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The Modi government came to power in New Delhi pledging a muscular approach to relations with Islamabad. But now, the government has realised that while it can control the narrative at home, it cannot do so abroad. Most countries saw New Delhi's actions as somewhat over the top.

''The Centre will consider the prevailing situation in Sri Lanka and the overall relationship between India and its island-neighbour while formulating its stand on the US-backed resolution against Sri Lanka in the UNHRC,''.

India and Sri Lanka are now working on a comprehensive economic agreement following the success of the Free Trade Agreement of 1999. This was stated by Sri Lanka's Minister for Export Promotion and International Trade,

India has embarked on a large-scale infrastructure development program, ranging from highways to airports, a critical government-led push to provide the economy a strong base to build upon.

With Trump elected as President of the US, the waning economic order — WTO — is even more under threat and now resembles like the League of Nations of pre-war era.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India in January 2010 and the Joint Communiqué issued jointly by both the countries infused a renewed vigour in the bilateral relationship which, till then, was floundering.

PM Manmohan Singh's recent visit to Kabul and India's initiative to develop long-term strategic partnership will redefine India's relations with Afghanistan by giving it leverage in Kabul that it has not enjoyed in the past.

US special representative Zalmay Khalilzad’s visit, a mere formality, should act as a wake up call for Delhi.

India-Africa science and technology cooperation offers a unique opportunity for agricultural growth in Africa. The case for greater agricultural cooperation between India and Africa is stronger because of the similar agro-climatic conditions in India and Africa. African agriculture suffers from low productivity and limited use of technology.

At the second Africa-India Forum Summit held in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on May 24-25, notable points for cooperation were established with hopes of further strengthening the longstanding relationship between India and African nations.

In an increasingly multi-polar world, Africa is an important partner for India on all global strategic issues. Africa is one of the fastest growing regions with huge natural resources. It offers not only resources to India's increasing needs but also a huge market for Indian firms for trade and investment.

With the upcoming 3rd India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-III) this month, Prime Minister Modi is set to prove a point to the country that he indeed follows a proactive foreign policy with exuberance and austerity. IAFS-III seems to be critical for reshaping and nourishing historical India-Africa ties and is considered as not just another diplomatic event.

It has been a cliché to refer to India and Africa as natural partners. With the recent India-Africa Summit in Delhi, there is a chance to make it a reality. But for this, concerted action is needed on the parts of the governments, private sectors, civil societies, think tanks, academics and the media on both sides.

The Western Indian Ocean connects North America, Europe and Asia, and as such is of global strategic importance. Its rich natural resource profile has pushed global players, including India, to view the region with increasing interest in recent years. Although for a long time, much of India’s political attention was directed towards its eastern neighbourhood, in recent years, the country has begun giving more attention to maritime security in i

India and Africa’s complementary sectoral priorities and similar roles in the evolving global food markets present numerous opportunities for collaboration in the agricultural sector. This paper analyses the potential for India-Africa cooperation towards food security and capacity building. It makes an assessment of Indian partnership with African countries in the areas of agriculture and food security, outlines current initiatives in both regi

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

With both the goods FTA and services FTA in place, India is well set on the path of a comprehensive economic partnership with ASEAN. India, whose services sector contributes about 55% to the country's GDP, has been keen to sign the services FTA with ASEAN as it will help the Indian companies tap the ASEAN markets easily.

The potential welfare gains arising from the services agreement appear to be in India's favour as well as for member economies of ASEAN. The policy focus of both ASEAN and the individual member nations has been on merchandise trade liberalisation, and on inducing foreign investment-led transfer of technology, which has so far resulted in low regional integration in services.

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 holds a primary interest in the Freedom of Navigation through the South China Sea. It also has an economic interest in exploring hydrocarbon resources in the area. But how effective are India's role as the balancing actor that the ASEAN nations seek?

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

Participants at a Consultative International Workshop on India-Bangladesh Connectivity: Possibilities and Challenges, organised in Kolkata, emphasised the need for a common transport policy for the entire region.

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.

This brief analyses the efforts of India and Bangladesh to strengthen their defence cooperation, in the context of the series of agreements and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two countries during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India in April 2017. Some quarters in both countries are sceptical about the agreements, citing the ineffectual Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace—often referred to as a ‘defenc

The main objective of the Dialogue was to explore the security perspectives of India and Bangladesh, with special focus on the threat of terrorism in the region

Indian diplomacy seems to be drawing a blank when it comes to regional cooperation involving fine diplomacy and seasoned statecraft. The recent events relating to India's attempts towards getting natural gas from Bangladesh and Myanmar and the negative response from Bangladesh suggest that it is unlikely to obtain any gesture of

Considering the great improvement in India's relations with Bangladesh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during his visit to Dhaka, should unilaterally offer to convert half of the $1 billion soft loan given to Bangladesh earlier into a grant and make the rest interest-free as a gesture of goodwill and friendship.

Farooq Sobhan, President of the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute and former Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh, addressed the ORF Faculty on March 12, 2008. In his speech, he stressed on building a strong relationship between India and Bangladesh by encouraging greater connectivity and investments. Both countries, he felt, should leave behind the baggage of mistrust and neglect and recognise that they can gain much through a closer relationship.

This brief offers a way to rethink the ongoing dispute between India and Bangladesh over the former’s plan to build a high dam on River Barak (known as Surma-Kushiyara and Meghna in Bangladesh) at Tipaimukh in the state of Manipur. It identifies the origins of different sources of water for Bangladesh’s Haor, the region that is widely feared to be under threat by India’s planned dam. The brief recommends the conduct of a comprehensive study

There have been several changes in the political landscape in the geography of Central Asia — with the entry of China as a major player in funding infrastructure projects in the region, and the weakening influence of USA in the markets, along with the independence from Soviet Union.

The use of past to pitch present-day India-China interaction is not a very helpful strategy because the situations, political entities were different and the role of Buddhism was more complex than acknowledged, according to Dr. Tansen Sen of the City University New York.

China and India need to do more than repeatedly declaring outcomes of meetings as 'successful' and 'positive'. Talking things out straight will no doubt lead to friction and diplomatic parleys but at least it will be an enterprise in reality.

India and China have recognised their comparative and cooperative strengths - even while acknowledging their shared concerns and competitive edge, vis-a-vis each other, and when pitted against the rest of the world. Not surprisingly, the strategic community, in general, and policy makers, in particular, have been keenly engaged in following the developments related to the countries over the part four decades.

India and China do differ radically on the kind of Asian layout for the future. India work at an inclusive approach as opposed to China's exclusivist approach which appears directed against India, US and Japan.

It is fashionable in China today to speak of a 'new model' of great power relations, indeed of international relations as a whole. Applying this approach to India-China relations offers some interesting insights. Both at an abstract and practical level, the three propositions that constitute this 'new model' appear unexceptionable.

In the backdrop of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to India, a roundtable discussion was organized by ORF on 1 December 2006 to assess the outcome of the visit and its impact on the relations between the two countries. The discussion focused on how India-China relationship will evolve in the wake of the visit.

India has seldom been demanding on strategic issues. At the strategic level, one requires a long memory and a longer foresight and vision. With China, we need to balance our strategic, security and economic relationships.

The World Bank shares a lot of the optimism that prevails in India today¿, said Michael Carter, World Bank Country Director for India, in his opening remarks at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.

The hurried sense of negotiations taking place between the EU and India is becoming a cause of worry. The Indian government should tread cautiously so as to safeguard the domestic concerns and public interests at large. If structured well, the FTA can push up India's growth for the next decade.

By broadening the scope of bilateral cooperation from the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) to encompass the entire Indo-Pacific region, the India-France Indo-Pacific Roadmap, released in July 2023, underscores the importance of moving beyond the traditional self-centred approach to foster a more outward-looking dynamic with key regional partners. The cooperative trilateral mechanisms established by India and France in 2020 (India-France-Australia) and i

India's deepening engagement with the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council as well as Israel could also moderate New Delhi's diplomatic ties with Tehran. India-Iran relations were at their peak during then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to Tehran in 2001 and then Iranian President Mohammad Khatami's visit to India in 2003.

India's ties with Iran have clearly been strained by the latter's tumultuous relationship with the United States, with the Iran factor equally imposing constraints on India-US relations. India has had to walk a diplomatic tightrope in balancing its relationships with these countries.

India and Iran are not in the place they deserve to be in the global order, and they can play a more important and significant role by enhancing their cooperation, according to Mr. Ali Akbar Javanfekr, presidential advisor for press affairs to Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran.

India has completely stopped the import of oil from Iran to comply with a US order reimposing sanctions on the country.

Displaying a shift from the previous administration, the Narendra Modi government has initiated high-level political engagement with Israel. Modi met with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in New York, sent his Home Minister to Tel Aviv, and received former President Shimon Peres in Delhi recently.

His Excellency Mr. Akitaka Saiki, Ambassador of Japan to India, addressed an eminent gathering at the ORF campus in New Delhi on June 29, 2011. In his lecture, Mr. Saiki outlined the huge potential for cooperation between India and Japan to build a strong partnership in the context of the rapidly changing security dynamics in the Asia-Pacific region. This is the text of his lecture and the proceedings of the event.

As the Indo-Pacific region takes centrestage in international affairs, various stakeholder countries are engaging in different forms of economic and strategic cooperation. While such cooperation is implemented largely through bilateral or multilateral forums, certain countries are partnering to promote infrastructure connectivity in third countries across the region. This brief explores one such partnership that holds promise—that of Indi