… India’s significant stakes are expected to increase in future … regional expectations for a more proactive strategic engagement by New Delhi … China’s dramatically expanding naval forays in the IOR threatens India’s primacy in its prime theatre … imperative for India to further her power projection ...

During the month, the VIF Pakistan Study Group discussed critical issues shaping Pakistan's current landscape. Among the key topics deliberated were the post-election political dynamics, judiciary crisis, status of political figures Nawaz Sharif and Imran Khan, terrorism escalation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, Shehbaz Sharif's Saudi Arabia visit, and Afghanistan-Pakistan relations. Following February's parliamentary elections, tensions surged among major parties, leading to disqualification of PTI-backed SIC by the Election Commission.

The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organised a two-day International Strategic Engagement Programme (IN-STEP) module on March 26-27, 2024, for 37 senior policymakers (both civil and military) including 29 from overseas. The overseas participants came from 21 countries, namely Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Comoros, Guyana, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Surinam, Tanzania, and Thailand.

Due to its geographical contiguity and cultural affinity with Xinjiang and linkage with the Silk Route by means of much frequented Srinagar-Leh-Yarkand-Kashgar route, Kashmir played an important role in India’s relations with Central Asia since early times. But in modern times, the extent and pattern of political and commercial contacts between Kashmir and Xinjiang was conditioned by the Anglo-Russian rivalry over Central Asia.