Courtesy: United Nations
The transition from least developed country (LDC) to developing country marks a major milestone for the world’s most vulnerable and structurally disadvantaged countries. The recent graduation of Bhutan into the 'developing' realm reflects the trend of accelerating development among least developed countries. Fifteen more LDCs are due to move up in the coming years, a clear improvement from the past.
Courtesy: India Today
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.
Courtesy: Financial Express
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.
Courtesy: India Today
Ameen Sayani was India’s most favourite and recognised voice on the radio. He upturned post-Partition Indian bureaucratic orthodoxy with his shows on Hindi film songs, delighting his listeners for decades. His was also a mission in nation-building. To Gateway House, he was a fellow traveller, friend and loved neighbour.
Courtesy: Amazon India
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.
Courtesy: Global Times
China’s world vision has entered its next phase. After the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), come the Global Initiative on Data Security (GIDS) so Chinese tech standards can lead, Global Development Initiative (GDI) so China leads the development dialogue, and Global Security Initiative (GSI), so China’s security is ‘indivisible’ from other countries – all in time for China’s 2049 goal of becoming a global power.
Courtesy: ET Insights
The geopoliticisation of the Israel-Hamas war has given birth to a new era of ruthlessly pragmatic and overlapping interests of multiple powers and actors. This is visible in the region of Middle Eurasia, the centre of the ongoing rearrangement of the world order.
Courtesy: Hindustan Times
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.
Courtesy: Gateway House
As Pakistan heads to the polls, debt restructuring and economic recovery are on the ballot. The winner of the contest will inherit a weak economy while wielding little authority to implement reform, and will eventually shoulder the blame for the inevitable crisis.
Courtesy:
When the 154-year-old man-made Suez Canal became operational, it reduced the voyage between Europe and India from four months to 30 days. It made Egypt the centre for the development of modern tourism in the mid-19th century, attracting entrepreneurs from across empires. A brisk business grew with the Sindhis from the Bombay Presidency, who made the Egyptian free ports and Cairo as their first overseas bases.