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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 a sovereign nation; is it digitally sovereign, too? This paper examines the degree to which India is self-reliant in electronic hardware. After all, for a country to be self-reliant in the information age, it has to either attain indigenous capability in electronic manufacturing and services or be equipped to protect data and mitigate the threats associated with supply chain vulnerabilities. This paper refers to self-reliance in electron

India needs to consider the political and military consequences of a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan and formulate a policy to support Taiwan's freedom

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?

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.

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.

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.

As Myanmar moves forward, there is an opportunity for India to strengthen its traditional links, create new links and increase its presence. But to do this, India should "change its mindset" about Myanmar, says leading journalist Dr. Bharat Bhushan after a visit to the country.

India’s choices over the past few decades haven’t moved beyond issuing demarches, summoning ambassadors and relying on the benevolence of others.

Trump's return raises questions about his China policy, offering India a chance to attract investment amid U.S.-China tensions.

India should be prepared to face the prospects of unending jihadi attacks not only in Kashmir but also in any part of the country. Eternal vigilance is the price India has to pay.

Following the Wikileaks, now one can draw the conclusion that Pakistan would never give up supporting the terror groups like the LeT and would use them for creating problems for India, at least in Jammu and Kashmir.

Indian growth over the last three decades has been largely consumption driven, but consumption has been hit by lockdown.

India's external balance is changing fast with new equations being worked out. We need to set our house in order - refurbish our political apparatus, rebuild the crumbling state of our institutions and reorient and revamp our governance capacities.

No matter who says so, there is no urgency for us to talk to a neighbour who does not believe in behaving like a neighbour.

We can’t match China’s financial heft but we can leverage our cultural connect with Sri Lanka to strengthen ties

Considering India's vast energy needs and demand for natural gas, India should push to frame the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline as a trilateral project once more. The thaw in the Iran-US relations could possibly encourage India to increase its engagement with Iran. Also, India has shown signs in recent months of being open, once again, to engaging with Pakistan.

India should invest more and invest it where it matters in Afghanistan to strengthen its presence and influence in a country which is struggling valiantly to initiate a process of nation-building against extreme odds.

China’s domestic debates throw light on issues behind the LAC crisis and also hold a lesson for India — to recognise and leverage its increasing strategic value to China

Indian interests in the Persian Gulf region are paramount. That is from where India gets 70% of its oil, and where seven million of Indian citizens labour and send back remittances of around USD 35 billion per annum.

The Maldives preferres a multilateral regional approach to ensuring security in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) that is collaborative, rules-based and inclusive.

Shockingly, some campaigns are being led by people who are camouflaging their murderous rhetoric by wearing the saffron robes of Hindu renunciants. Last month, the theme of many speeches at a religious conclave in Haridwar was the need to ‘finish off’ Muslims. It would be easy to ignore this as the ranting of fringe Hindutva elements, but it’s no longer clear whether they are the fringe or the vanguard.

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.

To share and benefit from development data, it must be accessible, of high-quality, and offered in real time. India at the helm of G20 has much to offer as this will build on principles governing PM Modi’s Digital India initiative

Even if we go by the Financial Times' FDI figure, let's remember that having low FDI inflows for a year or half a year does not mean much. China has received, on average, $100 billion per year in the last decade compared to India's annual $20 billion figure. The best way to compare is looking at the per-capita FDI stock, which is $691 for China compared to $181 for India in 2013.

A presidential visit underlines the continuing salience of Africa in India’s foreign policy matrix.

Obsolescence and numeric deficits in the Indian arsenal are a result of a host of factors, from planning to procurement processes. The blame game is easy within defence establishments as any stakeholder can accuse the other without much accountability.

Central Asia, which is seen by India as a potential region to explore its wider energy options in the form of hydrocarbons, hydro-electric power and uranium reserves, is apparently slipping out of its hands largely due to the energy stance of other countries.

With government overshooting its fiscal deficit target for the current financial year by a larger margin simply spending more and more might well hurt

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.

There is a chance of breaking China's hegemony in Central Asia, particularly with respect to its energy harvest, which it has consolidated.

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.

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.

With trade wars and financial realignments looming, India's success in this evolving landscape will depend on its ability to balance collaboration with autonomy

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 Hits and Misses in the Neighbourhood in 2025

S Jaishankar’s visit to the Philippines from the Quad summit also showcased India’s willingness to more proactively shape the strategic contours of the Indo-Pacific

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.

India has made a push towards a low carbon economic transition by expanding its renewable energy capacity by 350% over the past 13 years.

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.

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.

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.