Thirty years is a long time to have a relationship without showing up. Despite the absence of a prime ministerial visit between 1993 and 2026, India and Slovakia consistently strengthened their diplomatic, defense, and economic partnership. The lack of a high-level visit did not diminish the importance either country attached to the relationship, which continued to grow through sustained engagement across multiple sectors. Modi came to Bratislava in June, and commentaries soo

Human judgement is influenced not only by facts but also by how those facts are presented. The 21st century is an era that has seen transformation in how narratives are created, shared, and consumed. Digital content that reaches global audiences instantly and at an unprecedented scale. In the geopolitical sphere, perceptions of countries have been shaped not by direct experience but by selective framing. The way a country is portrayed influences diplomacy, strategic partnersh

The Teesta has always been more than just a river. It became a source of livelihood for the thousands of villages that strung along its banks and the millions who farm its floodplains. For decades, its flow has been a part of contention between New Delhi and Dhaka. While Bangladesh sends diplomatic notes to India asking for accountability, India demands a fair share of the waters. Somewhere in the middle of this, China has stepped in. Illustration by The Geostrata Two countr

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

The partition severed a continent from the Indian perspective. Every direct land route India could have used to reach Central Asia in historic arteries through Peshawar, Kandahar, and Khyber fell on the hostile side of the frontier. For years after independence, India’s Central Asia policy has rested more on a wish than a plan. There is indirect hope that Pakistan would permit transit or that Afghanistan stabilises enough as a worthy substitute. Illustration by The Geostrata

In April of 2025, terrorists linked to the Pakistani organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) perpetrated one of the heinous acts of terror against innocent civilians in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, in India. In the aftermath of the attack, India took many strategic, military and diplomatic steps to secure its national interest. One such step was the decision to place the Indus Water Treaty, 1960, in abeyance. Infographic by Eurasian Meridian For more than six decades, the Indus Wa

$54 billion will be spent by the U.S. Department of Defense on autonomous warfare technology, even as it remains undecided as to what these technologies are really authorised to do. Rather, it is an operational gap being widened at the very time that speed and scale are wiping out the decision hierarchies of war. Illustration by The Geostrata With the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group (DAWG) budget proposal for fiscal year 2026-27 and National Security Presidential Memorandum

Beijing has witnessed two high-stakes summits. U.S. President Donald Trump’s state visit from the 13th to the 15th of May, 2026, which resulted in a transactional framework of "constructive strategic stability,” stood in stark contrast to the arrival of the Russian President Vladimir Putin on the 19th of May to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship. Illustration by The Geostrata By hosting these rival leaders in rapid succession, China dem

The synergy of India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has advanced into one of the most pivotal strategic partnerships in the contemporary international system. Once propelled by energy trade and diaspora connections, bilateral ties today integrate trade, investment, food security, technology, infrastructure, defence cooperation, renewable energy, and regional diplomacy. Illustration by The Geostrata This depicts a broader similarity of priorities, especially because India

In 2019, Delhi left the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) due to concerns regarding asymmetric exposure to unchecked Chinese manufacturing for the Indian market through ASEAN routes. The exit was not irrational by any means; the concerns about arbitrage regarding rules of origin were justified. However, this has left India as the largest economy in the region behind China, without a diversified trade anchor to rely on. Illustration by The Geostrata Now, joini

Taiwan's coast guard reported on 6 June that a Chinese coast guard vessel and an oceanographic survey ship operated in unison around the Pratas Islands, the first documented case of paired civilian-coded assets at this remote atoll. The conventional read frames this as another grey-zone irritation, one of more than thirty annual incursions since February 2024, to be absorbed and ignored. Illustration by Geopolitics Next That reading misses the structural shift. Pratas sits as

There is a persistent illusion in international relations that states choose, once and for all, between idealism and realism. The foreign policies of India and the United States both demolish this illusion as these countries speak the language of universal values while simultaneously practising something far older and far less sentimental. Illustration by The Geostrata TWO FRAMEWORKS, ONE WORLD Let’s first explore the world of realism and idealism quickly. Immanuel Kant, in h

The architecture of global finance has rested on two interconnecting pillars for decades: the US dollar and the SWIFT messaging network. SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) connects over 11,500 institutions in more than 200 countries and handles around 44 million messages a day. It does not move money itself but coordinates the instructions that enable cross-border payments. All while the dollar sits at the centre of this system as the dominant

For far too long, the European Union has treated Pakistan as a strategic exception. That needs to change, as it continues to repeatedly violate nearly everything the EU stands for. At a time when Pakistan continues to enable extremism and suppress dissent, the EU can no longer hide behind diplomatic niceties. Illustration by Eurasian Meridian And to its credit, the EU has often acted with patience and the belief that engagement is better than isolation. The EU must begin aski

“As the global dynamics evolve, the neighbourhood around New Delhi has gained momentum to strengthen and modernise its democratic systems.” After the 2022 regime change in Sri Lanka, two other nation-states, Bangladesh and Nepal, have now undergone the same by establishing new governments. This political shift in India's neighbourhood has brought the opportunity for New Delhi to reset its ties and emerge as a more trusted partner in the subcontinent. Illustration by The Geost

For decades, Pakistan maintained its fundamental belief, which held that the Muslim Brotherhood of the Gulf would support Pakistan during any conflict with India over Kashmir. The financial connections to Riyadh, Abu Dhabi, and Doha served as economic lifelines for Islamabad. The Gulf states functioned as moral protectors in Islamabad's strategic vision. The Gulf would support the ummah when the moment arrived. The moment arrived, but the Gulf states did not respond. Illustra

On 12 April 2026, Hungary, for the first time in sixteen long years, welcomed a new government to the seat of power. In a watershed moment in Hungarian politics, around 79.5% of Hungary’s electorate turned out to vote in a monumental exercise of democracy. Viktor Orbán, the man who had dominated the seat of power since 2010, was defeated by Peter Magyar by a landslide margin of 138-55. Illustration by The Geostrata This change in governments is not a mere change in ruling par

The Popular opinion today is that the 2026 Middle East conflict between Israel, Iran, and the U.S.A has fundamentally destabilised the world’s largest oil importer, China. Contrary to this opinion, Beijing is rather successfully converting this systemic threat into its strategic advantage. While its regional peers in Asia face existential supply risks, China’s decade-long engineered resilience, anchored by 1.3 billion barrels of strategic petroleum reserves and alternative pi

“There are no permanent friends or allies, only permanent interests.” This quote by Lord Palmerston significantly underlines the fragile nature of relationships in the geopolitical arena, which is increasingly becoming more dynamic and complex in structure. The approach of one size fits all has become obsolete, and nations are embracing a more fluid framework in their pursuit of diplomatic outreach. Illustration by The Geostrata The 27-country European Union is the U.S.’s la

The US-Iran Ceasefire requires more investigation to show that Pakistan's alleged role as mediator is both exaggerated and misinterpreted. Islamabad presents itself as a diplomatic power, yet its actual work consists of serving as a liaison between major international players. The evaluation of ceasefire stability over the coming months requires this distinction between the two categories. Illustration by The Geostrata Pakistan’s conduct during the crisis was, by most ac