the India-United States (US) partnership. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the two countries have increased their alignment on the Indo-Pacific, with both sides giving greater priority to the region and acknowledging sharper shared concerns about China. The US and India are also increasing cooperation via the Quad and engaging in other platforms such as the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (I

The strong reactions to the non-inclusion of American firms in a major Indian military procurement tender, in the backdrop of proposed aggressive weapons sales by the Americans, paint a contrasting picture that could influence India-US defence relations in the near future. This Paper looks at the entire gambit of Indo-US Defence relations and, based on past experiences and ongoing deliberations, the challenges ahead.

A victory by almost retaining its 2007 tally of 117 seats in Gujarat and a defeat in Himachal Pradesh for the BJP has not only set the tone for the next Lok Sabha elections but has also created a new set of problems and challenges for the two national parties in particular and for the entire political class otherwise.

Afghanistan’s situation has thrown up challenges for New Delhi

Nuclear cooperation has brought a new dimension to India’s diplomacy in the 21st century. India’s status as a responsible nuclear power is predicated upon the civil relationships in the nuclear domain that it has established with major powers. This, despite not being a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and operating outside the ambit of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. This brief analyses the impact of key agreements with different count

This report draws from the conference on the Future Challenges to India's Intelligence System organised by ORF in February 2015. What tasks face India's intelligence agencies in implementing reforms in order to address the more complex national security threats confronting the country today?

The security of nuclear and radiological materials is a critical global issue due to the growing number of existing and emerging threats in the nuclear domain. Within the broad domain of nuclear security, several challenges and threats—such as the physical protection of nuclear materials, insider threat, transportation security, and cyber threats—have raised concerns among governments and the international community. This report focuses on th

The Smart Cities Mission (SCM), launched in 2015, seeks to improve the quality of life in 100 cities and towns of India. Overall, its progress has been uneven, with many cities yet to achieve the desired levels of transformation. This report evaluates the first five years of the Mission, and draws lessons from its successes and failures. It discusses the physical and financial status of the projects taken up so far, and identifies the mos

India’s emerging urban moment is caught between two realities: inadequate systems in public transportation, housing, waste management, and access to sanitation and health; and a burgeoning ecosystem of enterprising individuals, communities and start-ups pushing innovative solutions to these very same civic issues. This paper examines India’s urban picture and understands how the urban narrative of crumbling systems and inadequate infrastructu

Technology is vital to enabling accelerated socio-economic growth, effective governance, and relief delivery at scale. Many economies are adopting and developing technology-first frameworks to strengthen their population’s social welfare net, and support economic growth. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed both the challenges and opportunities in India that can be addressed and driven by multidimensional technology frameworks. With the rebalancin

Though domestic politics will continue to pose challenges to Dr Manmohan Singh's image, his firm commitment to Indo-Pak engagement has put both countries on course for at least a manageable relationship, if not a cordial one, based on mutual interests rather than vicissitudes and emotions.

The Arctic region, with its vast reserves of natural gas, minerals, oil, and hydrocarbons, presents energy and economic opportunities for countries, including India. India’s Arctic Policy, released in 2022, signalled the country’s intent to expand its engagements in the region beyond its historical focus on scientific research and climate studies. While the policy acknowledges the region’s growing economic potential, however, it does not ad

Adolescents comprise a significant proportion of India’s population. Despite improvements in various outcomes, this demographic continues to face serious challenges to their health and well-being, including high levels of teenage pregnancies, low rates of antenatal care checkups for adolescent pregnancies, and lack of safe menstrual practices among adolescent girls. Investing in adolescent health should therefore be a policy priority. This repo

But President Rouhani’s challenges, domestically and with the US and Arab neighbours, are just beginning.

In voting for a moderate President, Iranians have demonstrated their desire to overcome continued political isolation, marked by significant economic deterioration and disappearing democratic accountability. Can Mr. Rouhani overcome challenges and deliver?

While India’s diplomatic and political outreach with West Asia has been a success story over the past decade, the geopolitics of technology has the potential to offer a challenge.

Many see China to be practicing a new form of imperialism in Africa as it imports primary goods from Africa and exports manufacturing goods to Africa, without transferring skills to the continent. And China-Africa ties are not free from challenges. There is also immense potential.

The Taliban today undoubtedly has a stronger hold over how the US militarily plans to withdraw from the conflict in Afghanistan. This raises questions about the continuing challenges to security in South Asia—in particular, the influence of IS Khorasan (IS-K), the group’s Afghanistan avatar, and its rise both as an ISIS-aligned entity and a big-tent brand for various jihadist groups in the country. As the ‘Khorasan’ project of ISIS gets m

If Barack Obama can match his oratorical skills with decisive action and emulate Roosevelt's bold economic measures and the Star Wars programme of Ronald Reagan, America can well embark on the path to economic recovery at home and overcome the strategic challenges that threaten its once pre-eminent global position.

Settling territorial disputes and balancing multilateral relationships are the twin challenges before India and China, opined speakers at the ORF seminar on 'Issues in Sino-Indian Relations and Leadership Change in China' held in Kolkata on July 27, 2013.

Southeast Asia has been one of the key components of Japan's foreign policy in the post-Cold War period. It is one region where Japan's diplomacy has accomplished considerable success in coming to terms with the challenges posed by the legacies of the Second World War. Successive Japanese governments since 1952 have always maintained that the stability and security of ASEAN countries are closely tied to Japan's security and prosperity.

The challenges that Japan and India face are largely complementary and thus hold promise for enhancing ties. A robust India-Japan partnership will support and promote India's increasingly assertive and strong role as well as Japan's leading position in the east Asian region.

A detailed study of Japan's role in the peace settlement of the Cambodian issue is important as it was one of the earliest political efforts made by Tokyo in a region which had been known for its antipathy to Japan due to the strong historical memories of the Second World War. Southeast Asia posed one of the most serious challenges to Japan's post-war diplomacy which had to wrestle not only with the bitter legacies of the war, but also with the r

In the biomedical field, laboratories must ensure biosafety while managing pathogens and microorganisms in order to protect personnel and the broader community against potential leaks and lab-acquired infections. Global standards provide a roadmap for the biosafety of laboratories, underscoring the importance of their design and equipment, personnel training, waste management, and communication in preventing potential biohazards from breaching co

This paper examines two types of waste on which India can explore transboundary waste-trade opportunities and challenges: farm-produce waste and municipal solid waste. Using lessons learnt from trade between other countries, the paper argues that while India can augment its economy through increased waste exports or imports, certain conditions must be met for India to benefit from sustained international waste trade practices. The paper recommend

The visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to India this week, so early in the Modi innings, is a good sign as both leaderships seem anxious to be able to better deal with the many challenges ahead. Clearly, China is challenging other major powers for a role in India at a time when its economy needs to grow at 10 per cent to recover from three years of economic slowdown.

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) constitutes 23.82 percent of the global disease burden but less than one percent of health expenditure.[1] The region has a severe shortage of trained medical personnel[2] and health delivery has low coverage. This brief outlines the most crucial challenges facing SSA’s healthcare system, and describes the footprint of Indian health companies in the region, especially in the context of the failure of the public sector t

Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Global South is being threatened by the mounting challenges facing developing countries due to the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic and the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war, and receding aid from traditional donor countries. As the achievement of the SDGs remains more relevant than ever, this brief proposes the creation of a Global South Development Assistance Committee (D