Sovereign Firms vs. Sovereign State: India’s Blueprint for Digital Diplomacy
The world of diplomacy has been transformed by technology companies that exercise
power once reserved for states.
Category South Asia Studies Center
India-Australia Critical Minerals Partnership
India's policy framework initiatives like the National Critical Minerals Mission (NCMM), Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes, and strategic auctions for mineral blocks, emphasize its determination to secure a steady supply of raw materials for its booming manufacturing and renewable energy sectors. At the same time, Australia's robust mining sector and forward-thinking policy landscape make it a natural supplier capable of filling the supply gaps for key trade partners like India.
India-ASEAN Supply Chain Resilience Beyond China
Countries have been attempting to improve supply chain linkages as well as searching for resilient and long-term value chains. Countries are interconnected and dependent on one another countries for production inputs leading to exports. The COVID-19 and subsequent trade measures have led to restricting the flow of goods and services between the countries. Today, value chain and intra-industry trade account for more than half of Asia’s trade. The pandemic is also seen as an opportunity to rebuild trade partnerships and supply chain linkages.
India – Australia: Cricket and Cultural Diplomacy
India- Australia: Cricket and Cultural Diplomacy have a dynamic relationship in which culture serves as a diplomatic bridge. Cultural diplomacy between the two countries emphasizes how people to people, culture and soft power can help to build better bilateral relations. Cricket has become one of the most powerful unifying forces between India and Australia, and it has defined 70 years of sporting and cultural relations between the nations.
SMART-PDS: Scheme for Modernization and Reform through Technology in Public Distribution System
SMART-PDS is a centrally sponsored, technology-oriented reform initiative by the Department of Food & Public Distribution (DFPD), Ministry of Consumer Affairs, aimed at enhancing and consolidating the IT infrastructure of India’s Public Distribution System (PDS). With a total budget of ₹349.9 crore, the three-year (April 2023–March 2026) approved program builds on previous computerisation attempts (End-to-End TPDS and the Integrated Management of PDS/IM-PDS) and introduces a modern, standardized national platform that unifies state and central operations throughout the PDS lifecycle.
India–New Zealand: Agri -Tech Innovation
India–New Zealand Agri-Tech Innovation is emerging as more than a technical exchange; it is a contest over models of innovation and inclusion. At a time when agriculture faces the twin pressures of climate resilience and global market integration. The partnership can be transformational, but only if deliberate adaptation, rights-based data governance, and financing follow the technology. Without these, the result risks being one of two failures: techno-dumping (NZ solutions ill-fitted to India) or stalled scalability (India pilots remaining fragmented).
SCO and the Shifting Balance: China’s Bid to Shape Global Governance
The SCO summit at Tianjin in China, followed by a spectacular military display in Beijing, signal a resolve to contest the vagaries of the Trump Administration and tweak the global and regional orders.