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India may have a geopolitical interest in the South China Sea area, but it is driven by an economic need. India must make its presence felt and pursue its engagements in the area. This in turn will involve a continued effort to cooperate and collaborate with the Southeast Asian nations.

India launched its economic reforms 25 years back. Looking back, it seems if Dr Manmohan Singh's dream team had continued with the reforms during Singh's premiership, India would not have to lose a decade. Then India would have reaped the breakthrough benefit.

Noting that India, Bangladesh and Nepal are transiting poor economies, Jayshree Sengupta, Senior Fellow, ORF, says there is an urgent need to focus on holistic development in these countries and enhanced connectivity between them to improve economic relations.

The security architecture in maritime Asia along with the rise of China is compelling India to define its strategic interests and review its maritime policy. And it is only a matter of time before New Delhi acknowledged the changing dynamics within its area of maritime interests.

As a country committed to social objectives, Indian policy makers consider the allocation of commercial forms of energy too important to be left entirely to the market. India¿s mistrust of the market arises from social and commercial concerns that are entirely justifiable, but the multitude of administrative mechanisms introduced to replace the market mechanism often work at cross-purposes.

Billions of dollars in FDI have been assured to India thanks to Prime Minister Modi's successful foreign tours. However, there also has to be real technology transfer that spills over to the local economy. Only then, Modi's dream of FDI as 'First Development India' can be fulfilled.

India's former National Security Advisor M K Narayanan thinks that the country's external relations are set to undergo a sea change. "The first half of the 21st Century will be a soft period, but as time progresses, things will not be so smooth," he cautions.

The defining moment in India's international relations did not occur when Delhi voted with the US and its allies on Iran on the IAEA board. The real watershed in India's foreign policy occurred in May 1998,

The foreign policy of the Modi government is the continuation of the foreign policies introduced by the Manmohan Singh government, whose hallmark was the concrete decision to link India's economic transformation and growth of India with its foreign policy approach and objectives, says Dr. Shashi Tharoor.

The primary task of India's foreign policy is to ensure an external environment that is conducive to the country's transformation and development.What are the issues and what kind of foreign policy would enable us to eradicate poverty, to grow at 8-10 percent and to transform India into a moderately well off State where our people can realize their potential? You can question the goal, but if you accept these as the goals, you end up with three c

An increasingly global strategic outlook from India will impact U.S. foreign policy in significant ways. A conference co-hosted by ORF and the Heritage Foundation examined the issues involved and the interplay between India's economic path and its global strategic outlook.

Despite China becoming India's biggest trading partner in 2011, the bilateral trade has seen a downward trend since then, with 2013 registering a 1.5% decline. The current trade deficit with China stands at $ 31.42bn. Alarming levels of deficit has now cast a shadow on the once flourishing trade.

India's GSLV launch is significant both from the commercial and strategic perspectives. In addition to the large number of domestic satellites ready to be launched using the heavier launch vehicle, a successful launch will also mean India's ability to cash in on the large lucrative foreign satellite launch market.

Not having a focused national health policy and leaving it to the states to take care of this serious issue is not going to improve India's health profile or indicators. This is already evident in the growing number of diseases that make seasonal rounds in all cities and towns.

Political rhetoric on India's leadership in the Indian Ocean isn't matched by the facts on the ground.

New Delhi must stand committed to its rhetoric on the Freedom of Navigation (FON) and to defend its interests should the need arise. This in turn would involve deepening naval cooperation with the key countries of the ASEAN and major powers sharing India's interest in defending the principle of FON.

Advani's most memorable quote: "You were asked only to bend, but you crawled" holds good today, as much as it did in 1975. Through the UPA regime, it was manifested in the absence of criticism of Sonia Gandhi, and now it is in the free ride that Narendra Modi gets.

Following up with the SIPRI-ORF-SWF seminar in New Delhi earlier this year, the Secure World Foundation organised a panel discussion in Washington on "India's Military Space Efforts and Regional Security Considerations".

India's decision to go for the European option in the 42000 crores MMRCA deal is going to hurt India in politico-strategic terms compared to any possible significant gains. Not just numerical superiority and costs but more importantly the strategic benefits should have been the guiding factors in making the decision on MMRCA.

For India's current administration, beset with corruption scandals, letting technical merits alone determine the MMRCA decision was probably the politically easiest choice. But its strategic merits are somewhat less clear.

Behind the Navy's success is project management. The managing directors of all the key shipyard are retired navy officers. Some, but not all, of these officers are engineers. Indeed, it is not their engineering skills that matter in the job they are doing, but their managerial abilities.Having served the Navy for a long time, they have considerable knowledge of the user's requirements, as well as the ability to manage large work teams.

At moments like this in Delhi, of political surrealism and bizarre events, it is worth turning to Robert Greene's "The 48 Laws of Power". Greene describes how politicians and leaders elsewhere in the world and, in history, had conducted themselves.

The talk on India's participation at the Nuclear Suppliers Group has initiated a discourse on the future of the Group, with particular reference to the Group's relationship with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

India's diluted version of the 'No First Use' nuclear doctrine makes an already dangerous security situation in South Asia more dangerous still. Everyone would be better off if the government did away with it.The problem is that no political group currently has the wherewithal to try to fix these ambiguities.

MoEF, on the one hand, abruptly enforces the 'no-go' rule on 203 coal blocks with a potential output of 660 million tonne of coal per annum, jeopardising power generation, while on the other, it talks about developmental needs taking precedence over environmental and safety concerns when it comes to nuclear power plants.

India's obsession with Pakistan is making it overlook its relationship with other neighbours, observed Bangladesh scholar Rounaq Jahan during a discussion on Bangladesh at Observer Research Foundation.

While India is preparing to give up one of the blocks it has been drilling in, it has no intention of abandoning its search for oil and natural gas in the South China Sea.

While India has been mature in assuaging the concerns of Bangladesh on issues like the shooting of Bangladeshis by the BSF, policymakers should still reach out to other political actors so as to ensure that there's a genuine and sustainable improvement in bilateral relations.

The Indian Government's ratification on June 23 of the IAEA Additional Protocol, which is essentially a component of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, will allow the international nuclear body to monitor India's civilian nuclear programme with ease.

The quest for a permanent seat is another challenge altogether. There is little appetite for UN reform in the international system, and there is no one big driver. Certainly, the US, without the support of which India cannot make it to the high table, has no interest in it right now.

Though India is yet to demonstrate anti-satellite test capability, as China did in January 2007, the scientific establishment has made it amply clear that they have the technological blocks ready should there be a political decision to do so.

Alexander of Greece, the Scythians, Genghis Khan, Mahmud Ghazni (17 times), Mohammed Ghori, Timur the Lame and the Mughals, among others, all invaded India through the Khyber Pass. But, like it is said of the Bourbons of France, though we forgot nothing, we learnt nothing.

Given the centrality of the Indian Ocean to its national security, it is time for India to leverage existing and emerging multilateral platforms to engage deeply with partner countries and take on a greater leadership role in the Indian Ocean Region.

If India were able to sustain the launches of remote sensing satellites as per the plans, it would significantly beef up its ability to deliver services, products and other inputs in the field of climate, cartography and agriculture.

The most important reason for Sri Lankan government's failure to move on reconciliation is the incapacity to work positively with moderate Tamil forces, according to Prof Rajiva Wijesinha, M.P. And in reaching out to Tamil parties, India's role is crucial.

It's now a battle to the finish. The amazing diversity of the digital world is seen as a threat by a coterie of bureaucrats who are going all out to annihilate it.

As in Nepal, in India too, the Maoists have been waging a People's War in 13 States of the Indian Union. Indian policy-makers and media refrain from calling them Maoists, possibly due to a fear that characterising them as Maoists might create negative perceptions of China in the minds of the public, at a time when the relations between the two countries are improving.

Though the importance of the Maritime Silk Route, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, is laid on promoting greater economic integration and boosting connectivity through the Indian Ocean, the strategic significance of such a project cannot be underestimated.

Narendra Modi seems serious about building 100 smart cities. Just look at how the port city of Dholera in Gujarat is shaping up. It's might as well become an emblematic talisman of how a few handpicked men and women can build a new urban India at breakneck speed.

In June 2015 the Modi government launched the Smart Cities Mission, a major urban development initiative designed to improve living conditions and achieve higher economic growth in 100 cities across the country. The Mission offers the State and city governments yet another opportunity to think creatively and work towards the betterment of their cities. Will India succeed in this venture, and would the future 'smart cities' be equitable and sustai

India needs to embrace the idea of soft power, and abandon the misconception that 'soft' power somehow equates to a soft country, says Ms Mira Kamdar, a noted author. She believes there is hope, since the Indian people are not taking injustices lying down.