Publications : All
Topic
Interview | How To Bridge India’s Great Neighbourhood Divide
Constantino Xavier and Riya Sinha discuss how India can foster economic corridors and bridge the gap with its neighbours.Beyond the Coastline: India’s Land Connectivity Options around the Bay...
This paper argues that India must prioritise the development of multimodal transportation infrastructure beyond coastal areas to bridge the current gap between maritime and land-based initiatives around the Bay of Bengal and spur the creation of sub regional, regional, and inter-regional economic corridors.Podcast | A Fresh Look at India’s Neighborhood First Policy
Constantino Xavier joins Milan Vaishnav to assess the Modi government's approach to managing India's relationship with its neighbors across the Indo-Pacific in this episode of Carnegie's Grand Tamasha podcast.India’s Climate Diplomacy: New Priorities and Policy Options
This Policy Brief explores how India has transformed into a positive force on the global stage, achieving domestic climate targets and spearheading innovative approaches in climate diplomacy.Setting Course for the IMEC: Gaza War has Delayed Plans for the Corridor,...
The Israel-Hamas war has naturally compromised any significant movement on fleshing out the gigantic ambition of an economic corridor through one of the world’s most divisive, conflict-ridden regions.Podcast | COP28: Spotlight On Indian Climate Diplomacy
In the last one decade, India has cast itself as being part of the climate solution—which in turn has created the space for diplomatic negotiations.Bridging the North and South: Towards Sweden-India Development Cooperation...
Constantino Xavier's essay offers a policy roadmap to enable Sweden and India to implement joint development cooperation initiatives in third countries in the Indian Ocean region and East Africa.Climate Diplomacy Must Begin at Home
It is now time to invest in a strategic capacity so that India's climate diplomacy is better equipped to transform prevailing climate commitments into action.India’s Global Climate Strategy
India’s progress in driving the need for climate mitigation and adaptation has been commendable and swift. A key question is whether results in terms of reduced carbon emissions will arrive.Podcast | How India and China Compete in Non-Aligned South Asia and The...
China’s economic, diplomatic, and military activities in South Asia and the Indian Ocean island states have New Delhi concerned about Beijing’s growing influence in its neighborhood. In this episode of Global India, Tanvi Madan discusses with Constantino Xavier about how India is responding.Tracks to Transition: India’s Global Climate Strategy
An increasingly competitive geopolitical context is fragmenting global climate governance and traditional modes of multilateral cooperation. The report maps both what has been done in the past as well as the avenues towards a comprehensive climate strategy built on greater policy coordination and expanded state capacity for India to engage externally.India is Adapting to the Shifting Climate Terrain
India has a unique opportunity to use the G20 presidency to drive climate cooperation as crises abound and the desire for deep climate action is dwindling.India-China Rivalry Not Episodic or Contextual but Structural: Experts
It is not exactly true that India's rivalry with China is spoken of only in hushed tones. The Indian strategic community is quite vocal about this reality, & this rivalry is not limited to South AsiaMore of the same? India’s Strategic Balance
In this episode of the Hopkins Podcast on Foreign Affairs, Constantino Xavier discusses India’s foreign policy and its relationship with Russia.How China Engages South Asia: Themes, Partners and Tools
Based on eight case studies by analysts and scholars from Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka, the report examines China’s growing role in a range of sectors in these four countries, including education, public diplomacy, technology, social media, civil society, party politics, religion, and governance.Interview | Constantino Xavier on Operation Kaveri
WION News speaks to Constantino Xavier on Operation Kaveri and the crisis in Sudan.Podcast | India’s Strategic Shift
Constantino Xavier discusses India’s foreign policy and its relationship with Russia.Podcast | Connectivity and Cooperation in the Bay of Bengal Region
In this episode of South Asia Chat, Ramita Iyer, Research Analyst, ISAS, speaks to the editors of the report - Constantino Xavier, and Amitendu Palit about the prospects and challenges in the region.India’s vishwa guru ambitions need to be backed by resources,...
Man power and resources can strengthen India's vishwa guru ambition. It will need those resources for cooperation and competition with other countries.Connectivity and Cooperation in the Bay of Bengal Region
While the Bay of Bengal is located at the fulcrum of the Indo-Pacific, between the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, it continues to act more as a divider than a link between land and maritime neighbours such as IndiaHow India Budgets to Become a Leading Power
Constantino Xavier and Riya Sinha comment on the MEA Budget and how India can become a leading power in an increasingly uncertain, competitive and complex international arena.CO23016 | India’s Optimism for a New Regional Order
The global pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have had a dual structural impact that accelerated Asia’s regional transition, which has been slowly evolving amidst rising US-China competition. India sees the ongoing disruption as a challenge, but also as an opportunity to realize its role as a bridging power to shape a new ...India: Looking to Help Frame a New Global Balance
India has been playing a silent but important role in pushing Brussels...and other European capitals, to recognise that the future global balance of power hinges on what happens in Asia.Putting Women at the Centre of Foreign Policy
More than a moral mission, by nurturing a feminist dimension in its Neighbourhood First policy, India will be able to better achieve its regional interests, says Riya Sinha and Constantino Xavier.Synopsis of Indian Thinking about China, 2018-2022
Constantino Xavier and Gil Rozman trace the evolution of Indian thinking about China from 2018-22 and recognize linkages with its response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.Why is Sri Lanka in Crisis, and What Comes Next?
Constantino Xavier looks at how Sri Lanka’s governing choices over many years led to crisis, the difficult reforms ahead, and the implications of the collapse for other developing nations throughout Asia and Africa.India can Act today to Shape Tomorrow’s Terms of Connectivity with...
Trade incentives, border infrastructure or any other such unilateral initiatives are simple, low-cost ways for Delhi to reverse the lost time and rising costs of India-Pakistan disconnectivity.Sikkim and the Geostrategic Lessons from Himalayan History
The Indo-Sikkim Treaty of 1950 was a recognition of the fact that Tibet’s occupation by China had compromised India’s strategic interests and Sikkim had become of particular relevance to the future security of India.In Dialogue with Jaimini Bhagwati on “The Geoeconomic Effects of the...
Jaimini Bhagwati, Distinguished Fellow, CSEP, and former Indian Foreign Service officer, talks to Constantino Xavier, Fellow, CSEP about the impact of the Russia-Ukraine crises on India's economic interests in the short and medium term.In Dialogue with Shivshankar Menon on the Russia-Ukraine War
In the first episode of In Dialogue, Shivshankar Menon, Distinguished Fellow, CSEP, and former NSA, talks to Constantino Xavier, Fellow, CSEP, about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis, India’s stand, and the implications in the Indo-pacific region.Interpreting India at the Summit for Democracy
For the Indian government, the future of democracy is being played out in Asia and Africa, where states are experimenting with competing governance models amidst China’s growing autocratic influence.From Democracy Summit to Global Democratic Agenda?
This policy brief focuses on one very specific element: the question of how a meaningful participation of Asian, African, and Latin American democracies can best be encouraged and ensured. The paper offers 5 ideas for maximizing their future involvement.How India’s Gati Shakti Plan Can Have an Impact Beyond Its Borders
India's Gati Shakti plan can generate positive spillover effects, strengthen India’s economic ties with its neighbours.India’s Failure to Help Afghan Friends is a Strategic Liability
The Afghan crisis reflects the absence of systems and capability to protect India’s local partners in active conflict zones. More than a moral issue, this failure is also a strategic liability.India’s New Consulates and Subnational Diplomacy in South Asia
Constantino Xavier and Nitikar Nayar discuss how New Delhi's engagement with diverse subnational groups both within and across its borders will help define the future course of connectivity in South Asia.India is Failing its Afghan Friends
The absence of an asylum and evacuation system to protect partners in conflict zones is extracting costs, writes Constantino Xavier.Should India Keep Quad Out of the Neighbourhood?
Constantino Xavier discusses policy consequences and the impact of India being perceived as a part of the "non-China" camp.Still Non-Aligned? Sri Lankan Politics and Foreign Policy
How Sri Lanka's internal politics and socio-economic changes under the Rajapaksas-led government inform Colombo's foreign policyEurope from Portugal to the Indo-Pacific
The unprecedented EU-India summit deepened ties but was also a political signal that Europe wants more weight in the Indo-Pacific.Partition and Pragmatism in India-Pakistan Relations
In Pallavi Raghavan's new book, we find out how a history of India-Pakistan cooperation 70 years ago matters to foreign policy nowIndia’s long game with the Generals
New Delhi will say what it can and do what it must. Expect public support for democracy and private engagement with the regime.Regional Connectivity and India’s BIMSTEC Policy
This paper reviews how regionalism is making a comeback in the Bay of Bengal, the challenges of connectivity, and the opportunities and limitations of India’s new approach to BIMSTEC.Connect East: Explaining India’s BIMSTEC focus
India’s growing interest in BIMSTEC reflects a geo-economic priority to correct the exceptional connectivity gap that continues to divide the Bay of Bengal region.Infrastructure across the India-Nepal borderlands: A photo-essay
This visual essay covers fieldwork and findings on how land acquisition and related challenges have delayed strategic infrastructure projects.Make way for connectivity projects
Nepal and India should focus more on the strategic objective of developing infrastructure.When land comes in the way: India’s connectivity infrastructure in Nepal
Land acquisition and lack of coordination has delayed India's development cooperation projects in neighbouring countriesBhutan’s democratic transition and ties to India
In this edition, Dr. Constantino Xavier interviews Dr. Sonam Kinga on his book “Democratic Transition in Bhutan: Political Contests as Moral Battles” published in October 2019 by Routledge India. The Himalayan kingdoms of Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan offer comparative insights on how traditional Hindu and Buddhist monarchies have witnessed different political fates. ...Interpreting the India-Nepal border dispute
On May 8, India’s defence minister virtually inaugurated a new 80 km-long road in the Himalayas, connecting to the border with China, at the Lipulekh pass. The Nepali government protested immediately, contending that the road crosses territory that it claims and accusing India of changing the status quo without diplomatic consultations. Among ...Interview: On India’s neighbourhood, regional institutions and...
Q. Given your expertise in South Asia, by making use of the framework established within comparative politics how do you make sense of India’s South Asian policies in recent times? To what extent does it differ for various regional settings such as BIMSTEC, BBIN, and SAARC? Constantino Xavier: The big puzzle that ...Is India still the neighbourhood’s education hub?
Introduction India has long been an education hub for students from its neighbourhood.[2] Besides economic benefits, India’s capacity to attract students from neighbouring countries has helped it to form closer political ties and spread its cultural influence and values to the surrounding region. India’s ability to provide quality higher education is a ...Sambandh as Strategy: India’s new approach to regional connectivity
Marked by a history of political divisions, economic differences, and geostrategic divergences, the Indian subcontinent remains deeply divided, with exceptionally low levels of integration. No other regional power is as disconnected from its immediate neighbourhood as India. Recognising this disconnect as a challenge to India’s economic and security interests, Prime Minister Narendra ...Is Modi’s balancing act a reworking of India’s classic...
How many acronyms can one invent to signal a country’s foreign policy interests? Many, if you are Narendra Modi. The Indian prime minister recently spoke about an India-France “In-Fra” alliance. Last year he reportedly coined or popularized the JAI (Japan, America, India) and RIC (Russia, India, China) trilaterals. There’s also his SAGAR ...India 2024: A neighbourly India
The South Asian neighbourhood has become a new foreign policy priority in recent years, mostly in reaction to China’s expanding footprint. In 2014, New Delhi shifted gears with its “Neighbourhood First” policy and focused more on the region than most preceding governments. However, these efforts were far too late and too little ...India attempts to empower BIMSTEC after realising its limitations
Diplomats and foreign policy experts are puzzled by the absence of a “big announcement” or a major breakthrough from the fourth summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). How will Prime Minister Narendra Modi claim victory from a bland declaration? Sometimes, no news is good ...