18954814573_2507b30c25_k Courtesy: MEA/Flickr
6 June 2017

A Modi-Sharif meet likely in Astana?

The 17th Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is being held in Astana this week at which Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif will be present. But no meeting is likely to take place between them--and even if it does, it will not advance peace between the two countries

Indian Trade Route Courtesy: Gateway House
4 April 2017

Diversifying India’s trade destinations

India’s global economic engagement, especially with the developing world, has increased in the last two decades, but trade with South Asia has remained low. It holds the potential for building greater productivity and more inclusive growth in India and the region

1200px-Malabar_07-2_exercise Courtesy: Wikipedia
14 February 2017

A democratic quadrilateral in Asia?

A strategic coming together of the U.S., Japan, Australia, and India was close to fruition some years ago, impelled initially by the tsunami of 2004. The spirit of the enterprise remains alive even now, and there are many merits in India joining the quad, but such an arrangement can skew existing Asian equations, jeopardising the Act East policy

28909667344_cad7ec10cc_k Courtesy: MEA/flickr
4 January 2017

Acting East: what does 2017 hold in store?

The year 2017 may change some equations in the East Asian region. Will the near parity that the U.S. and China currently share turn into a keener contest? Will strained relations between India and China persist? Donald Trump’s election as the next U.S. president casts the spotlight squarely on these inter-state relationships

tpp-map Courtesy: United States Trade Representative
23 November 2016

A world divided by trade deals?

Amid the debate of a U.S.-centric TPP template or a China-led RCEP model, it is important to consider if such trade agreements are building blocks or stumbling blocks to global free trade. With the passage of the TPP still uncertain in the U.S. Congress, and the RCEP unlikely to be acceptable to the U.S., the more likely global trade scenario will be fragmentation

BIMSTEC Courtesy: Google Earth
20 October 2016

BRICS/BIMSTEC’s maritime portents

The recent BRICS summit and BIMSTEC outreach highlighted some laudable maritime endeavours linking geographically distant, emerging economies within the grouping. The BIMSTEC platform is also crucial to India's efforts to create a peaceful Bay of Bengal community through economic and cultural linkages.