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.
India-US relations are one of the most consequential bilateral relationships of the 21st century. They are anchored in shared democratic values, growing...
India and the US launched formal Bilateral Trade Agreement negotiations in February 2025, when President Trump and Prime Minister Modi committed to...
India and the US are each other's major trading partners. The US is India's largest export destination, with bilateral merchandise trade exceeding $100...
India and the US are among each other's largest trading partners. Total bilateral goods trade stood at approximately $190 billion in 2024. Historically...
India-US bilateral trade has grown substantially, with the US being India's largest trading partner for four consecutive years through FY2024-25. The trade...
The India-US relationship has evolved through successive frameworks over two decades. The 'Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership' designation was...
India-US bilateral merchandise trade reached a record $132.2 billion in FY2024-25, up from $119.7 billion the previous year. India runs a trade surplus of...
The Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) is a voluntary initiative that seeks to enhance maritime cooperation among navies of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR)....
IORA is an intergovernmental organisation established in 1997 to promote regional cooperation among the 23 countries bordering the Indian Ocean. India is a...
India and South Korea established diplomatic relations in 1973. The bilateral relationship was elevated to a 'Strategic Partnership' in 2010 and further...
The term 'Indo-Pacific' refers to the combined maritime expanse of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean, treated as a single strategic theatre. While the...
The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an intergovernmental organisation established in 2015, jointly launched by India and France at the Paris Climate...
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), finalised in Vienna on July 14, 2015, was a landmark agreement between Iran and the P5+1 (US, UK, France...
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is a branch of Iran's armed forces established after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, charged with protecting the...
US-Iran relations have followed a trajectory from close Cold War-era alliance to deep adversarial confrontation. The 1979 Islamic Revolution and subsequent...
The JCPOA, agreed in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 (US, UK, France, Russia, China, plus Germany), was designed to limit Iran's nuclear programme in...
The JCPOA, commonly known as the 'Iran nuclear deal,' was the landmark 2015 agreement that placed verifiable limits on Iran's nuclear programme in exchange...
The kharif crop season (June–November) produces India's major foodgrains: rice, maize, cotton, soybean, groundnut, and pulses. Urea is the primary...
The Kurdish question — the political, cultural, and territorial aspirations of the Kurdish people (estimated at 25-35 million, primarily in Turkey, Iraq...
News on India-China border management frequently uses terms that UPSC tests for precise distinction from India's other contested boundaries.
MAHASAGAR — Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security And Growth Across Regions — is India's overarching maritime security and cooperation framework for...
Maritime choke points are narrow passages through which large volumes of global trade must pass — making them strategic leverage points. The world's major...
The MEA is the central government ministry responsible for India's external relations, diplomatic representation, and foreign policy formulation and...
The MTCR is a voluntary, informal political arrangement among 35 countries aimed at restricting the proliferation of missiles and unmanned air vehicles...
The New Development Bank, popularly called the 'BRICS Bank,' was established by the 2014 Fortaleza Declaration and became operational in 2016. It is...
The global nuclear non-proliferation regime is built around the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which seeks to prevent the spread...
The 2026 US-Iran dispute over enrichment rights intersects directly with the foundational tension in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) — the...
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), in force since 1970, is the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime. It...
Launched in March 2026, Operation Urja Suraksha (Energy Security) was the Indian Navy's operational response to Iran's restrictions on Strait of Hormuz...
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), founded in 1969, is the second-largest intergovernmental organisation after the United Nations, representing...
The Boeing P-8I Poseidon is a multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft derived from the Boeing 737-800 commercial platform. The Indian Navy variant — the 'I'...
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, launched in 2016, provided free LPG connections to BPL households, particularly women, to transition from polluting biomass...
Pakistan has historically served as a diplomatic back-channel between antagonistic states. Pakistan facilitated the US-China rapprochement of 1971 when...
The Permanent Indus Commission is the joint bilateral body established under Article VIII of the Indus Waters Treaty. It consists of one commissioner from...
India is consistently the world's largest recipient of remittances. Remittance inflows contribute approximately 3–3.5% of India's GDP and are a major...
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine (February 24, 2022) is the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II and has generated the world's largest...
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established by the Dhaka Declaration in 1985 and has 8 member states: Afghanistan...
Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 authorises the US President to adjust imports through tariffs or other measures if the Department of Commerce...
The SCO is a Eurasian political and security intergovernmental organisation founded on June 15, 2001 in Shanghai. It evolved from the Shanghai Five (1996)...
The Siliguri Corridor is a narrow strip of land — approximately 20–25 km wide at its narrowest point — connecting India's eight northeastern states...
The South China Sea is one of the world's most strategically significant maritime domains: approximately $3–5 trillion in global trade transits it annually...
The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve was established in 1975 under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, following the 1973–74 Arab oil embargo that exposed...
Strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) are government-controlled oil stockpiles maintained to insulate economies from supply disruptions. The concept emerged...
TRUST — Transforming the Relationship Utilising Strategic Technology — is the successor framework to iCET (Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology)....
The Taiwan dispute originates from the Chinese Civil War (1945–1949). After the Communist Party of China (CPC) won the mainland, the Republic of China (ROC)...
The Teesta water-sharing dispute is not merely a bilateral issue but a test case for the intersection of Indian federalism and foreign policy. The Union...
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, was formed in 2007 as an umbrella organisation of militant factions opposed to the...
The term was coined by Harvard political scientist Graham Allison around 2011, popularised in his 2017 book Destined for War: Can America and China Escape...
India's trade policy uses multiple instruments to regulate imports: tariffs (ad valorem and specific), quantitative restrictions (QRs, largely eliminated...
Article 2(4) of the UN Charter prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. This is one of...
India has been a leading voice for reform of the United Nations Security Council, which India and many nations argue does not reflect contemporary global...
UNSCR 1701 was unanimously adopted on August 11, 2006, to end the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah. It called for a full cessation of hostilities...
The US-China relationship is the defining bilateral relationship of the 21st century, characterized by deep economic interdependence alongside strategic...
India was designated a 'Major Defense Partner' of the United States in June 2016 — a unique status created specifically for India that enables defence...
The US-Israel war on Iran, which began February 28, 2026, is rooted in the collapse of the JCPOA and Iran's subsequent uranium enrichment programme...
The World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) resolves trade disputes through a two-tier system: panel proceedings and Appellate Body review....
The Trade Policy Review Mechanism is a WTO surveillance instrument that periodically examines member countries' trade policies and practices for...
Marine insurance is a critical enabler of global shipping. When insurers withdraw coverage or dramatically raise premiums, voyages become economically...
India's trade exposure to West Asia is multi-dimensional: the region is India's largest source of crude oil imports, a key remittance corridor (8+ million...
The joint US-Israeli military campaign against Iran began on February 28, 2026, targeting Iran's nuclear facilities and Revolutionary Guard (IRGC)...