crosswinds Courtesy: Amazon India
14 March 2024

Crosswinds: Nehru, Zhou and the Anglo-American Competition over China

In his new book, former Indian Foreign Secretary and Ambassador to China, Vijay Gokhale analyzes how newly independent India navigated Anglo-American competition and the Cold War ideologies of China in the 1940s and 1950s. The author focuses on key events from the recognition of the Peoples’ Republic of China to the two Taiwan Straits crises. His insights of the period resonate with today's U.S.-China rivalry, and highlights India's evolving role in the Indo-Pacific.

MauricioPiece2 Courtesy: India Today
29 February 2024

Middle East demands new frontiers of diplomacy

Just as September 11, 2001 unfolded a new chapter of the world order, as December 17, 2010 awakened the "Arab Spring," so October 7, 2023, has become a date that has unforgettably changed the Middle East's foreign policy and geopolitical dynamics. The existential paradigm of Israel and Palestine has adopted a war axis without turning back but has necessitated reevaluating diplomacy and recalibrating priorities.

peak china Courtesy: Financial Express
23 February 2024

Unfolding Geopolitics | Episode 6, Peak China—or not

Has China peaked? India's leading China expert and Adjunct Distinguished Fellow for National Security and China Studies at Gateway House, Lt. Gen. S.L. Narasimhan discusses China's economy, the sustainability of Chinese global influence, the future of U.S.-China relations, and what this means for India. China, he says, will continue to be a shaping force in geopolitics, and the India-China relationship will continue to be one of interdependence.

Anger mgmt Courtesy: Amazon India
22 February 2024

Anger Management: The Troubled Diplomatic Relationship between India and Pakistan

A new book on India-Pakistan relations by former High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria, brings his practitioners’ knowledge to the fraught bilateral. He reiterates that the determining factor is still Pakistan’s quest for identity based on territory and security, and the paranoia of the Pakistani army. The book contains fascinating insights about his predecessors’ suggested solutions and lays out three scenarios for the future.

SA trade Courtesy: Hindustan Times
15 February 2024

South Asia’s trade architecture matters

South Asia requires resilient and cost-effective regional supply chains. This can be achieved through Indian investment, fostering local linkages while reducing dependency on Chinese financing of regional partners. A new approach enhances India's regional influence, creating a win-win scenario for the entire South Asian neighbourhood in a changing global landscape.

ap24027436647060-4396770c18818334aeb094b20153e05d90e91439-s1100-c50 Courtesy: The Time of India
1 February 2024

Unfolding Geopolitics | Episode 4, Indian seafarers at risk

Recent attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden by the Houthis have led to increased costs and global trade disruptions, and drawn the Indian Ocean into the ongoing conflict in West Asia. Most at risk are Indian seamen, who comprise the officer and saillor class of these vessels. Michael Pinto, former Secretary, Ministry of Shipping, Government of India, speaks with us about ensuring maritime security and safe passage.

bhutan_20181001 Courtesy: Outlook
18 January 2024

Bhutan’s elections matter

Bhutan’s newly elected People’s Democratic Party is inclined to modernize the bilateral ties with India through investment and commercial ties with cities like Mumbai and Bangalore. This is the moment for New Delhi to view Bhutan with a new, non-linear lens, to deepening ties with a valuable neighbhour.

160067 Courtesy: Al Majalla
17 January 2024

Unfolding Geopolitics | Episode 3, Understanding the Maldivian position

Maldives’ President Mohammed Muizzu’s desire to have an independent foreign policy has steered it away from India and closer to China. It has added a new dimension to the strategic contestation in the Indian Ocean. Rajiv Bhatia, Distinguished Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies, shares his insights on the Maldives’ strategic importance in the region, the ‘India Out’ campaign, and the way forward for Indian diplomacy in South Asia.

israel-hamas Courtesy: CivisDaily
17 January 2024

Israel-Palestine: two states … or one?

The Oslo Accords’ two-state solution for Palestine-Israel, visualised Gaza and the West Bank as self-governing entities under the Palestinian Authority. That political hope existed in an expanding global economy led by the U.S. and secured by American armies, with the promise of capital flows and investments to develop Palestine on its way to statehood. All this changed in the 2000s, as both Israelis and Palestinians became significant regional actors.