Category: Policy Brief

The BRICS bloc of leading emerging economies took a major decision in expanding its reach and influence with the announcement made that six more countries- Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – have been invited to join as new BRICS members taking the total number of nations within the grouping to 11, effective January 1, 2024.

The bloc initially formed in 2009 with Brazil, Russia, India and China, first expanded in 2010 to admit South Africa. The bloc after 23 years of its existence has now sought to grow a stronger coalition of developing nations that can better put the interests of the Global South on the world map. Before the start of its annual summit in Jo Berg, South Africa during August 23-24, more than 40 countries had expressed interest in joining BRICS, with 23 formally applying to join it.

India’s North Eastern Region: A Geographical Perspective
Northeast India (officially known as North Eastern Region, [NER]), is easternmost region of country representing both a geographic and political administrative divisions. It comprises eight states – Arunachal Pradesh (the largest in terms of the area at 83743 sq. kms), Assam ( 78438 sq. kms) , Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim ( the

Culture is all around us. Culture is inside of us, it is our ‘social’ DNA. In
diplomacy in general, especially in economic, we must understand the
economic benefits of cultural differences and how to decode the cultural
codes of members of other nations and states. This method is based on
understanding of cultural codes, but also on understanding the
psychological challenges that arise in working with people who come from
different backgrounds, as well as advising on how to adapt without losing

During Indian prime minister, Modi’s recently concluded visit to Europe, he chaired 6th round of Indo-German Inter-governmental consultation in Berlin with German chancellor as a co-hair to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues arising in wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine besides holding meetings with Nordic forum in Copenhagen. While on his way back home, he also visited Paris to meet with French President to exchange perspectives on bilateral, regional and international cooperation issues while laying out India’s position, including energy security, free trade agreements, democratic values and future vision on international issues to build together ‘a principles- based robust coalition of willing democracies’ to repel aggressive behaviour of autocratic and authoritarian regimes.

Myanmar (formerly Burma) witnessed a silent coup when its military junta toppled the democratically elected government in the wee hours of intervening night of January 31 and February 01, last year and the nation of 55-million strong populations in India’s neighbourhood has since been under military rule.

Role of business in society is not new and has existed in form of philanthropy- as long as human history in various manifestations though its scope, coverage and impact continued to evolve.

As a notable phenomenon of 21st century international geo-politics, sovereign states tend to seek out to forge cooperation, despite long-standing disputes between them. While government officials and military personnel continue to engage with each other, side channels of communication, popularly referred to as ‘Track II’

India-EU relations date to the early 1960s, with India being amongst the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the European Economic Community. A cooperation agreement signed in 1994 took the bilateral relationship beyond trade and economic cooperation. At the 5th India-EU Summit at The Hague in 2004, the relationship was upgraded to a ‘Strategic Partnership’.