Category International Relations and Strategic Studies

2026 07 3123114 e1785519873668

Kiswahili: A Global Language for Peace, Solidarity, and Economic Diplomacy

Polciy UpdateNeha Kumari Introduction Languages do more than just help people communicate. They also carry memory, identity, and a sense of belonging. Kiswahili shows this clearly. The saying, “Lugha ni uti wa mgongo wa utamaduni, mshikamano na maendeleo“, which means…

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From New Delhi to Nagorno-Karabakh: India’s Emerging Strategic Role in the South Caucasus

The South Caucasus is a strategic region that has traditionally been shaped by competition among Russia, Turkey, Iran, and Western powers. However, in recent years, India has established a more visible presence in the region through its rapidly expanding relations with Armenia. The partnership has attracted particular attention because it coincides with growing political and military cooperation among Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Pakistan. Consequently, a conflict once understood primarily as a territorial dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan is increasingly linked to broader geopolitical rivalries, defense partnerships, and competing Eurasian connectivity projects.

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A Distracted Pakistan: Strategic Opportunity in the Afghanistan-Pakistan War

Policy UpdateAsmatwali Background Tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban-led government of Afghanistan, simmering since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, escalated into open warfare in late February 2026. Following weeks of militant attacks inside Pakistan, the Pakistan Air…

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India-Japan and the Indo-Pacific Pivot Amid West Asian Turmoil

Policy UpdateAsmatwali Background India and Japan trace their contemporary partnership to the 1952 Peace Treaty, progressively upgraded into a “Global Partnership” (2000), a “Global and Strategic Partnership” (2006), and the “Special Strategic and Global Partnership” (SSGP) in 2014, anchored since…

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India–Philippines Strategic Partnership (2025–2026): BrahMos, Maritime Cooperation, and the South China Sea

Diplomatic ties between India and the Philippines were established in 1949, and a Treaty of Friendship was signed in 1952, but the relationship was not very intense during these early decades for the next six decades, owing to a number of factors, including geographic separation, competing Cold War affiliations and limited economic integration. The Indian government's Look East policy, now known as Act East since 2014, began to shift India's foreign policy and economic focus to Southeast Asia, whereas increased tensions with China in the South China Sea over the last decade reoriented the Philippines' foreign policy focus toward Asia, which opened the door for greater convergence with India after 2016.

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