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India’s attempts at strengthening its intelligence infrastructure and capabilities have historically been reactive and incremental, rather than holistic and sustainable. This was seen, for instance, in the aftermath of the Kargil War, and following the terror attacks on Mumbai in November 2008. India has rarely undertaken proactive reforms and done little to implement corrective measures subsequent to these crises. This brief offers recommendat

This brief examines the silent “water war” being waged in India in the form of conflicts over two opposing paradigms in water governance: the reductionist, colonial engineering paradigm, and the emerging, holistic paradigm of integrated water governance. The brief highlights the paradigm debate at the global scale, and outlines the canons of the integrated approach, contrasting it with the reductionist approach using examples in India. It mak

Energy transitions in developing economies like India are complex processes involving substantial financial and technological resources as well as appropriate innovation. These transitions are central to the climate debate, where emphasis is placed on increasing the share of renewables in the energy mix to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change. This paper examines the historical attributes of energy transition and finds various critical

The role of legitimacy in India’s approach to the doctrine of the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P) and Humanitarian Interventions (HIs) has not received as much attention as it is due. The following paper evaluates India’s evolving views on R2P and HIs through the prism of legitimacy. It also demonstrates why the outcome of an HI, whether through the medium of the R2P or otherwise, matters as much as motives. Most Indian debates about R2

The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 (caused by the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2) has exposed glaring gaps in India’s domestic laws. Absent a rationally structured legislation to fall back on, the Union government in March advised states to invoke the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 to tackle the pandemic in their jurisdictions. The 123-year-old colonial law, however, does not even define what a disease is, let alone an epidemic or a pandemic. Ind

The moves are to reduce India’s strategic vulnerability, but there are issues that need to be resolved

Many developing countries have transformed themselves from recipients into aid donors. Foreign aid donor tag is no longer exclusive to developed economies.

is paper formulates an analytical framework to assess the impacts of India's Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) on commodity value chains. Existing academic literature have relied on examining Balance of Payments (BoP) to assess the impact of FTAs. is paper views such methodology as reductionist, and instead oers alternative lenses of the impacts on the commodity value chain. is paper brings into fold the concerns for the wellbeing of various stakehold

Aspiring to become a US$30-trillion economy by 2047, surrounded by hostile nations, and leading the idea of multipolarity in a bipolar world, India needs to articulate a grand strategy that has been missing in its statecraft. With the necessary conditions for such an endeavour in place, it is time for Bharat, under Narendra Modi’s third term as prime minister, to thread the three core aspects of executing such a grand strategy: articulating the

Over the past few years, there is noticeable amongst India watchers an inescapable feeling of disappointment at what has been seen as a perceptible rolling back of many of the much vaunted reforms that had been the face of the country's efforts to integrate with world energy markets through the turn of the century. With an import dependence of over 70%, and increasing with each passing year, the petroleum sector had been the obvious choice to mov

The Iran sanction waiver issue is just the latest manifestation of New Delhi’s rising challenge in managing ties with Tehran.

Various vaccine trials across the world are showing highly promising efficacy, and multiple vaccines are getting approved across continents. The global vaccine race has now entered its second phase, where countries try and procure as many doses of Covid-19 vaccines as possible. India has put its faith primarily in the vaccines of Oxford-AstraZeneca and Bharat Biotech-ICMR. It has also secured future stockpiles of Gamaleya and Novavax vaccines thr

The integration of Science, Technology and Innovation goals into national policies helps achieve sustained economic and social development. This brief examines the key parameters that govern the global and Indian innovation ecosystems: research investment, education policy, researcher density, publication output, number of patents registered, and the startup environment. It finds that certain elements are crucial in developing a robust strategic

The Integrated Defence Staff released the first-ever public joint doctrine for the Indian armed forces (JDIAF-2017) in April 2017. Absent a publicly articulated national security strategy, the joint doctrine presents important clues about what that strategy might be. This paper examines JDIAF-2017 in conjunction with other Indian military doctrines, public writings of leading Indian strategists, as well as foreign military doctrines and strategie

India introduced its e-tourist visa (eTV) policy in November 2014. Despite initially impressive results in terms of increased arrivals, there is no indication that such modest success will create a significant impact on tourism, or prove to be sustainable in the long run. This paper finds that the policy’s very design-and the various weaknesses in its modalities-make it less attractive to travelers, compared to the ‘traditional’ tourist

Lines of Credit (LOCs) are a widely used instrument in development cooperation, including for India. The projects funded by India’s LOCs attempt to achieve a trinity of objectives: economic benefits; effective project management and completion; and nurturing and enhancing diplomatic relationship and strategic interests with the partner countries. This brief explains how India’s LOCs function, and contextualises the performance of the

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.

Speculations are rife about India possibly inviting Australia for the next Malabar naval exercise—which COVID-19 has caused to be moved to 2021.[1] If true, this would represent a break from the past and signal a change in the Asian strategic environment. Over the past few years, India has consistently resisted including Australia in the exercise, despite the latter’s willingness. The only other time that Australia was included in the Malabar

The Western Indian Ocean Region (WIOR) is linked to India in several ways, yet it remains conspicuous in its absence from India’s foreign policy discourse. This lack of attention is now beginning to reverse as external players stake their geopolitical claims in the region. India has responded by reorienting its own nautical outlook towards WIOR and building friendly relationships with African countries that straddle the region. This bri

India seeks to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group with the objective of playing a more proactive role in the nuclear non-proliferation realm. Political issues remain, however, particularly with regard to its status outside the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. This brings to fore questions on the relationship between the Treaty and the Group with regard to their scope, mandate and membership. An assessment of prospective benefits

The country continues to face the sober reality of both rising threats and serious resource constraints.

China’s increasing activities in the Indo-Pacific have motivated India to embrace military logistics agreements with a wide variety of partners.

Global energy markets have battled continuous uncertainty over the past three years, disrupted first by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, and by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. India has been adept at navigating both these disruptions, using economic diplomacy to position itself favourably in the geopolitics of oil. New Delhi’s delicate balancing of its political relationship with both Washington DC and Moscow has been accompanied

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is facing pushback from a number of large donor countries due to the alleged involvement of some of its employees in the October 2023 attack on Israel. India’s contributions to the agency, meanwhile, remain stable. This brief examines the nature and significance of India’s financial commitment to the UN body.

The Indian prime minister’s national security credentials are poised to have benefits at the polls.

Despite the failure of the August 7 rocket launch, the ISRO appears to be taking a determined but prudent path for the future.

Our hypersonic Shaurya and canisterized Agni capabilities aim to preserve strategic deterrence and thus maintain stability

On Pakistan, India should be more willing to use conventional military options and call out Pakistan’s nuclear bluff

The security of nuclear and radiological materials is a critical global issue due to the growing number of existing and emerging threats in the nuclear domain. Within the broad domain of nuclear security, several challenges and threats—such as the physical protection of nuclear materials, insider threat, transportation security, and cyber threats—have raised concerns among governments and the international community. This report focuses on th

India’s micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) sector is a key driver of the country’s economic and social development by fostering entrepreneurship and generating substantial employment opportunities at comparatively lower capital costs. However, inadequate access to finance is one of the most crucial barriers to the sector’s growth. Recent developments in digital public infrastructure in India could present new solutions to boost MSM

Population relocations driven by economic reasons or caused by land speculation have led to people settling in peri-urban areas (or areas in the periphery of the urban). The in-migration of population and emergence of new activities is transforming such areas, as seen in changes in land use and occupational patterns, reduced farm activities, and growth of built structures. Inadequate planning and governance of peri-urban areas by local government

The United Nations Security Council has emerged as the key arena and barometer for evaluating the promise and progress of accommodating new, rising powers in the international system. The case of India provides one of the best examples of a rising power coming to terms with its increased power, role and expectations of itself and of other powers, great and small, in negotiating its place in the reformed Council as a permanent member. This paper b

‘Dogmas of Delhi’ mustn’t beat our ability to innovate and experiment  at the level  of big ideas

While the Modi government secured some notable gains during its time in office thus far, challenges lie ahead this year and beyond.

New Delhi is clearly making a push to expand its capabilities in the critical semiconductor industry.

China is a new entrant into the Indian Ocean, and there is a lot of concern over its development of ports and infrastructure and links with various countries. India must not overstate China's significance.

Once synonymous with inefficiency and slothfulness, India's public service delivery system is finally being overhauled and put on the path of reforms. Ironically, these reforms are being spearheaded by a set of state governments. This paper attempts to capture the key trends of this impressive development which has far reaching consequences for democracy and governance in the country.

The paper analyses small satellite activities within India in various institutions and identifies the opportunities as well as the gaps.

The Smart Cities Mission (SCM), launched in 2015, seeks to improve the quality of life in 100 cities and towns of India. Overall, its progress has been uneven, with many cities yet to achieve the desired levels of transformation. This report evaluates the first five years of the Mission, and draws lessons from its successes and failures. It discusses the physical and financial status of the projects taken up so far, and identifies the mos

India’s back-to-back moves to boost relations with Japan and Russia, particularly in security matters, appear to indicate it wants a bigger naval role in the contested South China Sea to counter a rising China. The reality is far different

The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 changed the strategic dynamics in the region. For India, the new regime and its attendant risks—especially the threat of terrorism—quickly put it in an unenviable position. This brief assesses India’s policy towards Afghanistan since August 2021. It will cover how India has articulated its Afghan policy, domestically and in multilateral organisations, and its incremental

The two countries need to pause and think through every step they take, lest they get caught in an unending cycle of conflict.

The security dimension of Chabahar is based on a preferential approach towards Indian interests rather than one based on exclusivity by Iran

Greater engagement with the Taliban will create new possibilities for India as other regional players such as China, Russia and Iran look for ways to step up their engagement

In the Trump 2.0 era, India’s pivot toward bilateral trade deals with trusted Western economies has become a necessity rather than a choice.