India's trade policy since independence has been rooted in self-sufficiency and protectionism, which makes India's trade remarkably different. The first three and a half decades after independence were governed by very high tariffs, tight import restrictions, and a complex 'licence raj'   system to encourage young Indian industries, while protecting many sectors. Illustration by The Geostrata This self-sufficiency encouraged domestic manufacturing, but at the same time, it ha

The Hindu epic Mahabharata is far more than just an epic poem featuring noble ideals, supernatural characters, and atrocious conflicts that end in a manufactured peace. It's not a moral and theological discourse built around a long story, as many academics would have us believe; it stands for the very contemporary notions of policy and diplomatic tactics that we see in the world today, and its lessons echo through our administrative institutions. Illustration by The Geostrata

Trade conversations between the United States and India often focus on tariffs and technicalities, but the two giant trading partners share a much larger concern . This is especially true in agriculture. Illustration by The Geostrata The US relies on large, export-oriented farms, whereas India’s agricultural sector is composed of millions of small farmers who require steady prices to survive. What looks like a policy conversation on paper becomes an argument about defending t

The governments of India and the United Kingdom announced a landmark Free Trade Agreement with symmetry on 6 May 2025 and formally signed this agreement on 24 July 2025. Throughout this process, India’s Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) played a critical and often informal role in providing strategic coordination, direction, and oversight to the international significance of this event. Illustration by The Geostrata By illuminating the PMO’s role, we gain insight into how the hig

When we talk about Pakistan, trade is not what we immediately think of; well, it comes naturally that the country is rather infamous for being enrolled in an economic crisis, surviving on loans and handouts by the IMF and its ‘AAKA’s from the Persian Gulf. Illustration by The Geostrata Rather than exporting goods and services, they export terrorism across the world. If we take a close look at their trade books, we can see that their aggregate annual exports stand at $ 36.5 bi

Under the multifaceted networks of economic safety, cross-connections that exceed traditional supply-chain models can be found in complex geotechnical, technological, and financial networks  that redesign the business at a distant level. Illustration by The Geostrata Mapping these constellations of conflict and the relative permanence of ProKin, researchers shed light on the interdependence and dependence of risk and opportunity inherent in interlinkages of semiconductor sup

The People's Republic of China, founded in 1949, has always had a thirst for power and dominance. In the beginning, while it was protecting and conquering lands, it left the coasts unguarded. A brutal mistake to commit. Illustration by The Geostrata It was only in the late 1970s that Deng Xiaoping's reforms transformed the coast into China’s economic engine. Exports and the presence of ports tied China’s survival to maritime security. Yet, by the 1990s, clashes in the South C

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