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For Brazil, there are multiple opportunities within BRICS, not limited to the economic sphere. In many ways, the grouping brings Brazil from the left corner of the world map to the center, where the geopolitical theatre is most active; in Asia and the Indo-Pacific.

France and India have shared a common belief in the importance of multilateralism and have a common respect for international rules and regulations. These shared beliefs can form the basis for a cooperation agenda.

How have nuclear weapons affected Indian foreign policy? Has India been able to leverage its status as a nuclear weapons state to further its foreign policy objectives? This issue brief examines these questions by first analysing how India’s foreign policy objectives have been affected by its possession of nuclear weapons. It then posits two strategies that India can pursue to leverage its status as a nuclear weapons state. The first strategy d

China’s maritime economic initiative, the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) that is part of the larger One Belt One Road (OBOR), has been under considerable international focus recently. India, for its part, has remained non-committal despite China’s charmed offensive. However, with the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, both of which exclude the growing economies of I

Growing economic protectionism and recurrent geo-economic and geo-political tensions in recent years are testing the resilience of the global economic order. Erstwhile proponents of globalisation such as the United States and the European Union are themselves recoiling from the global value chains that are over-reliant on China. As the localisation of goods and services has become more critical, it calls to question the viability of a globalised

China’s failure to condemn the Ukraine war raised concerns on the future of the rules-based international order not only in the European Union (EU), but also in India and Taiwan. While their respective relationships with China and Russia are characterised by different complexities, the EU, India, and Taiwan are all vulnerable to authoritarian threats. All three recognise that China’s continued rise will have strategic implications for

Despite last year’s quadrilateral Malabar exercises and the recent announcement of new working groups, Quad cooperation on naval interoperability, critical technologies, and Covid-19 had been manifest previously.

As the Indo-Pacific region becomes an arena of strategic contestations, India and Australia’s interests are converging. Two large maritime states from two different continents, India and Australia were mutually indifferent for a long time. Today, however, their relationship is on the upbeat: not only is their bilateral trade on the rise, but they also have common concerns to balance an assertive China and uphold order in the region. By year-end

The next government must recognise that the Bay of Bengal is no longer a backwater but a strategic hub connecting the Indian and Pacific Oceans as well as China and the Bay of Bengal. Delhi must match its rhetoric on trans-border connectivity with much needed political will and administrative competence.

Macron has raised doubts about how serious France is when it comes to managing the negative externalities of China’s rise.

France has begun to pay serious attention to the Indo-Pacific region after a long time.

India’s plan for naval coalition building alone will not credibly deter China’s military power in the Indian Ocean

India has been understanding of the Maldivian government’s new policy, but it expects the island nation to respect Indian sensitivities and equally uphold its commitment to bilateral ties

New entrants in the Indo-Pacific offer both opportunities and challenges for outer space.

The US has provided financial and military support to Ukraine since 2014, when Russia took control of Crimea, and more firmly since February 2022, when the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war began. Indeed, US military, political, and strategic support to Ukraine is crucial to Kyiv as the conflict continues. For the Biden administration, aid to Ukraine is a vital principle on which his party politics hinges; it is a critical pathway to rebuild transatlant

India’s geography lends itself favourably to the cultivation and expansion of maritime ties. Yet, for much of the country’s contemporary history, the country has overlooked these opportunities. As the world reengages with its vast ocean spaces, India too, has become more willing and capable of participating in the maritime domain. This paper outlines the evolution of the country’s maritime outlook as it shifts its largely continental-orient

The Indo-Pacific, often regarded as the ‘maritime underbelly’ of Asia, has emerged as the world’s economic “centre of gravity”. The home of vast geo-economic opportunities, and facing manifold security challenges at the same time, this maritime domain has attracted the keen attention of global powers in recent years. This births prospects for multilateral collaborations in maritime security, and justifies the significance of a �

In recent years, the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of the South-West Indian Ocean (SWIO) region have emerged as vital security and developmental partners in the geopolitics of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR)—thereby gaining prominence in India’s foreign policy priorities. This paper examines India’s bilateral and multilateral engagement with the SIDS of the SWIO region, and argues that India should consider the concerns of the

During a lecture on 'Japan's foreign policy: Strategy and practice', Japan's Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Akitaka Saiki reiterated the Japanese position that the security issues in the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, the South China Sea and East China Sea cannot be treated separately.

There is merit in collaborating with Indo-Pacific partners in the islands, but it will entail information-sharing too

New Delhi’s approach to Southeast Asia within the wider Indo-Pacific region is strategically sound but has limits.

Ties between India and Japan are historical and enduring. In the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC), the leaders of the two countries have married their respective countries’ “Act East” Policy and “Free and Open Indo Pacific” aspirations. The AAGC is envisioned to provide a renewed opportunity for partnership where both regions can complement each other’s development and growth.  The AAGC will bring out the economic gains for Afr

Six months in office, Narendra Modi has set a scorching pace, but mainly in the area of foreign policy. He has undertaken eight foreign trips, of which six were to the Asia-Pacific region. And, there can be little doubt that the subtext of his visits to nine countries has been China.

No longer just a balancer, the prime minister wants to make India a major power in its own right. And his cabinet pick shows he’s serious about doing so.

Other than neighbouring countries, any future Indian government's principal focus will be on the vast swathe that begins in Sri Lanka and ends in Sydney, and can be described under a variety of rubrics: Look East, Indian Ocean Region, the Indo-Pacific. Countries such as Japan, Indonesia and Singapore present India big windows as it strives to become an economic and maritime power.

Canberra and New Delhi look at each other as vital partners playing critical roles in maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.

How can Asia’s democracies bring the Indo-Pacific to life?

As India reconfigures its China policy with the Indo-Pacific at its core, India-Russia ties won’t be able to escape this strategic reality

Our 20 most–read commentaries this year.

The India-Japan partnership has matured into an important component of the new security and economic architecture of the Indo-Pacific region. For a long time, the partnership was centered on economic matters. But it has diversified to cover a wide spectrum of interests including security, counter terrorism, sea-lanes, UN reforms, energy security and climate change.

The Philippines continues to be embroiled in the overarching regional dynamics of Southeast Asia influenced by the intensifying power competition between its traditional ally, the United States and its largest immediate neighbour, China. Such geopolitical configurations have put significant pressure on the current administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to steer the Philippines through turbulent waters. Thi

As natural calamities in the Indian Ocean Region become more frequent, India’s regional security role is likely to grow.

For a nation such as India, which is among the countries most affected by terrorism, this is a time to take the lead in continuing to keep the spotlight on the menace of terrorism

What the US gets wrong – and India gets right – about the Indo-Pacific

National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon on March 5 released the book "Samudra Manthan: Sino-India Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific", authored by Dr. C. Raja Mohan, Head of the Strategic Affairs Programme of Observer Research Foundation.

Obama's China policy, motivated by an increasing level of interdependence, will involve constructive engagement with China. However, simultaneously, the US will also seek to ensure that their image of being a great power in Pacific-Asia does not change, according to US scholar Prof. Ronald W. Pruessen.