Gateway Features
BRICS after the New Delhi Summit
Courtesy: Reuters / Yonhap News Agency
Through the prism of accepted parameters, the 18th Summit of BRICS, held in New Delhi on September 12-13, has been a notable success. The leaders’ attendance was at the highest level. Their participation was proactive and constructive. Protocol and logistics were excellent. Above all, the New Delhi Declaration is a comprehensive outcome document adopted unanimously on Day 1, and India’s Chairship has been praised by the BRICS family. The question now is, where does the BRICS go from here? How read more
Modi-Xi: Balancing, Not Reset
Courtesy: South China Morning Post
After much suspense over the impending visit to India, Chinese President Xi Jinping finally arrived in New Delhi on Saturday, 12 September after a gap of seven years. He last visited India in October 2019 for an informal bilateral summit. Although that visit was only for 24 hours, it sent a strong signal that despite a deeply adversarial relationship, New Delhi and Beijing were keeping all channels of communication open to discuss the contentious issue of a disputed border. The read more
Russia-China trade ties grow amid sanctions
Courtesy: Global Times
At the Sept 1-4 annual Eastern Economic Forum in the Russian Pacific port of Vladivostok, Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov announced that Russia-China bilateral trade grew by 22% in the first half of 2026 and exceeded $135 billion. Bilateral trade had fallen by 6.9% in 2025 after a record high of $245 billion a year earlier, on account of a reduction in the value of Chinese crude imports from Russia and a fall in Russian imports of Chinese read more
Tilak and Swaraj
Courtesy: Nikhil Bagul
Ganesh Chaturthi festivities have begun in Mumbai and will continue until 25th September, when Ganesha, the Divine Remover of Obstacles and Mumbai’s favourite God, is immersed in the sea. The festival, promoted by freedom fighter Bal Gangadhar Tilak, is traditionally strongly associated with Mumbai and Maharashtra, but has now become a pan-India celebration. This year, Ganesh Chaturthi coincides with the 170th birth anniversary of Tilak, one of the foundational figures in the Indian freedom movement against the British Raj and read more
Research
India and Indonesia have a comprehensive strategic relationship built on their ancient and modern histories, and a flourishing relationship sustained by trade, economic exchange and people-to-people contact. The India-Indonesia Track 1.5 Dialogue, hosted by Gateway House and the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Indonesia, aims to provide policy recommendations to promote innovation and navigate evolving governance issues through bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
Foreign Affairs
Not long ago in the sweep of history, countries that had once been buried behind the Iron Curtain, and even some Soviet republics, were transformed into members of the solidly democratic club. Some of those that weren’t, such as Ukraine, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan, experienced mass revolts against rigged elections and corrupt misrule amid widespread public yearning to join the West. Free trade was again celebrated as an instrument of peace; Kant’s “democratic peace theory” enjoyed a revival.
Book Reviews
In this book, C. Raja Mohan analyses Asia’s shifting political, economic, military, and technological balance, with particular focus on U.S.-China and India-China relations. He argues that India’s rise from a middle power to an emerging great power will require stronger hard power, diplomatic creativity, economic vitality, and domestic consensus. Yet, amid tensions over tariffs, Russian oil, Gaza, and the U.S.-Iran conflict, India’s strategic path remains challenging.
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