River Diplomacy

Understanding Water Diplomacy

Water diplomacy recognizes that water is essential for life, economic development, and environmental sustainability, and that its equitable and sustainable management is crucial for social stability and peace. By fostering dialogue, building trust, and promoting joint problem-solving, water diplomacy seeks to find inclusive and sustainable solutions to water-related issues, ensuring that the needs of all stakeholders are considered and conflicts are minimized.

Geopolitical Realities of Resource Rich Africa (Part One)

Natural topography shares a complex relationship with the economy, polity and society of a country. Representing the geographical aspect— which includes physical landscape (mountains, waterbodies etc.), human elements and natural resources— it plays a critical role in shaping the international relations of States. This is reflected specially in case of Africa which is well endowed with natural resources, and has significant reserves of minerals and raw materials in comparison to the world; sometimes of minerals unique only to the continent, such as coltan. This has enabled the African nations to build strategic foreign relations and form geopolitical equations with countries […]

Energy Policy Making for Optimal Resource Management

The global oil demand is expected to remain healthy for the next few years, especially in the developing countries of Asia and Africa. Though currently suffering from a slowdown due to the US-China trade war and the rise in renewable technological innovation, one cannot simply write-off oil or for that matter any other conventional fuel like coal or gas, as it forms an integral part of the new energy mix of many nations (both developing and the developed) even today, which deploy tools of policy making for the purpose. However, the new energy mix, of the present age, brings the […]

India & Green Economy

The last few years have been tough for India, not just in context of economic reforms but also environment— specifically in terms of climate. As per the India Meteorological Department, 2017 was the fourth warmest year of the country, with the last quarter of 2017 being the hottest since 1901. In the beginning of the 20th century, India, a British colony then, suffered from significant climate change marked by severe droughts and famines, which were further fueled by fatal British economic policies. Notably, India’s economic backwardness wasn’t due to any niggardliness of geography, but was rather anthropogenic. There was no […]

Migration & Geopolitics

Migration crisis has been trending across the continents today, with Europe being the most visible and calamitous to a certain extent. Migration as such in itself is deeply intertwined with geopolitics— an arena where it brings out the political and geographical factors at play. It also brings out the various ambiguities, inconsistencies in the ideologies or frictions in the very social fabric— which are well expressed through organizational outfits, States or individuals. The very idea of migration as a novel concept in contemporary times is at odds with the global history of colonization, trade, employment etc. This phenomenon can be […]

India’s Foreign Policy in the New Eurasian Discourse— Re-Connecting Central Asia

2018 has begun on a high note for India— with top diplomatic meets organized with key Eurasian State-Leaders. Be it Indian Prime Minister visiting West Asia or Iran signing a dozen MoUs with India or Jordan’s King Abdullah exploring India-Jordan relations in a three-day visit. All, in recent times, highlight India’s active persuasion of Eurasian nations— Russia, Central Asia and West Asia to be more specific. Given the abundance of hydrocarbons and their strategic location on the world map, it is natural for India, an emerging global power— albeit with scanty energy resources, to seek bilateral ties in the region. […]