Trade via the Shipki La Pass in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district between India and China was opened on August 1, 2026, after putting an end to a gap of six years in cross-border trade through this route. The diplomatic dialogue between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was one of those diplomatic endeavours that helped restart the border trade route. Illustration by The Geostrata State representatives issued official Khataks, and

The growing ties between India and Vietnam have always been traditionally viewed in the context of hard power realpolitik in the Indo-Pacific geopolitical landscape. Activities such as joint naval exercises, defense lines of credit, and strategic alignments in the South China Sea are cited as classic examples of pursuing a balance of power. Yet framing this partnership solely as a reactive response to security pressures overlooks its deepest foundation, which is a shared civi

WAS THE CEASEFIRE DESIGNED TO STOP THE WAR? The framing that the US and Iran are “still fighting” despite the Islamabad MOU contains an assumption that contains more than meets the eye. The assumption that the ceasefire was designed to stop the war is largely contradictory; it was designed to manage the war’s tempo while each side pursued objectives that were, to begin with, reconcilable at the negotiating table. Eleven days after Trump and Pezeshkian signed remotely from Ve

The durian is a fruit that divides people the moment they meet it. It smells strong, looks intimidating, and is loved deeply by those who take the time to get past the smell. Ambassador Gurjit Singh uses this fruit as the title of his new book, The Durian Flavour: India and ASEAN after a Decade of the Act East Policy, and it turns out to be a fitting choice. India's relationship with Southeast Asia, like the durian, is not something that gives itself up easily. It takes patie

From Cold War espionage satellites to tools of geopolitical dominance, Earth observation satellites have undergone radical changes. Information obtained through satellites today becomes crucial for shaping national security, economic, and military strategies. The war between Russia and Ukraine is one example where classified state information acquired via satellites can now be seen by everyone around the world. With the increasing tension between the USA and China, countries

The Golden Dome Missile Defence Initiative is a plan to create a new missile defence system announced by the United States in 2025. It is similar to Israel's Iron Dome, but much bigger and is sought to be even more effective. Unlike the Iron Dome, which is primarily designed to intercept short-range artillery projectiles, the Golden Dome aims to defend the entire United States against a wide spectrum of aerial threats. Illustration by The Geostrata It will integrate ground-ba

In July 2025, construction formally began on what will become the largest hydropower project in human history. Located at the great bend of the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibet, the Medog hydropower station is planned to generate 60,000 megawatts of electricity once operational, roughly three times the installed capacity of China's Three Gorges Dam and approximately equal to the entire annual power output of the United Kingdom. Illustration by The Geostrata The projected annual gener

The Indus Waters Treaty has been placed in abeyance by India, bringing about fresh worries over Pakistan's water security. However, the failing nation's fragility goes beyond the upstream geopolitics; it is also the result of decades of institutional sluggishness, under-investment and the failure to transform assured access to water into lasting economic resilience. Illustration by The Geostrata 2022 should have been a memorable summer for Pakistan, as it had excess water. Ra

For years, world energy politics had been centred around crude oil and the actions of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). But in recent decades, as the world shifts from fossil fuel to cleaner energy, the geopolitical balance is shifting from the oil wells to the mineral mines. And the most severe geopolitical tug-of-war is now taking place over key metals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel, which play a vital role in electric vehicle (EV) battery pr

For China, the nine-dash line is a strategic tool for reaffirming the controversial maritime claim in the South China Sea. This grey zone between international law and state power is not merely a regional territorial issue but an enhanced test of international order's stability. Illustration by The Geostrata In this era of national interest and frequent conflicts, the significance of international institutions is being critiqued for their effectiveness. UNCLOS is one such ins

India produces some of the world’s most talented and capable engineers. Its universities file patents at a pace that would make most countries envious. IIT Madras alone generated more than one patent a day in the year ending March 2025. India is home to over 100 unicorns and ranks as the world's largest startup ecosystem. Some of the most successful technology companies in the world are run by Indian origin engineers. And yet somewhere along the way India lags behind. Illust

The 20th century was the era of the aggressive extraction of rare-earth metals from the bowels of the earth. The strategic autonomy of the 21st century may well be defined by what grows under our feet. The global race for technological supremacy has become a brutal war over hardware as the geopolitical gulf between Washington and Beijing grows. The statecraft now is in semiconductors, data servers, and sophisticated communication arrays. But this high-tech, digital empire is

When the Philippines had its landmark BrahMos deal signed in 2022, it was not simply procuring a missile battery; it was signalling a strategic alignment with India, by supporting a rules-based maritime order against an assertive China in the South China Sea. That signal has since grown louder, with Vietnam in advanced discussions with India, and Indonesia has also expressed its interest in procuring BrahMos. Illustration by The Geostrata The export orders surge is as a resul

The first time it happens, it feels understandable. A military attack, an unusual satellite image, a diplomatic statement that is just “so worded” that it invites speculation. Social media begins assembling meaning in minutes, before facts can come out. Maps circulate. Threads multiply. Financial markets react. Observers predict escalation before governments have adequately responded. By the end of the day, millions of people around the world are emotionally invested in a ve

On a map, they are almost insultingly small. A chain of islands so minute that the eye skips past them, drawn instead to the vast blue nothing surrounding them. But the ocean is not just an empty space. It is a highway. And an island is the only place you can build a tollbooth. And yet these fragments of territory, which are remote, often uninhabited, and ecologically fragile, are among the most contested pieces of land on earth. Empires were built to control them. Treaties h

In January 2025, a US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza lasted barely 58 days before Israel launched a devastating wave of airstrikes, killing over 400 people overnight. Simultaneously, the US and Iran agreed to yet another ceasefire in April 2026, only for the US strikes to resume within weeks, leaving the truce on what Trump called “life support.” The pattern was similar; it's a reminder of what diplomacy alone cannot do. Signed agreements create pauses and not peace. In conflicts

FROM THE MCMOHAN LINE TO MODERN CLAIMS: THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF THE DISPUTE India's neighbourhood is marked by complex geopolitical realities, with both Pakistan and China posing distinct challenges to its security, diplomacy, and regional interests. The India-Pakistan relations are clearly adversarial in nature. In addition to cross-border terrorism, Pakistan uses a number of other asymmetric methods, such as narcoterrorism, disinformation campaigns, diplomatic hindrances, a

The most momentous trade route in Asia is not marked on any state cartography. It does not feature in economic surveys, permeate in infrastructure summits or govern headlines like nautical bottlenecks and energy corridors. Despite this, it traverses some of the continent's geopolitically charged, vulnerable terrain from the hinterlands of Afghanistan and the deserts of Iran to the untamed highlands of Myanmar and the turbulent borderlands of Northeast India. Its freight is ne

Contemporary India’s strategic environment is like the Chakravyuh from the Mahabharat. The Chakravyuh was a military formation, and it had multiple layers to not only attack but also isolate the opponent from all sides. Abhimanyu knew how to enter it but not how to exit. The present situation of India is similar to that of Abhimanyu’s. Illustration by The Geostrata The layers of the Chakravyuh are a strong analogy to the present layers of encirclement faced by India. The fir

The emergence of critical minerals is increasingly seen as a major driver of both national security and economic growth. This centrality of “future minerals” is driving a fundamental transformation in U.S. foreign policy. Washington's engagement with partner nations is being determined by a vision to diversify and secure supply chains despite global disruption. Within this evolving policy framework, Pakistan has emerged as an unexpected beneficiary due to the country's report