Global heritage recognition has been regarded as an unquestionable honour for many years. The highest level of protection for a cultural site or tradition is thought to be a UNESCO designation, an international award, or widespread media coverage. Acknowledgement is celebrated as a combination of pride, validation, and preservation. Beneath this joyous story, however, is a more subdued and unsettling reality: rather than protecting heritage, global recognition frequently puts

Southeast Asia’s geopolitics and cultural diplomacy have become essential tools in the 21st century for establishing relationships that go beyond political strategies and economic interests. The relationship between China, India, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is the best example to understand the point of culture in International Relations. Illustration by The Geostrata Southeast Asia has been considered where East and West civilisations met, India an

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

In the ever-evolving educational landscape, India’s narrative has gained a drive with the Ramon Magsaysay Award 2025, which has been awarded to the Foundation to Educate Girls Encyclopedically.   Educate Girls, innovated in 2007, has made significant strides in pastoral and marginalised areas of the country, particularly Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.   Illustration by The Geostrata Some accolades are beyond being conventional; they embody transformative mileposts similar to R

The evocative music of a handloom is not merely the sound of weaving, it is a sound of civilisation. The delicate slide of natural cotton, the earthly scent of natural indigo dye, and the careful folding of a silk saree reserved across generations are more than fleeting moments. Illustration by The Geostrata They are fragments of a narrative that has been going on for the past 5,000 years: each of India, each of its unmeasured fabric, crafted by hand and entwined with soul. T

“ In a world in which all problems are global, there is no way countries can handle issues by themselves; we need global responses. ’’...

One of the pillars of our foreign policy has been an attempt to ‘Decolonise Multilateralism’. Discussing and reforming the 21st-Century multilateralism towards a more inclusive global commitment. Today India's voice carries strategic weight globally due to her enhanced economic power, political stability, and nuclear-capability. Illustration by The Geostrata Multilateralism however, needs to acknowledge current global crises viz. power shifts, geopolitical rivalries, zero-su

Dr. Shweta Singh, an associate professor of international relations at the South Asian University, New Delhi, India. She has also served...