European Union

A Call for Action: Meditations on the EU’s Indo-Pacific Strategy in light of the 4th Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum and AOIP 2025

As the EU’s 4th Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum (IPMF) took place in Brussels on the 20th and 21st of November 2025, the European Union faces a pivotal moment. Despite grand declarations, Brussels’ impact in the region remains constrained by episodic engagement and an overreliance on formal diplomatic channels, notwithstanding efforts to engage with civil society and other relevant stakeholders. How can the EU explore potential alternative channels of diplomacy to establish lasting, practical, and realistic partnerships with its Indo-Pacific partners? By leveraging European expertise as a result of private-sector champions, while simultaneously working together on developing capacity-building initiatives on the ground, the EU may transform its strategy from rhetoric into tangible action and show its partners it is serious about its commitments.

The Joint Communication on a New Strategic EU-India Agenda: Will Brussels and New Delhi Deliver?

The EU’s Joint Communication on a New Strategic EU–India Agenda, released in September 2025, signals a renewed push to elevate India as a core strategic partner. Centred on trade, technology, security, connectivity, and global governance, the agenda reflects shared interests amid growing geopolitical uncertainty. While economic potential and security cooperation are significant, persistent trade barriers and regulatory frictions remain. Its success will hinge on effective implementation, with the partnership offering scope to support international stability and strengthen multilateral cooperation.

India and China Re-engage at the SCO: A Signal of a Shifting Multipolar Order

At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) 25th Summit in Tianjin, China, the image of Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, and Narendra Modi clasping hands captured a shifting geopolitical order. Once dismissed as a merely symbolic forum, the SCO is emerging as a platform for financial innovation, technological coordination, and diplomatic thaw—most notably between India and China. Its evolution signals a broader attempt to redefine the architecture of global governance.

Infrastructure Financing in Sri Lanka: Lessons Learnt and Future Collaboration

Over the past decade, Sri Lanka has seen a steady rise in foreign debt, largely as a result of unsustainable infrastructural loans. This debt was exacerbated by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the highly remunerative tourism sector majorly impacted. In early 2021, the government was forced to declare a state of economic emergency amidst a distressing fall in the value of the Sri Lankan Rupee.