Acknowledged by many as a rising power, India’s international priorities and actions seek a greater role for itself globally and regionally. Foreign policy is being given a lot of attention as is being constantly shaped and confronted with challenges and opportunities of a multi-polar global order. Centre stage are trade, economic, defense and strategic partnerships as is India’s emerging and undisputed role in global and regional governance forums like the G-20, BRICS, ASEAN, BIMSTEC. Undeniably, India is a weighty player in multi-lateral negotiations of trade and climate talks and at global institutions such as the IAEA, seeking to change the rules at the IMF and a permanent seat for itself at the UN Security Council. Furthermore, India’s new status as a donor and a stakeholder in the emerging international financial architecture such as the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank is giving it strategic and political mileage.
Civil society engagement however, on the underlying policy premises of International (and Regional) India has not received the attention it deserves. There has been little systematic response, research and domestic debate on the new contexts of international relations and co-operation, wherein questions of foreign, security and developmental policy are increasingly getting intertwined. Given this background, with the objective of raising awareness and engagement, hbs supports civil society based analyses, debates, publications and seminars on the subject.