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After last summer’s clashes with China, New Delhi may finally be ready to leave ambiguity behind—and side with the West.

India's online population is small as compared to its offline population - about 213 million users to 1.2 billion people - but it is growing. Though these figures expand and contract depending on whom you ask, we do know that 33 million are on Twitter and Facebook has hit the 100 million-user mark.

For New Delhi, the pressure from an unrelenting China is pushing India farther away — and leading it to deepen its security partnerships.

This episode illustrates the danger facing Indian foreign policy from domestic political developments, increasingly centered on religious conflict.

The recent brutal gang rape in Delhi is not just significant for its violence against women in India, it is also a commentary on the country coming of age, of our desire to move forward, and of our resolve to treat what ails our society.

The Navy needs a strategy of distant power projection. By employing a plan for sustained presence in the Western Pacific, New Delhi can show its resolve to Beijing.

Professor Joseph Nye,Dean, John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, who visited ORF recently, gave an e-mail Interview to Dr. Harinder Sekhon, Senior Fellow, on US foreign policy trends, especially in West Asia and the future of Indo-US relations.

There is a significant difference between the texture of the relationship that the US enjoys with other democracies like UK, Germany, France and Japan, and the one it has with India. And neither are we able to cash in on it to the extent the Chinese and the Pakistanis managed.

India's interests in Nepal have been to protect its own security, and that Nepal should have no doubt about its role there. This was observed during an interaction between a Nepali-media delegation and Indian scholars at ORF on 16 August.

Going into a winning war is easy but wading into uncertain waters to safeguard vital interests is the true test of realpolitik. That is why India's Afghan gambit must be gutsy and counterintuitive.

Taking part in the discussion on his new book "Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years", Mr A.S. Daulat, a former Advisor to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said there have been troubling signs in the Kashmir Valley, such as a number of disappearances and the radicalisation and training of certain sections of youth.

From Europe, India is viewed as a balancing power in terms of the economy and global harmony, according to Dr. Medgyessy, former Prime Minister of Hungary. He says India is ideologically closer to Europe and the US than the other BRICS countries.

The case for India’s membership to the APEC is not as sound as it seems at first glance. Two gaps exist that must be squared away by both India and existing APEC member economies.

If Obama's mandate is any guide, America is about to move to a softer, more socialised capitalist framework in which the people's welfare will be at the centre of policymaking. In a sense, America may be heading the European way in terms of pursuing social market policy.

The global shortage in semiconductors that occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, resulted in heavy losses for many economic sectors. The fragility of the supply chain and the innate dependencies within, have made semiconductor collaboration essential to maintain the industry’s efficiency. This brief examines how semiconductors have become a fulcrum for building potential technology alliances. It outlines ongoing diplomatic initiatives

This brief seeks to apply ancient Indian strategic thought in the study of the country’s contemporary maritime relations. It argues that India should shift its maritime strategy from a largely continental posture to one that focuses on the country’s maritime mandala. Using concepts from the ancient Indian political treatise, Arthashastra, this brief contends that a “return of history” via the Indo-Pacific, and re-emerging multipolarity, r

The Manmohan Singh government has placed high stakes on a new diplomatic breakthrough with Bangladesh, and therefore should constantly look for ways to top up cooperation for fear of reviving Sheikh Hasina's retrograde opponents

Has India’s free trade agreement with the 10-member Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) spurred India Inc.’s globalising drive eastwards? This region, after all, has recently emerged as a major destination for investments from Japan – which is widening its options due to its conflicts with China – and the US, with its so-called ‘pivot to Asia’. India’s Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with ASEAN, which kicked off in January 20

New infrastructure built by India in Mauritius demonstrates New Delhi’s commitment to cementing its security presence in the IOR.

India supports freedom of speech and expression in Internet. But, security is equally important to India, and terrorism is a huge problem. Therefore, a secure architecture should recognise the role that the state can play, says the Indian Minister for Communication and Technology.

The launch is certainly a major mark on India’s space programme, offering an appropriate closing to a tumultuous period in ISRO’s history.

Unless India accelerates the pace of the physical border infrastructure build-up, New Delhi will face serious difficulties in any future confrontation with China.

The Jammu and Kashmir problem has imposed heavy political, diplomatic and military costs on India for the last 63 years. It has excessively conditioned our external relations, with much of our diplomacy occupied over the years with explaining to other countries our position on J&K, warding off criticism,

Around the world, nuclear energy has taken a back seat because of the risks that reactors bring with them.

Putting New Delhi and Beijing in the same bracket as drivers of South-South Cooperation is incorrect

The naval arm of the nuclear triad is especially significant for India given its no-first use (NFU) nuclear posture.

Worse, by attacking the social fabric of the country, the Hindutva groups are laying the ground for greater insecurity in the future.

With India voting in favour of the anti-Sri Lanka resolution at the UN Human Rights Council, Delhi finds itself in a precarious position in Colombo vis-à-vis Beijing. Worse, it's likely to make the lives of Tamils more difficult in the island nation.

Beyond personalities and politics, there is one basic question we need to ask ourselves: Why even 66 years after independence, is New Delhi's influence in its region shrinking instead of expanding?

India simply cannot afford to alienate the government in Male given China's growing reach. The President of Maldives was in China in October last year when Beijing announced a $500-million economic assistance for it. New Delhi views Maldives as central to the emerging strategic landscape in the Indian Ocean.

India is quite advanced in refugee protection as compared to many signatories of the 1951 Refugee Convention, according to chief of mission of the UNHCR, India. Even when refugee protection comes into odds with national security, India has managed to provide social security, education and medical security.

Having indicated his intention to increase gas pipeline network infrastructure by 15,000 kilometers, making it almost double existing capacity, India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has certainly raised an intellectual argument among oil and gas stalwarts: What should be India's priority - gas or gas grid?

The fourth India-Bangladesh Security Dialogue, organised by ORF in association with the BEI, Dhaka, stressed on the need for the Indian government to be more proactive in the promotion of its ties with Bangladesh.

It would be difficult to graft something like the U.S. system on to the Indian system. Yet, clearly the time has come when Mizoram and Nagaland also have a say in India's Myanmar policy, instead of merely having to bear its consequences.

COVID-19 is the flash point which can tip us over the edge. But it was always touch and go. India needs a reset towards resilience.

There is a need for a strong foreign policy, particularly with regard to the India's immediate neighbourhood, according to a former secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs.

Indian agriculture cannot afford to rely on unsustainable ways. Sustainable agriculture, which applies less pressure on natural resources, is the need of the hour.

Absence of a national climate change adaptation strategy is hampering India's climate change mitigation efforts, opined experts and stakeholders while speaking at a seminar on 'Supporting Climate Resilient Development in India' in Kolkata on April 23.

Mr. Sanjay Bhattacharya, Joint Secretary (South), Ministry of External Affairs, says "the need of the hour is an enhanced Look East Policy that is more in time with the current global setting".

Security expert Ashley Tellis recommends upgrading India's aircraft carrier with US systems to counter the Chinese in the Indian Ocean. But does India face a credible enough Chinese threat and does it really need new systems?

Banking to be inclusive would require greater financial literacy and gender equality. All banks should include women, especially poorer ones, in their financial services. Perhaps later on, more banking licences would be granted, perhaps even to big industrial groups.

For formulating an effective China policy, India needs scholars well versed in Chinese language and culture who should be able to understand and appreciate the Chinese style of diplomacy to foster better synergy and cooperation between the two countries.