The year 2025 dawned with New Delhi gazing lovingly into the mirror of its own expectations. After a domestically exhausting year that slipped by, heavy on elections and self-congratulation, Indian foreign policy was meant to return to its natural habitat: airport tarmacs, choreographed hugs and summit photographs captioned as “historic”.
What stands out in the 2025 summit is not merely deepening ties but expanding horizons. Logistic links such as the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC), the Chennai–Vladivostok Maritime Corridor (CVMC) and interest in the Northern Sea Route promise to rewire India–Russia trade routes — shortening transit times, reducing dependence on traditional chokepoints, and tying together Arctic, Central Asian and South Asian geographies.
The exclusion of women journalists from Muttaqi’s embassy presser was not just a breach of protocol—it was a breach of principle. It exposed a tension: India’s strategic openness to diplomacy and pragmatism stopping just short of standing up for the equality it claims to hold dear. In the public sphere, actions like this have ripple effects—they chip away at the legitimacy of institutions, of media, and of a society’s promise to its women. The real test is not whether one press conference is fixed—but whether the lesson is learned: equality is not optional, even (or especially) in diplomacy.
The issue of deportation of Indian migrants staying illegally in the US took an emotionally charged turn when a C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the US Air Force landed at the Amritsar International Airport at around 10pm on February 5, 2025. The first military flight carrying 104 immigrants landed with handcuffs and chained. Of the total deportees, 31 were from Punjab, 44 from Haryana, 33 from Gujarat, two from Uttar Pradesh and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. When questioned by the Opposition in Parliament, EAM Jaishankar informed that the govt is in talks with the US for considering being ‘Humane’ while returning our people. But surely nothing seemed to have made Trump budge.
With the historic 200 Executive Orders signed on day 1 in office, the ‘Master Disruptor’ Trump and his times could herald both dazzling opportunities and thorny challenges for India, molded by his administration’s audacious policies on trade, defense, foreign relations, and immigration. While Trump’s unflinching “America First” ethos and deal-driven worldview might unlock new corridors of cooperation, they also harbor the seeds of potential discord, making it a double-edged sword for India’s strategic ambitions.
Imagine a nation that waits to be split apart as if to be shared amoungst the winners as the spoils of a war. The wolves are already at work. Syria just had its moment of purge with President Bashar Al Assad fleeing after rebels took over Damascus on December 8, 2024 following the Israel Hamas […]
Toronto/New Delhi: In a latest development in the increasing acrimonious Canada India relations, triggered by Trudeau, violent clashes erupted on Sunday during a visit by Indian consular officials to a Hindu temple in Brampton, a Toronto suburb. Footage shared on social media shows groups of demonstrators, including supporters of Khalistan and others waving India’s national […]
New Delhi: In a riveting development in the last 24 hours on October 14, relations between India and Canada plummeted a new low. The row between New Delhi and Ottawa over the allegations by Canada over the killing of Nijjar, a Canada based Khalistani terrorist, have been flying since 2023 when Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau […]
Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu’s efforts to reset ties with India, despite his earlier China-leaning rhetoric, reflects a change of heart or seems to be so. While Muizzu’s electoral campaign emphasized reducing India’s influence, his latest decision to engage closely with India as president highlights the geopolitical and economic realities facing the Maldives validating that in […]
India’s neighborhood presently is rather fragmented. After Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh is the third neighbor witnessing a regime change ridden with violence and unrest, with similar playbook. A popular uprising against an unpopular leader, followed by his/her fleeing, mobs taking over the Palace/Parliament spaces, loot, vandalize and destroy public property, with security forces no […]
