Publications
Bridging the 30% Trap: Overcoming Compliance and Awareness Bottlenecks to Maximize Indian SME Utilization of the Oman CEPA
Executive Summary On 1st June 2026, a major breakthrough agreement, theIndia-Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) came into effect. It gives Indian exporters access to Oman's market across 98.08% of Oman's tariff lines on an immediate duty-free basis. The ...
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Guiding a Bloc on Fire India's policy options as BRICS chair amid the Iran war and Hormuz crisis
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY India, which will chair BRICS in 2026, will face a complex array of pressures from a war involving Iran, the United States and Israel, and a crisis in the Strait of Hormuz that has disrupted global energy flows. The war has divided the BRICS members wi...
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India's BRICS Dilemma: Can New Delhi lead the Global South Without Abandoning Israel?
Introduction Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that he was born on the same day India formally recognized Israel (September 17, 1950) (Ministry of External Affairs,2026), showing how India acknowledged Israel and chose a neutral side. India choosing to be neutral is...
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Bab-el-Mandeb and the Security of Westbound Maritime Trade Routes
A strait with great geopolitical importance, The Bab-el-Mandeb also commonly known as "Gate of Tears" connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and Arabian sea between Yemen and Djibouti at the southern end of the Red Sea. It connects the exclusive economic zones of...
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Beyond the Fishermen Arrests: The Absence of an Integrated Marine Spatial Framework in the Palk Strait
Executive Summary The conflict over the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka has been reshaped as a case of illegal fishing and arrests. However, the deeper gap persists in the lack of a joint maritime spatial planning (MSP) framework between India and Sr...
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India’s Diaspora Diplomacy at a Crossroads: Engagement, Interference and the Limits of the ‘4th D’
Important Figures 35.4 M Indians Abroad World’s largest diaspora (MEA,2025) $135B Annual remittances Finances 47% of merchandise trade deficit (FY25) $748B Diaspora FDI (2014-25) 143% increase over prior decade (...
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The Arctic: The "Third Pole" Strategy
Executive Summary India has pursued an orientation towards more engagement with the Northern Sea Route (NSR) using the Chennai Vladivostok Maritime Corridor, serving as an important access point potentially essential to offset reliance on the Suez Cana...
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National Security Imperative: Infrastructure Resilience in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Executive Summary The Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI) are grappling with a serious double whammy: tectonic subsidence from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the slow but steady rise in sea levels due to climate change. While the Andaman group has seen a bit of upli...
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Strengthening India-ASEAN Maritime Integration
Executive Summary India’s maritime security is of high priority in the current juncture, where the world is witnessing a new cold war developing among the United States and China. We observe this competition getting increasingly tense in the Indo-Pacific regio...
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