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As major powers like China are deepening their military ties with the Gulf, the need for India to look beyond the imperatives of energy and maritime security is critical to its interests in Oman and the wider Gulf region.

France is set to host the most important of climate conventions at the end of this year, one that will determine the successor to the Kyoto Protocol. This makes for an important area where India and France can cooperate.

As the Modi government brings in a renewed push to India's Look East policy with an "Act East" policy, Myanmar's geostrategic position becomes all the more important for India to put the necessary connectivity links with the country and the wider region.

Human capital is the wealth of nations and is dependent on health, nutrition, skills and knowledge of people. To produce and maintain a healthy, highly skilled workforce, India must make cost-effective investments to improve child health and nutrition

The region’s geostrategic and trade dynamics are already in flux and may throw up opportunities for India to capitalize on

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad)—comprising Australia, India, Japan and the US—has outlined a collective vision that recognises each country’s peculiarities in their approach to the Indo-Pacific while building upon the areas of convergence. Maritime security will continue to be a key pillar in this vision, although there is a shift towards making the Quad’s objectives more broad-based and relevant to the emerging global geopolit

The excitement of the Board of Governor's meeting is over and the participants have not been slow to express their views at the outcome. The Iranians are defiant, the Americans triumphant, the Russians cautious, the Europeans smug, the Chinese inscrutable, the Arabs joyous at directing a new argument at Israel, the latter pleased over Iran's predicament yet angry over a dent in their nuclear ambiguity, and the Indians self-righteous.

The current Just Energy Transition Partnerships framework does not work for India because it prioritises G7’s agenda and overlooks our specific energy transition needs and challenges

The King strikes,' headlined the New Indian Express" of Chennai its story on the coup staged by King Gyanendra of Nepal after sacking his own hand-picked stooge Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on February 1, 2005.

Land acquisition remains at the centre of many controversies and public policy paralysis in India. There are very few public policy issues in India that rival land acquisition in terms of its complexity, challenges and significance to country's growth and transition to more urbanised and industrialised status.

Narendra Modi's emphasis on Vajpayee's foreign policy legacy is politically significant for a number of reasons. It has offered much-needed reassurance all around that India will not abandon its traditional nuclear restraint, continue to seek peace with neighbours and promote regional prosperity through the economic integration of the subcontinent.

There are clear limits to informal summitry, as India has found out since Wuhan. Despite all the rhetoric and symbolism on display at Mamallapuram, the substantive outcome remains clouded in mystery.

The economic and social problems of the European Union (EU) have not been fully resolved since the euro zone crisis. This issue brief walks the reader through the genesis of the crisis, the reforms and the bailout packages implemented; discusses the adverse consequences of austerity and proposes alternatives; and ends with implications for India.

In the Robert Frost poem the narrator¿s neighbour tells him ¿good fences make good neighbours,¿ but he asks, ¿Before I built a wall I'd ask to know/What I was walling in or walling out.¿ However, in the case of the barbed wire fence that has been constructed on the Line of Control (LoC) by the Indian army, no one appears to have asked this question.

The Russia-Ukraine war has confounded observers, as much as it did the Russians themselves. Since erupting in late February, the war has not shown signs of abating any time soon. This brief argues that by its very nature, the war has lessons not just for the adversaries, but also the NATO alliance that is backing Ukraine, and even geographically distant China and India. For one, the war has both elements of the old eras—such as the mass

During an interaction at ORF, Maldives' delegation of senior officials reassured the audience that the Maldivian Constitution continues to restrict establishment of foreign military facilities and that Male will never compromise the security balance of the Indian Ocean.

India should be pleased with the Maldives choosing democracy over dictatorship. But it should not imagine that China's powerful influence will pale in Male anytime soon.

India’s financial aid to the Philippines to fight the Islamic State signals a reworking of its Asean outreach

Mr Narendra Modi's decision to invite the Head of Governments of India's neighbouring countries for his swearing-in was appreciated by Dr Sanjaya Baru, former Media Advisor of Dr Manmohan Singh. Modi's emphasis on the economy was also noted.

On 14 February 2025, Kathmandu was informed of the freeze on all payments related to the US$500-million Nepal Compact of the US government's Millennium Challenge Corporation. This followed the executive order passed by the Trump 2.0 administration in January, putting a 90-day pause on all foreign assistance programmes of the United States. During the years prior, the MCC Nepal Compact had been mired in political controversy since its signing in S

By opposing 'unilateralism in international affairs' and evincing a 'common interest' in the evolution of a multipolar world based on 'cooperative security order' while in Moscow this week, Prime Minister Vajpayee has addressed issues going beyond bilateral ties and regional politics in South Asia. To the extent, Vajpayee and India have been consistently focussing on multipolarism, particularly after the US war in Afghanistan, and on Iraq.

Looking at a decade of India-Bangladesh partnership

Upon the creation of Pakistan in 1947, millions of refugees and migrants from India made Karachi their new home, settling alongside the native Sindhi population. They identified themselves as mohajirs and have since been part of the long process of assimilation into Pakistan’s multiethnic, multilingual, Islamic republic. The political mobilisation of the group has led to the formation of a number of Mohajir parties, the strongest of which remai

Sharp accretion of Chinese capabilities has implications for India

India should not lose sight of the fact that it needs strong regional partnerships if the challenge of China’s rise is to be managed effectively.

With the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal announcing its final award, water, in general, and inter-State river water issues, in particular, are once again in the national focus. There are varying concerns about the socio-political fallout of the Tribunal award in the riparian States, with Karnataka and Kerala expressing unhappiness to differing degrees, and Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, respectively, expressing 'relief' and 'satisfaction'.

Both the spread and speed of the internet in India will have a direct impact on India's economy. India's e-government schemes will find faster delivery of services. Sectors like e-commerce will be able to grow. And India's IT and ITES sectors will also remain in the race to be a sure avenue for employment and income generation.

India is not alone in facing slow growth because all the other BRICS countries too are facing slower growth and this slow growth would knock off half a percentage from US growth rate as well. The US is not going to grow over 2 percent this year, according to IMF.

It’s up to India’s policymakers to effectively make use of the opportunities provided by growing concerns about the Chinese project to make India emerge as a net provider of regional connectivity.

Middle powers with multiple partnerships like India can play a big role in the emerging global order

Without a strong internal capability, New Delhi will be unable to influence the international debates on regulating cyberspace at the UN General Assembly and the International Telecommunications Union. Even more important is India's bilateral engagement with both the US and China on cyber security issues.

The agriculture sector’s contribution to India’s GDP and employment makes it crucial to the country’s growth. At the same time, the sector’s massive greenhouse gas emissions pose a threat to India’s green transition. The ongoing farmers’ protests also highlight the need for a climate-smart agriculture strategy that will address fundamental issues like income support. This brief outlines a framework for India’s “new green revolutio

India and Russia already have mutual stakes in the hydrocarbon sector. The stage is set for this time-tested friendship to deliver results. They should now extend their integration beyond conventional strategic ties.

Delhi must indeed prepare for the inevitable emergence of China as a full-fledged naval power in the Indian Ocean in the longer term. In the interim, as India seeks to consolidate its natural advantages in the Indian Ocean, France is a compelling naval partner.

One of the most awaited and celebrated events of 2010 in India was the State visit of US President Barack Obama from November 6-8. Considerable amount of discussions and debates had taken place both before and during the visit.

Indo-US relations that have witnessed a remarkable transformation in recent years, both in tenor and substance, are under intense scrutiny on the eve of US President Barack Obama's forthcoming visit to India. While relations between the two democracies have moved from one of 'estrangement' to a relationship of 'engagement' at many levels, there are outstanding issues that need to be addressed. This Issue Brief explores the prospects for cooperati

In the US presidential election, dominated by domestic issues and with little focus on foreign policy, outsourcing has emerged as a point of discussion. India is one of the top countries to which the US outsource work.

Aggression may be a warning to India to not join issue with US

There is an irony in the government's crackdown on Ford Foundation that seems to have escaped most observers. In the 1960s, the principal critics of the Foundation were the Indian Left. Now, the government and critics of foundations and NGOs fail to realise one thing. Now we are a self-confident, resilient society with institutions that have gained considerable depth. We are also a transparent and open society.

Pakistan is cornered after India revoked Article 370. But it is still a time of great caution for India. We must watch the neighbour's moves, his begging bowl in one hand, dagger in the other.

While NYAY is a great scheme on paper, it probably needs more consideration.

Once Narendra Modi steps away from the minefield of Nepal's domestic discourse on the Hindu state, the Indian Prime Minister will find the shared Hindu and Buddhist heritage a solid foundation on which to build a new and lasting edifice of bilateral cooperation.

Direct criticism for scarce or expensive vaccines at the government, not the private sector

Transboundary water politics in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin areaffected not only by inter-government relations between India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh,but also by dynamics on different scales, including the hydropolitics between Indian stateswithin the basin. At the same time, the disputed issues, and the patterns of power dynamicsbetween actors, are similar in transboundary interactions in the basin as well as in inter-stateinteracti

The global health landscape is undergoing dramatic shifts, none of which are conducive to mitigating urgent health issues that affect large populations across the globe. In particular, the United States (US) will likely slash its multibillion-dollar contribution to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the international public-private platform that seeks to increase access to vaccination in low- and middle-income countries. This brief outlines the potentia