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's Act East Policy is the evolved successor to the 'Look East Policy' launched in 1991 under Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. The shift from 'Look' to...
The Agricola Medal is the FAO's highest and most prestigious individual honour. 'Agricola' is the Latin word for 'farmer,' directly linking the award to its...
Anti-Submarine Warfare encompasses all measures taken to detect, track, and neutralise enemy submarines. Submarines are the most potent asymmetric naval...
Article 51 of the UN Charter preserves the 'inherent right' of states to individual or collective self-defence 'if an armed attack occurs' against them...
Article 6 of the Paris Agreement establishes frameworks for voluntary international cooperation in achieving NDC targets through carbon markets and...
Article 9 of Japan's Constitution — adopted in 1947 under US Occupation direction (often called the 'MacArthur Constitution') — contains two paragraphs....
Astra is India's first indigenously developed Beyond-Visual-Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM), designed by DRDO's Defence Research and Development...
Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) is the single largest operating cost for Indian airlines, accounting for approximately 40% of total operating costs. ATF prices...
The Bab-el-Mandeb ('Gate of Tears') is a narrow strait separating Yemen (Arabian Peninsula) from Djibouti and Eritrea (Horn of Africa), connecting the Red...
The BNP was founded in 1978 by General Ziaur Rahman, Tarique Rahman's father, who was assassinated in 1981. The party has historically maintained a more...
China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), announced by President Xi Jinping in 2013, is the world's largest infrastructure development and investment program....
Trade agreements are typologically distinguished by scope. A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) primarily eliminates or reduces tariffs on goods trade between...
BrahMos is a joint venture between India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyeniya, formalized in 1998. The...
BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile jointly developed by India (DRDO) and Russia (NPO Mashinostroyeniya) through BrahMos Aerospace, a joint venture....
BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile jointly developed by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyeniya...
The Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) is a US federal law enacted on August 2, 2017, signed by President Donald Trump. It...
Chabahar Port, located on Iran's southeastern Makran coast on the Gulf of Oman, is India's gateway to landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asia — bypassing...
The Paris Agreement (2015, in force 2016) built on the earlier Copenhagen Accord (2009) pledge by developed countries to collectively mobilise $100 billion...
Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is an approach that guides the transformation of agricultural systems to support food security under climate change. The...
A CEPA is a deeper, broader trade instrument than a conventional FTA. While an FTA principally addresses tariff elimination on goods, a CEPA additionally...
The CTBT was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on September 10, 1996, and opened for signature on September 24, 1996. It bans all nuclear...
Rare earth elements (REEs) are foundational to the modern technology supply chain — from EV motors and wind turbines to defence guidance systems and...
Semiconductors and advanced electronics depend on a range of critical minerals and rare earth elements (REEs) including gallium, germanium, silicon, cobalt...
DRSCs are permanent committees of Parliament that examine bills, budgetary demands (Demands for Grants), and policy matters referred to them by the Speaker...
The Druzhba pipeline (meaning 'friendship' in Russian) is the world's longest oil pipeline network, stretching approximately 5,500 km from Russia westward...
The Digital Markets Act was formally adopted by the EU on September 14, 2022, and entered into force on November 1, 2022, becoming applicable from May 2...
The Strait of Hormuz closure has historically been Iran's most potent deterrent against military action — the threat to choke 20% of global oil supply gives...
Energy security, defined by the IEA as 'uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price,' has four dimensions: availability (physical...
International humanitarian law (IHL) and environmental treaties address the destruction of the environment during warfare, though enforcement remains weak....
'Strategic autonomy' refers to Europe's capacity to act independently in foreign and security policy without being dependent on external powers...
India has a tiered export promotion architecture. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (through the Department of Commerce) is the apex ministry for trade...
India's FDI policy strikes a balance between attracting foreign capital and protecting strategic industries. The Consolidated FDI Policy (issued by DPIIT)...
India's FDI policy operates on two principal entry routes. Under the automatic route, foreign investors do not require prior government or RBI approval —...
Force majeure (French: 'superior force') refers to a contractual clause that excuses one or both parties from performance when extraordinary, unforeseeable...
Forced labour is prohibited under multiple international frameworks. The International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions 29 (Forced Labour Convention...
Foreign exchange (forex) reserves are liquid assets held by a country's central bank — typically in foreign currencies, gold, SDRs (Special Drawing Rights)...
A Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is a treaty between two or more countries to reduce or eliminate tariffs, quotas, and other trade barriers on goods and...
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), adopted in 1982 and in force since 1994, establishes the international legal framework for...
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, 1982) guarantees the right of 'transit passage' through international straits used for...
Trade in services is classified by the WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS, 1995) into four modes: Mode 1 (cross-border supply), Mode 2...
The Generalised System of Preferences is a US trade programme that allows duty-free imports from designated developing countries on specified products....
Artificial Intelligence governance has emerged as a critical frontier in international diplomacy. Multiple initiatives have sought to establish norms and...
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) tracks global food security through the Food Price Index (FFPI) and the Food Insecurity Experience Scale...
Global oil prices are determined by the interaction of OPEC+ supply decisions and IEA-side demand and stock dynamics. Understanding this architecture is...
Gold has been held as a reserve asset by central banks for centuries. While gold does not yield interest (unlike bonds), it is free from counterparty risk...
India is the world's largest recipient of remittances — receiving approximately $120-125 billion in FY25. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries...
The US military presence in the Gulf region constitutes one of the densest concentrations of American forward-deployed forces globally. This presence —...
Human trafficking is criminalised in India primarily under Section 370 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which was comprehensively reframed by the Criminal...
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), established in 1957 under its Statute, administers international safeguards to verify that nuclear material...
The India AI Impact Summit is an international summit on artificial intelligence scheduled at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, from 16 to 20 February 2026....
The India AI Impact Summit 2026 is the first global AI gathering hosted in the Global South, continuing the lineage of the UK AI Safety Summit (Bletchley...
India has significant strategic, economic, and demographic stakes in West Asia (the Middle East). Over 9 million Indian nationals live and work in GCC...
India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy, articulated under successive governments and strongly emphasised by the Modi administration since 2014, prioritises...
India's agricultural exports are regulated by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) under the Ministry of...
India is the world's third-largest domestic aviation market and a growing international hub. Indian carriers — IndiGo, Air India, Vistara — operate...
India assumed the BRICS Chairship in January 2026 under the theme 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability' — with the acronym...
India's deep ties with Russia — rooted in the Soviet-era 1971 Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation — have persisted despite India's...
Recognising its vulnerability to Middle East supply disruptions, India has systematically diversified its crude oil sourcing over the past decade. Russian...
The current account balance — the sum of trade balance, services balance, and primary income flows — is a key measure of a country's external financial...