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

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.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh concerned about the looming energy crisis, is determined to expand the contribution of civilian nuclear power to India¿s energy budget. For this it is necessary to remove the shackles imposed by the United States and its friends on international nuclear transactions.

If we accept the US to do something for us, we too have to be able to offer a quid pro quo, remembering that in international relations, national interests are supreme, sovereignty is (sometimes) equal but power and reach are not equal.

Shoba Suri, Nimisha Chadha and Oommen C Kurian, The ORF SDGs Young Influencers Programme 2.0: Report from Three Workshops, October 2024, Observer Research Foundation.

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

Qatar is creating a large footprint for itself in the West Asian Qpolitical landscape. The Gulf state was previously known primarily for its oil and gas reserves, and compliance with US interests in the region. However, Qatar has in the recent past made significant efforts to assert regional pre-eminence through an aggressive foreign policy. Emir Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who recently handed over the reins of power to his son, Tamim bin

Experts are overlooking the powerful influence of New Delhi and Tokyo.

The President of Pakistan had expected his handpicked Prime Minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, to perform his bidding and strengthen his position. But President Musharraf was disappointed. He, therefore, felt that a change was essential in order to secure his own place and keep the other power players content.

This is a partnership that has been forged amid common challenges and shared strategic objectives

Biotechnology emerging as a major element in global power equations

Once the US successfully built and used nuclear weapons to devastating effect to end the Second World War, other great powers of the time realized that the acquisition of nuclear weapons was essential to maintain their status. In 1970, after three decades of hectic developments,

This brief examines India’s relations with Pakistan and China using the lens of Kautilya, the ancient Indian strategic thinker—and argues for pragmatism: assessing the basis and severity of the threats, searching for possible strategic opportunities amidst the risks, and overall, avoiding the scenario of a two-front war. It begins by acknowledging that Pakistan and China view India through different prisms: for Pakistan, that of ideology; and

Iran’s oil sales are at a five-year high as the US looks the other way despite sanctions. Iran is smartly undercutting Russia in selling cheaper oil and upset Saudi Arabia’s plan to profiteer from production cuts. The new world order being shaped amid the US-China battle for global supremacy equally belongs to countries charting independent paths

The troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir is governed by two controversial laws – the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act (AFSPA) of 1990 and its predecessor, the Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), 1978. In the past few years, state security forces have been enforcing these two laws against suspected militants and insurgents with increasing severity. This paper argues that the combined enforcement of these two laws has s

This brief discusses the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital technologies in meeting Africa’s development goals and argues that, for tech to make a real contribution to human development in the continent, the process of technology development should enable African agency. The brief explores how AI and digital technologies can provide pathways to empower African communities, emphasising context-driven innovation and collaborative ap

Energy storage is key to both effective integration of renewable energy systems with the electricity grid, and accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). This brief discusses the technological trends in lithium-ion (Li-Ion) batteries, and assesses the energy storage needs of the Indian power and transportation sectors. It looks at the geographic distribution of lithium and cobalt in onshore and offshore locations across

Gender inequality is a major cause and effect of hunger and poverty, with women and girls comprising 60 percent of the global hungry. Women face multiple challenges (such as limited access to education and employment opportunities) that curtail their economic autonomy and weaken their bargaining position within the family, consequently impacting household food security. The pandemic has worsened this situation. It is crucial to apply a ge

The United Nations (UN) has recently been plagued by several crises—the COVID-19 pandemic, the Taliban’s return in Afghanistan, and the Ukraine war—that have tested its ability to deliver on humanity’s projects of peace and security, sustainable development, human rights, and humanitarian response. Indeed, its actions and inactions in the Ukraine war have triggered an existential dilemma. India must use this moment of creative destruction

Journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder has triggered a power struggle and the future of the ailing Saudi king and his overambitious son could be at stake.

The US has long grappled with the Taiwan issue. So far, its policy of ‘strategic ambiguity’ has deterred the use of force by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It is a moot question if this policy can be sustained to counter the PRC’s assertive military posture in the Taiwan Strait. The question before the US is whether it can deter an invasion and avoid a war with the PRC, simultaneously. The PRC is determined to seek reunification an

The technology revolution of the 20th century minimised the importance of geographical, economic, social and political barriers and reduced transaction and information costs thus boosting productivity and growth, making governance more transparent and empowering the citizen. It propelled not only democracy, but also the market economy. Its impact on social relations, especially on gender relations, was significant, with the commodification of lab

Global geopolitics is in a state of intense flux. China’s rise has led to greater competition in the international system, with the United States and the post-War global order coming under increasing challenge. China’s high economic growth rate in the past several decades has meant bigger military budgets. In turn, its military rise threatens security in the Indo-Pacific region where China seeks to dominate, from the Himalayas to South China

When the United Kingdom (UK) releases the highly anticipated integrated review of its foreign, defence, security and development policy in March, it will mark the first formal iteration of the UK’s Indo-Pacific strategy. This brief explores the dynamics that are driving the UK’s tilt to the Indo-Pacific. It identifies three key drivers that are prompting the shift: a reappraisal of China, the economic fallout of Brexit, and the UK’s close t

Afghanistan has eroded US power and credibility. A transactional America will now encounter transactional friends

By the very nature of the two-decades-old ethnic war and the stalled peace process in Sri Lanka, the week-end LTTE proposals falls short of the doomsdayer¿s predictions. Or, so would it seem. For starters, it confines itself to an interim administration, without formally seeking status and powers of a sovereign State, starting with legitimacy for the LTTE¿s military wing,

Much needs to be done and our destination is still several countries away — the 73 million Indians living in extreme poverty today add up to more than the populations of Thailand, France and the UK.

While the supreme leader is there for life (or till he chooses to retire), the president is limited to two four-year terms, defining where the balance of power rests between them

The demand for an Asian NATO remains negligible in Southeast Asia. This is because most countries are convinced that a multilateral security architecture will only elevate regional insecurities, and make them subservient to great power contestations

Amidst all the fuss surrounding Trump’s tariffs and counter-measures, it is too easy to forget an important and empowering idea — tariffs, ultimately, are what we make of them

The Narendra Modi government has been unabashed in changing India’s foreign policy trajectory in the three years it has been in power.

With the Delhi Durbar at its dysfunctional worst, power is flowing away from Delhi to State capitals, where some strong men and women are ruling. India's external partners tend to see this with much greater clarity than the domestic observers of Delhi's current listlessness.

India, which hosts Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations later this month, must come to terms, like the rest of the region, with Tokyo's determination to shape the Asian security order. After he returned to power a year ago, Abe has set about transforming Japan's military strategy.

The turbulent history of the civil aviation sector and the threat of a bumpy future given its current situation are not good for the economy or the image of India as a rising economic power through private entrepreneurship.

This paper examines the environmental and policy-level challenges to the actualisation of US-India counterterrorism cooperation. Indeed, despite their seeming convergence on the imperative of effective counterterrorism, there has been limited cooperation between the two countries. While the US’ sense of “American exceptionalism” and its hegemon status purports a utilitarian notion of the adversary, India’s regional power status makes its

The pace of Indian infrastructure building along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) bordering China has historically been slow due to financial and doctrinal constraints, but has accelerated in the past 20 years. Construction has become more efficient owing to bureaucratic changes and the infusion of greater financial resources. This paper attributes these changes to strategic compulsions brought about by Chinese actions—both diplomatic and on-th

The Saudi monarchy is facing challenges on many fronts but will brazen it out, fully confident of the unstinted support of its powerful patrons in Washington. Some changes, however, may occur in the Saudi government as a sop to the growing clamour for accountability.

How South Asian countries will cope with the Trump administration, even as they balance China and India, is yet to be seen

Emerging developments in Turkey–India relations suggest that New Delhi is gaining more relevance in Turkey’s Asia policy than before. This brief argues that Turkey’s interest in shaping a new approach to India is a function of Ankara’s evolving foreign policy under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s AKP (the Justice and Development Party), which has sought to expand the country’s relations with emerging powers. While the scope of Turke

Major powers compete among themselves in shoring up their global heft and capabilities, as developing world is struggling to cope with consequences

The changing distribution of power and the Chinese challenge to US primacy demands that countries like India and Australia bear larger responsibility for security. The future of the Indo-Pacific can't be tied solely to the twists and turns of the dynamic between Washington and Beijing.

Among the estimated 1.3 billion people across the world who have no access to electricity, 70 percent are women. This brief discusses the impact of energy poverty on India’s rural women. As women are primarily responsible for securing food and energy for their family, they are the ones who are worst affected by the lack of access to clean and modern energy. The brief calls for a more holistic approach in research and policymaking on energ

Various explanations have been proffered for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s renewed emphasis on ideology. The popular narratives attribute it to either Xi’s power ambitions, or a reaction rooted in his personal trauma during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. Meanwhile, an alternative discourse projects the rise of ideology politics as a response to a possible legitimacy crisis facing the Communist Party of China (CPC). This paper weighs i

In the last five years, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has undergone a massive transformation and is today the country’s most formidable political force. The party won the 2014 general election with a convincing majority under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who assumed power in May 2014. It is in power in 20 states, either on its own or with its allies. This rise can be attributed to various factors, including the party leader

If the government is serious about the empowering aspects of the Uniform Civil Code, it is imperative that the minority scepticism is assuaged. Clubbed together with contentious issues like Ram Mandir and abrogation of Article 370, and in the absence of a draft, the UCC becomes nightmare for the minorities.