Greetings, everyone, We are happy to launch the 2025 edition of the Geomaga. In a way the year 2025 has been a year of national security. From Operation Sindoor against Pakistan to strikes on Myanmar and from technological advancements in the defence sector to the renewed focus on self-reliance, these are the broad spectrum of issues that have dominated the popular intellectual discourse throughout the year. Cover by The Geostrata In this edition of the Geomaga, we have inclu

He spoke the language of poetry, but he thought in the grammar of geopolitics. Jawaharlal Nehru was not only the political architect of independent India; he was also the architect of its identity in the world. When he took over as leader in 1947, India was a battered, partitioned country, impoverished from colonial exploitation and unsure about its future. Illustration by The Geostrata But Nehru envisioned something more significant than survival; he imagined an India that c

Power is rarely exercised in isolation; it goes beyond laws and policies and into the realm of persuasion and perception. Authority ultimately remains in the hands of the leader and their ability to evoke, persuade and mobilise collective imagination. Illustration by The Geostrata Long before the advent of social media, politics unfolded on streets and marketplaces where the audience was not just passive observers but active members in shaping a narrative and leading to a rev

Languages are disappearing around the world at an unprecedented pace. UNESCO’s   Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger (2023) estimates that a language dies roughly every two weeks, a quiet death that erases an entire way of viewing and understanding the world. Each time a language dies, we lose more than just the words; we lose a cultural universe of myths, songs, humour, and history. Illustration by The Geostrata In India, a country with what is usually described as lin

South Asia is characterized by a geopolitically volatile environment within contemporary global power dynamics. Once viewed as an arena where India’s influence was unquestionable, it is now marked by political uncertainty, regime shifts, never-ending hostilities, security tensions, and competitiveness, along with external influence, particularly China. Collectively, these developments have changed the landscape of South Asia into a contested domain rather than a collaborative

“When the state whose Babasaheb Ambedkar gave India its constitution, stumbles, it's truly a time to do political course correction.” The election season of the year is back in full swing, and this time the boiling pot is Maharashtra. The state with the highest urbanisation index is currently undergoing the process of electing all its urban local bodies in the form of municipalities and municipal corporations. Illustration by The Geostrata It is these elections that matter fo

The India-ASEAN narrative has evolved from a position of optimism in 2017 as the dialogue partnership turned 25, to a narrative of resurgence in 2022, and finally, the narrative of strategic repositioning and imperative reclamation as of today. What started as an executionary mechanism to India’s Look East Policy has now given rise to a regional partnership that has withstood geopolitical tremors and a systemic dismantling of the global order.

NATO-India relations have evolved significantly into a global defence and political importance. In an ever-evolving global trend marked by realignment and cataclysmic effects of globalisation, the participatory framework of partnerships with non-member states from different geographical regions shapes the democratic and security interests of nations beyond the transatlantic community. Cover by The Geostrata The relations between NATO and India go back to the events of ‘9/11’,

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has swiftly broken into the global hierarchy of space launch providers, proving itself as a formidable competitor in the heavy launch vehicle market. While SpaceX is widely recognised for its reusable technology and the European Space Agency known for its cemented historical prestige, ISRO has established itself as a “reliable cost-efficient leader” for medium-to-heavy-lift missions. Illustration by The Geostrata By combining comp

Western media, movies, and think tanks continue to dominate the global narrative of India, which frequently focuses on issues such as poverty, overcrowding, gender issues, religious tensions, and politics. Although these challenges are real, India's achievements in innovation, development, and global ambitions. This limited view reduces India to a collection of problems rather than seeing it as a developing nation influencing the future. Illustration by The Geostrata Even wor

The partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 did not merely divide territory but set in motion a prolonged geopolitical contest over the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.   Cover by The Geostrata Although the Instrument of Accession legally integrated Jammu and Kashmir into the Indian Union but Pakistan’s invasion and continued occupation of parts of the erstwhile state gave rise to what are now referred to as Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit-Baltistan, and s

The international system was built on the implicit assumption of normalcy for many years. Stable times were thought to be the default state of world affairs, interspersed with sporadic crises that upset the status quo but were eventually resolved, such as wars, economic downturns, and pandemics. Institutions, models of governance, and diplomatic expectations were all influenced by this worldview. That presumption is no longer valid today. Illustration by The Geostrata Instead

The structure of labour laws in India for the past seven decades was not only filled with a web of bureaucracy and complex, sometimes overlapping, rules, but also incompatible with the vision of the new industrial and innovative India. Illustration by The Geostrata This reality was embraced by the Government of India and the Ministry of Labour and Employment when Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya introduced four new bills to the parliament, which replaced the web of the previo

India’s nuclear trajectory is marked by scientific ambitions, technological self-reliance and isolation from international politics. The nuclear sector was mainly governed by the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, which was a highly centralised and state controlled framework, prioritising safety and sovereignty. Later legislations, like Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 addressed accountability and victim compensation for nuclear incidents. 

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) constitute over 95% of formal enterprises in both ASEAN Member States and India, serving as a critical engine for employment, innovation, and inclusive economic growth. Despite their significance, MSMEs continue to face deeply rooted structural constraints ranging from financing gaps and limited technological capacity to regulatory fragmentation and exclusion from regional value chains. Illustration by The Geostrata The COVID-19 pa

The Defence Procurement Manual (DPM) 2025 is a revision of DPM 2009, which instates the rule for revenue procurement (spares, repairs, MRO, ICT, services). The DPM 2025 came into force on 1st November 2025. This roughly governs Rs. One Lakh Crore of annual revenue procurement by the three Services and MoD Organisations. Cover by The Geostrata DPM 2025 is divided into two volumes: Volume I- This highlights the principles, procurement methods, delegated authorities, contract ru

Why empathy, identity, and collective behaviour shape the future of diplomacy “Behind every handshake and policy lies something subtler, the sociology of human behaviour.” Every summit hall, joint statement, and diplomatic gesture carries more than strategic intent; it carries emotion, memory, and meaning. While diplomacy is often framed as the language of power and national interest, the forces that sustain trust, legitimacy, and influence are deeply social. Illustration by

The US Department of War (formerly Department of Defense) submitted its latest annual report on Chinese military and security developments to the US Congress, highlighting Beijing's military expansion, both horizontal and vertical, its growing dominance in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, cyber warfare, etc., leading to wider implications in the Indo-Pacific, Africa, and Latin America. Illustration by The Geostrata The report also claims that the Indian northeastern s

India-Pakistan relations, marred by historical rivalry, extend beyond the creation of the Radcliffe Line. The roots lie far deeper, predating the partition by almost a century. The Two-Nation theory, often regarded as the ideological framework that stemmed from the idea of a separate nation, with Mohammad Ali Jinnah as its key proponent, has a civilisational history of a series of movements that contributed to institutionalising the concept of Pakistan.

The Sahel is a thin stretch of dry land that cuts across Africa. It sits between the Sahara and the savannas. The resources are scarce, and power is in a vacuum; these pressures pit groups against each other,  making the Sahel account for 51 per cent of all terrorism deaths in 2024 . Ethnic tensions run deep. In central Mali and parts of Burkina Faso, the clashes between herders and farmers are now more frequent . These fights didn’t just start recently - instead, they’ve wor