Groupings, treaties, chokepoints and doctrines behind India's foreign policy news. 667 concepts, each with its definition, key details and a timeline of every news story that touched it.
As the LPG crisis deepened, coal emerged as a substitute fuel for industry, power generation, and some commercial establishments. India's coal sector —...
A collective defence (or mutual defence) clause is a treaty provision under which an armed attack on one member state is deemed an attack on all, triggering...
A CEPA is a broader form of free trade agreement that covers not just goods but also services, investments, intellectual property, and regulatory...
A Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement is a broad trade pact that goes beyond the reduction of tariffs on goods to include provisions on services...
The Current Account Deficit (CAD) measures the gap between a country's total imports of goods, services, and transfers and its total exports. A high CAD...
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is India's statutory civil aviation regulatory body, operating under the Ministry of Civil Aviation. It...
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, is the nodal body for FDI policy in India....
Diego Garcia is a coral atoll and the largest island of the Chagos Archipelago, situated at the geographic centre of the Indian Ocean approximately 1,600 km...
Dubai International Airport (IATA: DXB) is the world's busiest airport by international passenger traffic, handling approximately 86-92 million passengers...
Elbridge Colby is one of the principal architects of US defence strategy toward China. He served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and...
The RBI operates a managed float exchange rate regime for the rupee — meaning the exchange rate is primarily market-determined, but the RBI intervenes to...
In India's federal structure, the management of essential commodities involves both Centre and states. While petroleum is on the Union List (List I), states...
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an intergovernmental standard-setting body for anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CFT), and...
Force majeure (Latin: 'superior force') is a standard clause in commercial contracts that excuses a party from fulfilling its contractual obligations when...
India has historically been cautious about FTAs, often citing concerns about trade deficits widening after liberalisation (as happened post-ASEAN FTA in...
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, 1982) is the foundational framework governing maritime activity. Under UNCLOS, warships have the right of...
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow maritime chokepoint located between the Islamic Republic of Iran to the north and the Sultanate of Oman to the south...
The global oil trade has historically been denominated in US dollars (the 'petrodollar' system), giving the US significant leverage over energy markets and...
The Indian government responded through a coordinated set of emergency measures, invoking powers under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and through...
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), established in 1981, comprises Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar. It was formed primarily to...
The Gulf of Oman is a body of water connecting the Arabian Sea to the Strait of Hormuz, bordered by Oman, Iran, and Pakistan. It is one of the world's most...
The IRGC, also known as Sepah or Pasdaran, is a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces constitutionally mandated to protect the Islamic Republic's ideological...
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGCN) is a separate naval force from Iran's conventional Artesh Navy, operating in the Persian Gulf and Strait...
The LPG crisis disproportionately affected the informal economy — street food vendors, daily wage workers, migrant labourers, and small hospitality...
India launched the Semiconductor Mission to build a domestic chip manufacturing ecosystem, recognising that semiconductors are foundational to modern...
India's Balance of Payments (BoP) has a current account that is structurally in deficit due to the large merchandise trade deficit, partially offset by a...
India's response to cross-border terrorism has undergone a visible doctrinal evolution over three major episodes: the 2016 surgical strikes (after Uri...
India has been systematically building a web of critical minerals partnerships since 2022 as part of its economic and strategic diversification strategy....
India's defence indigenisation drive — branded 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' (Self-Reliant India) — is a flagship policy launched in 2020 to reduce India's status as...
India Stack is the set of open, interoperable digital public goods built by the Government of India that forms the backbone of digital service delivery and...
Strategic autonomy is India's long-standing foreign policy principle of maintaining an independent position on global affairs — retaining the freedom to...
India imports approximately 85-88% of its crude oil needs. Energy import dependence is a structural feature of the Indian economy, not a policy failure —...
India has developed significant experience in evacuating its citizens from conflict zones. Non-Combatant Evacuation Operations (NEOs) are coordinated by the...
India moved from a fixed exchange rate system to a market-determined exchange rate in March 1993, following the Liberalised Exchange Rate Management System...
India's merchandise export basket is diversified but concentrated in a few high-value categories. Petroleum products (refined oil exports from refineries in...
India imports nearly 90% of its crude oil requirements. West Asia — particularly the Gulf states transiting through the Strait of Hormuz — is the dominant...
India's foreign investment framework is governed by the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) and the Consolidated FDI Policy issued by DPIIT. There...
India's FTA strategy has undergone a fundamental transformation. The first phase (2005-2015) focused primarily on agreements with Asian neighbours -- ASEAN...
India's food security system rests on three pillars: procurement at Minimum Support Price (MSP), buffer stock maintenance by the Food Corporation of India...
India's foreign exchange reserves are managed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and consist of four components: Foreign Currency Assets (FCA), Gold...
India's GDP is measured by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), now under the National Statistical Office (NSO), using the System of National Accounts (SNA)...
India's gems and jewellery sector is one of the largest in the world, contributing significantly to exports, employment, and GDP. India processes...
India's approach to Indian Ocean security rests on two key doctrinal visions. SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) was articulated by PM Modi...
India's maritime security framework operates through a multi-layered institutional structure involving the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard (ICG), and the...
India's maritime security framework has evolved through three conceptual phases. SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region), outlined by PM Modi in...
The Union Cabinet approved India's National Quantum Mission on April 19, 2023, at a total outlay of ₹6,003.65 crore for 2023-24 to 2030-31. It is...
India is the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer. The country's heavy dependence on imported crude (over 85% of requirements) makes it acutely...
India is the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer. In 2023-24, India imported approximately 4.7-5 million bpd of crude oil, with the Middle East...
India's response to the Iran-US-Israel conflict involves managing multiple simultaneous pressures: its strategic partnership with the US, its defence...
India imposed a blanket ban on wheat exports on May 13, 2022, through a Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) notification under the Foreign Trade...
The Line of Actual Control (LAC) — approximately 3,488 km long — is the de facto boundary between India and China, but its precise alignment is disputed at...
India and the EU established a Strategic Partnership in 2004 during the 5th India-EU Summit. The relationship is anchored by regular summits (the 16th...
India's relationship with Gulf nations extends beyond diaspora and energy to encompass trade, investment, and strategic partnerships. The India-UAE...
India and Indonesia elevated their bilateral relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) in 2018 during a state visit to Jakarta. The two...
India's relationship with Iran as an oil supplier has oscillated with the rhythm of US sanctions policy. Before 2018, Iran was India's third-largest oil...
The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and Japan was signed on 16 February 2011 and entered into force on 1 August 2011. It...
IMEEC was announced at the G20 New Delhi Summit (September 2023) as a multimodal connectivity project linking India to Europe via the Middle East. It...
India's oil imports from Russia surged dramatically after the 2022 Ukraine conflict, as Russia offered steep discounts on crude oil following Western...
Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian crude accounted for less than 1% of India's total oil imports. Following the invasion and...
India and the UAE established a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2017, upgraded from a Strategic Partnership. The bilateral relationship spans trade...