Category Economy and Infrastructure

Cooperation

India and Australia: A Fresh Curve in Cooperation

India’s recent defence engagement with Australia reached a new milestone during Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Canberra and Sydney earlier this month for the inaugural Australia-India Defence Ministers’ Dialogue. The visit, the first by an Indian Defence Minister to Australia in over a decade, produced key defence agreements that upgrade the relationship from declaratory strategic convergence toward greater operational cooperation. The discussions included a Joint Maritime Security Collaboration Roadmap to advance maritime cooperation, as well as renewing and strengthening the Joint Declaration on Defence and Security Cooperation.

Rare

Mining Power: China, the US, and the Fight for Rare Earth Dominance

Beijing’s new export curbs on rare earths and other tech materials mark a new phase in its bid to weaponize its supply dominance. As Xi tightens control over inputs critical to the US and Trump threatens China with a 100% extra tariff, who will blink first?

Beijing is tightening its clamps on components that are integral to technology supply chains. Lithium batteries and related material, artificial diamonds that have industrial uses and rare earths like holmium, erbium, thulium, europium and ytterbium have been put on China’s export-control list.

climate

Greening India’s Future: Building Climate-Resilient Cities (2025)

India is experiencing rapid urbanization, with over 35% of its population now residing in cities—a figure projected to reach 40% by 2035. While urban growth drives economic development, it has also intensified ecological stress, reducing green cover and increasing vulnerabilities to climate change.

urban

India’s New Urban Landscape: Capital, Surplus Labour, and the Persistence of Poverty

The story of urbanisation in the Global South – and particularly in India – is not one of industrial expansion or prosperity. It is a story of pauperisation. Cities today are swelling not because factories are hiring, but because the countryside is expelling. This new urbanisation is driven by desperation rather than development – by the push of agrarian collapse, not the pull of industrial promise.

Political Flux and Economic Headwinds: Reading the CCP’s Fourth Plenum

Political Flux and Economic Headwinds: Reading the CCP’s Fourth Plenum

The much-delayed Fourth Plenum of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee met in Beijing from October 20-23. Of the seven plenary sessions during a CCP congress, the fourth typically focuses on strengthening the party and governance. At this meeting, the formulation of the 15th Five-Year Plan for 2026–2030, personnel appointments and policy changes took precedence over other matters.

Transit-oriented Development can curb India's urban dysfunctions by integrating land use with transport, but fragmented governance, weak execution, and poor planning hinder its transformative potential.

Transit-Oriented Development in India: Why Practice Lags Behind Policy

Transit-oriented Development can curb India's urban dysfunctions by integrating land use with transport, but fragmented governance, weak execution, and poor planning hinder its transformative potential.

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