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An announcement meant to create ripples in the Indo-Pacific has created waves across the Atlantic. But this gives France and India an opportunity

A new submarine deal could bring back Germany as a major player in the Indian defense sector.

Accusing the US and the EU of practising double-standards, Russian Consul General in Chennai, Dr Nikolay A Listopadov, has said the interests of the EU and the US would be accepted as long as they did not come in the way of Russia's.

Given the past Sino-Russian relations the longevity of their entente is moot. Clearly, India is not entirely without options in this geopolitical competition, the only problem is to get New Delhi to play the game.

Russia’s growing footprints in Africa provide West African junta-led countries with an opportunity to recalibrate their foreign policy away from traditional western alliances as well as China. But in what ways does Moscow’s re-emergence in the region offer strategic options to these countries?

While the initiatives taken at the UN, including the draft code, could be viewed as a step forward, the clear differences in what the American and Russian sides seek to address through such a mechanism will remain a stumbling block.

Terrorism in Chechnya has three major trajectories ' first, the terrorist campaign of the Chechens and others who are a part of the international terrorist network and who derive legitimacy from Islamic fundamentalism and whose fight is not just against the alleged oppression of the Russian state, but also to establish Islamic rule in Chechnya and to facilitate its integration with the pan-Islamic world.

A single deft move in the 18th century secured the British empire in India many advantages over the advancing Russians. By sending five English dray horses along with a blue velvet upholstered coach to Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Lahore, upstream from Kutch, the British discovered that the Indus was navigable all the way up.

This brief analyses the similarities and differences between the weaponisation of oil and that of gas. Discourse around the weaponisation of energy has increased since 1973, after oil-producing Arab countries attempted to use oil to pressure Europe and the United States to abandon their military aid to Israel. The subject has received renewed interest following recent events, such as the energy tensions between the European Union and the Russian

Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine follows its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its continued direct support for separatist activities in eastern Ukraine, marking a new chapter in Moscow's geopolitical approach. China's response and its overt diplomatic, financial, and economic support for Russia was also noteworthy. This brief assesses the contours of the new geopolitical formation (the ‘DragonBear’, a term coined by this author)

Russia saw BRICS as an anti-Western grouping and it can be said that this Russian BRICS-view still persists. The main problem with this position is that BRICS was not crafted to be a foreign policy vehicle.

Despite sharing a close historical relationship based on the Soviet Union’s support during the 1971 Liberation War, Bangladesh had for long been out of the scope of Russia’s foreign policy priorities. This is best exemplified by the fact that no Soviet/Russian foreign minister had visited the country until September 2023. However, amid Western sanctions due to its war in Ukraine and tensions with the US, Russia is seeking to reinvigorate ties

The future of the Wagner Group, a private mercenary conglomerate linked to Russian foreign policy, is uncertain, raising questions about its global footprint.

The year 2022 saw the global economic outlook deteriorate amidst high inflation, fiscal tightening, and supply chain uncertainties arising from both the Russia-Ukraine war and the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), after expanding by some 5 percent in 2021, contracted in the first half of 2022. This brief makes a case for gender lens investing (GLI) as a means to boost women’s participation in economic act

The Indian public sphere is unlikely to engage comprehensively with the happenings in the run up to the Russian presidential elections. On the other hand, the Indian establishment will keenly follow political developments in Russia as the importance of the election outcome.

Despite multiple crises in Europe and the Middle East, the 2+2 strategic dialogue demonstrated that Washington has not entirely lost sight of what needs to be done in the Indo-Pacific.

Russian enmity with China had global consequences; so does their close friendship today. Both scenarios have an impact on India. Russia has been a long-time friend of India; it not only provided India arms to maintain formidable military profile, but also gave invaluable political support on a variety of regional issues. Transfer of military technology has been a key part of the Russian-Chinese relationship, both old & new.

Global trends are evolving rapidly and major powers are re-defining their ties with each other to match their contemporary requirements. In light of these trends, New Delhi will also have to be diplomatically nimble as it seeks to engage major powers more substantively.

The uncertainty and possible further disruptions in the defense supply chain out of Russia could accelerate India’s diversification and indigenization efforts.

What is the trajectory of Indo-Russian relations in the evolving world order?

The Chinese and Russians have replaced the US and the West as the lead singers in the international orchestra for Indo-Pak amity. Instead of telling them to mind their own business, Modi appears to have recognised that he can use the weight of Beijing and Moscow to facilitate India's engagement with Pakistan.

The relative calm in the major Russian cities was broken last November when a bombing attack derailed the Nevsky Express -- a high-speed train plying between Moscow and St Petersburg

For Mongolia, Russian investments & cooperation between the two nations create a more competitive market in Mongolia & reduce its dependence on Chinese exports

One of the collaterals of the 2G verdict of the Supreme Court, which saw the revocation of 21 of Sistema Shyam Telecom?s 22 licenses, could be the flickering and faint Russian Interest in Indian business opportunity.

Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure have been ramping up. But the impact of the recent US sanctions will only be felt if there is some long-term thinking behind this move

The Observer Research Foundation (ORF) was invited to put together a group from India for the Moscow conference by the Polity Foundation, one of the principal Russian organisers. ORF and Polity have had earlier contact and a bilateral event had been jointly organised by

The First Meeting of the ORF-Russia non-official Dialogue jointly organised by ORF and two Russian NGOs, Public Chamber of the Russian Federation and the Polity Foundation was held in Moscow in October 2007.

Modi's strategy to navigate the impossible trinity of US, China and Europe-Russia is clear. Engage with the US, Japan and Germany aggressively and integrate into their value chains. Keep expectations low but exchange lofty targets with the Chinese and the Russians.

Russia recently witnessed the re-election of its long-serving president. A constitutionally mandated term limit suggests this would be Vladimir Putin’s last presidential term. As Russia enters a period of power transition, it is likely that a number of political actors will become relevant during this phase. This brief looks at the groups that form the opposition—those operating within the formal institutions and the major players outside it�

The Indian President's presence at the 70th anniversary of the Allied victory in World War II in Russia on May 9 is in part about extending New Delhi's solidarity with Moscow at a time when many Western leaders have decided not to show up in protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin's policy in Ukraine.

Russian President Putin's Eurocentric approach and having a Europeanist as his primary foreign policy advisor seem to be impacting on his policy towards Asia. The clout that the Orientalists and Indologists once had in the Kremlin is well and truly gone, and the relationship is that much weaker for it.

The Russian President’s actions this week may yield tactical gains but hardly pass the test for strategic victory

Putin can now underline to the rest of the world how Russians are solidly behind his policies regardless how they seem to outsiders.

The mantra in Washington is that no deal is better than a bad deal. Realisation will soon dawn that the current situation only permits North Korea’s stockpile to grow as there is zero likelihood for Chinese and Russian support for further tightening of sanctions.

Moscow’s relevance to Delhi’s strategic calculus irks Washington

The war in Syria, the alleged use of chemical weapons by its President, Bashar al-Assad, a Russian ally, has turned out to be a perfect opportunity for Putin to reassert the role of Russia, 21 years after the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Despite efforts, Indo-Russian nuclear engagement has been limited, mainly because of two factors. One, there is an unstable status of legal framework for the transfer of nuclear technology and second, India's efforts to diversify nuclear partners have been a little upsetting for Russia.

The Syrian rebels are not back to square one, but to minus one. They have been outsmarted by the Assad regime, just as the Russians outsmarted the Americans.

This paper outlines the development of Russia’s relations with the countries of Southeast Asia, focusing on the years after 2014. As relations with the West reached a new post-Cold War low, Moscow has intensified its efforts at building stronger ties with the East. The paper deals with the impact of these developments on the state of its political, economic and defense engagement in Southeast Asia, both bilaterally and multilaterally. It will s

Russia has always been actively involved with European politics. Its genesis in Kiev—close to the European borders—allowed it to participate in the affairs of the continent. Although Russia’s geographic expanse has been more in Asia, Russian political elites have traditionally identified the country as a European entity. However, following attempts at integrating with the transatlantic economic and political system during the first decade o

Russia now controls about 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory (as of April 2025) following its invasion of the country in February 2022, having made major advances since mid-2023 after being initially pushed back by Ukrainian forces. This paper analyses Russia’s wartime adaptations—at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels—that have influenced battlefield outcomes in its favour. It argues that while Russia has suffered severe troop

The Russia-Ukraine war has raged for over 10 months now, and the expectation of an easy Russian walkover over Ukraine has been belied. The war is witnessing strong and determined resistance from the Ukrainian forces, with the support of Western countries through arms and other forms of aid, and sanctions against Russia. This report explores how sanctions are used in modern diplomacy and warfare, and their impact on the Ukraine war and the global

This paper looks at debates from the days of the British Raj until now that have shaped India's strategic thought on Afghanistan. It highlights the impact of India's territorial construct on its strategic imagination and argues that India's Afghan policy is determined by its political geography. Afghanistan has proved to be a security lynchpin in South and A Central Asia over the last two decades. Home to a variety of militant networks with regi

Stalin is no longer a bad name in Russia. Russian scholar Sergey Kurginyan says a recent opinion poll suggests that that "80% of the Russian population feel the peo ple were better off during the Soviet period."

On June 22, 2004, over 200 well-armed persons simultaneously raided three towns in the Ingushetia Republic of Russia, adjoining Chechnya, and attacked police stations, government buildings and checkpoints with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades. The Russian and the local security forces were totally taken by surprise. Ninety-five persons were killed, the majority of them members of the security forces and other Government officials,