India - The Sixteenth Council

India as the Anchor of a Post-Brexit Global Strategy

India’s emergence as the anchor of Britain’s post-Brexit global strategy marks a decisive turn in London’s Indo-Pacific engagement. Through the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and the “India-UK Vision 2035,” both nations are translating diplomatic symbolism into structured, institutionalised cooperation. Anchored in trade, defence co-development, and technology, this partnership reflects a pragmatic recalibration of middle-power agency. It positions India and the UK as pivotal actors in shaping a rules-based, multipolar Indo-Pacific order grounded in connectivity, innovation, and strategic balance.

India at Tianjin: Modi’s SCO Gambit in a Multipolar World

India enters the SCO summit walking a razor’s edge. Between Russia’s embrace, China’s rivalry, and America’s pressure, New Delhi’s old habit of “working with everyone” is becoming unsustainable. Modi’s meetings with Xi and Putin are more than routine diplomacy—they are tests of India’s strategic agility in a fractured world. The question is no longer whether India can remain non-aligned, but how long it can keep balancing before being forced to choose a side.

India’s GST Reforms: Balancing Simplification, Growth, and Self-Reliance

India is set to overhaul its Goods and Services Tax (GST) system, simplifying its multi-tiered structure into two main rates—5% for essentials and 18% for most goods, with a 40% rate on demerit products. The reforms focus on structural fixes, rate rationalization, and ease of compliance to boost consumption, support MSMEs, and attract global investment. Success will depend on managing Centre–state fiscal tensions and ensuring transparency. If implemented effectively, GST reforms could strengthen India’s self-reliance and secure stable, growth-driven development.

Trump’s India Tariff Is Less About Trade

Trump’s tariff on Indian goods is less about trade and more a geopolitical ultimatum. It forces India to choose between aligning with U.S. strategic preferences or facing economic pain. The move targets key sectors like textiles, gems, and auto parts, pressuring India’s hedging strategy amid global power competition. Legal routes like the WTO offer little relief. India must respond swiftly with tactical diplomacy, market diversification, economic restructuring, and a clear narrative asserting its strategic autonomy to preserve sovereignty and growth.

Growing Pains of BRICS: Expansion Tests Unity and Purpose

The recently convened BRICS foreign ministers' meeting in April 2025 failed to issue a joint statement on the bloc’s response to the United States’ protectionist trade policies under President Donald Trump. While the grouping has lofty ambitions to credibly represent the Global South, there are lingering doubts whether the organisation is wavering in establishing a unified direction and purpose with an expanded membership.

From Restraint to Retaliation: India’s Strategic Suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty

The treaty’s complex dispute-resolution mechanism precipitated several challenges for India’s hydropower projects, such as the Kishenganga and Ratle plants located on the Jhelum and Chenab rivers respectively. The Treaty’s annexure D permits India to only build run-of-river hydroelectric plants on the Indus water system’s Wester Rivers.

Advancing Nuclear Energy Partnership: India and the U.S. Address Liability Issues

The U.S. had been critical and concerned after the 1974 nuclear tests conducted by India and tightened its nuclear-related exports to India to control arms proliferation. Following the second round of testing by a non-NPT (Nuclear Proliferation Treaty) signatory India in 1998

U.S.-India COMPACT Initiative: Strengthening Strategic Ties Amid Lingering Tensions

Not restricting to a buyer-seller relationship, the shared strategic interests between the two states have carved out a partnership which has increasingly focussed on greater military integration, sharing advanced technologies, innovation, and research and development. A string of key agreements over time has made this expansion and deepening of strategic relations possible.

Navigating Economic Storms: the Role of Digitalization in India’s Remarkable Growth

Introduction Over the past decade, digitalization has propelled India to become the world’s fifth-largest economy, redefining its economic landscape. This exponential digital transformation and innovation touches every part of society, from enabling street vendors to receive and make digital payments…

Reviewing Narendra Modi’s Narrow Third-Term Victory

The election results reveal that Brand Modi has lost some of its shine, indicating that even Mr. Modi is susceptible to anti-incumbency. This development offers renewed hope to the opposition and signifies a potential return to coalition politics in India.

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