Bharat China Economy Geopolitics International Leadership Policy

India and the Next BRICS: Turning Diversity into Strategic Influence

Sankalp Singh Chauhan India’s historic BRICS Presidency comes at a defining moment for the global order. Its challenge is not to build another bloc, but to make a more diverse world capable of working together. What began as BRIC, Brazil, Russia, India and China, formally came together at its first summit in Yekaterinburg in 2009, transformed it into BRICS after South Africa’s inclusion. For more than a decade the five-country grouping steadily developed cooperation in finance, development and global governance. The major expansion of 2024 brought Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates into the fold, while Indonesia joined in 2025, taking BRICS to 11 full members. India now assumes the chair at a particularly consequential moment: the grouping has evolved from a compact association of emerging economies into a much broader platform representing a significant voice of the Global South. The world itself is entering an era of profound geopolitical and economic realignment. Wars and conflicts, supply-chain disruptions, economic uncertainty, technological competition and growing dissatisfaction with existing multilateral institutions are reshaping the international system. Against this backdrop, India’s 2026 Presidency is not merely another turn in the rotational calendar; it is an opportunity to shape what the expanded BRICS becomes next. With 11 full members, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, BRICS now has considerably greater geopolitical and economic weight. Its influence is further widened by 10 partner countries viz., Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. This expansion gives BRICS greater reach, but also a harder task: how can countries with different political systems, economic interests and strategic priorities translate diversity into cooperation? That is where India can make a distinctive contribution. From Expansion to Delivery: India’s presidency has an opportunity to move BRICS beyond declarations and towards practical cooperation. The priorities are clear: trade and investment, resilient supply chains, energy and food security, health, climate action, digital public infrastructure, technology, connectivity and reform of global institutions. The test will be whether these priorities produce institutions and mechanisms that citizens and businesses can actually use. India’s experience with digital public infrastructure offers an important model. Greater interoperability of digital payment systems, cross-border transactions and financial technology could lower transaction costs and strengthen economic ties across the Global South. The ambition should be neither isolation from the West nor confrontation with it. It should be strategic autonomy combined with inclusive multilateralism. The Currency Question: Few ideas surrounding BRICS attract as much attention as the possibility of a BRICS currency. Yet credibility requires distinguishing aspiration from reality. A common currency is not an established BRICS policy. The more immediate and practical path is the expansion of local-currency trade, payment-system interoperability and alternative cross-border financial mechanisms. Over time, these could evolve into a broader financial architecture, including a possible common unit of account or other settlement mechanism, without requiring an immediate monetary union. The objective is therefore not simply “de-dollarisation.” It is to create more choice, resilience and efficiency in international finance. BRICS as an Innovation Platform: The next phase of BRICS should also be defined by technological cooperation. Artificial intelligence, semiconductors, biotechnology, quantum technologies, space, clean energy, agricultural technology and digital commerce offer areas where emerging economies can move from being technology consumers to technology creators. A BRICS innovation ecosystem, supported by research partnerships, start-up networks, technology funds and easier movement of knowledge and capital, could become one of the grouping’s most consequential long-term projects. Equally important are areas of human security: affordable healthcare, food security, climate resilience, disaster management and sustainable infrastructure. A Wider Global South: The expansion of BRICS has made its relationship with the wider developing world increasingly important. Partner countries and BRICS Plus outreach can give smaller and emerging economies a greater voice without requiring every country to become a full member. This broader architecture could become one of BRICS’s greatest strengths, provided expansion does not overwhelm decision-making. India’s diplomatic challenge is therefore to build consensus without sacrificing ambition. What Success Should Look Like: The success of India’s Presidency should ultimately be judged not by the number of declarations issued, but by what changes after the summit. First, BRICS should deliver measurable progress in trade and investment, including easier market access, stronger supply-chain resilience, greater MSME participation and mechanisms that make South-South commerce faster and less costly. Second, it should advance a genuinely connected digital and financial architecture. Interoperable payment systems, greater use of national currencies and more efficient cross-border settlements could provide an immediate, practical foundation for deeper financial cooperation. Third, success should mean tangible cooperation in energy, food, health and climate security. In a world vulnerable to energy shocks, food disruptions, pandemics and extreme weather, these are not peripheral development issues; they are questions of global stability. Fourth, BRICS should create an innovation and technology agenda capable of connecting universities, researchers, entrepreneurs and industries across member and partner countries. Cooperation in AI, semiconductors, biotechnology, quantum technology, space and clean energy could determine whether the Global South becomes merely a larger market or a major source of future innovation. Finally, India’s Presidency should strengthen the voice of developing countries in global governance. Reform of institutions such as the United Nations, IMF and World Bank should aim at greater representation, legitimacy and responsiveness, not at replacing one hierarchy with another. Perhaps the most important measure of success will be whether BRICS can demonstrate that geopolitical diversity does not have to produce institutional paralysis. Can countries with competing strategic interests still cooperate on issues of common interest? Can BRICS remain economically ambitious without becoming an anti-Western alliance? Can its expanded membership create wider representation without diluting effectiveness? And can India preserve its role as a bridge between competing centres of power? If the answer is yes, BRICS could move from being primarily a grouping of emerging economies to becoming a credible platform for a more balanced international system. India’s role will be central to that transition. India has

Bharat Education Hindus Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)

Going Beyond Government!

Broad civic engagement as part of RSS transformative agenda draws heavily from Bharat’s ancient ethos to build a modern society. Vinod Kumar Shukla Foundational philosophy of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) posits that Vyakti Nirman (individual / personality development), coupled with Charitra Nirman (character building) and Samaj Nirman (social development) naturally culminates to Rashtra Nirman (nation-building). These core tenets have guided the organization since its inception. This enduring commitment stems from a deeply held conviction that true societal progress requires awakening citizens to their fundamental duties toward society and nation for greater collective good. By systematically undertaking symbiotic tasks of Vyakti Nirman and Charitra Nirman, RSS facilitates a widespread consciousness of Nagrik Kartavya (civic duty). This emphasis forms one of the five essential pillars of social transformation, collectively termed Panch Parivartan, introduced by RSS as part of its centennial agenda. These five transformative imperatives comprise Samajik Samrasta (social harmony), Kutumb Prabodhan (family enlightenment), Paryavaran Sanrakshan (environmental conservation), Nagrik Kartavya (civic duties) and Swa or Swadeshi (self-reliance). Through this framework, RSS endeavours to construct a disciplined, self-reliant and ethically grounded society that redounds to benefit of all citizens. Core principles of civic duty advocated within this vision encompass full compliance with law of the land, alongside a concerted effort to encourage citizens, particularly the younger generation, to study and comprehend Constitution of India, its Preamble, and its Fundamental Duties. Civic responsibility manifests in maintaining cleanliness in shared public spaces, curbing unnecessary noise pollution and upholding decorum in public conduct. It further demands exercising restraint and dignity in public discourse, practicing personal discretion in everyday actions, honouring elders while mentoring younger generations, prioritizing national interests and civic obligations over individual privileges and consistently conserving precious resources like water to uphold civic order across public life. In contrast to predominantly materialistic Western paradigms, traditional Indian society remains inherently value-based, with ancient Indian scriptures consistently elevating duty (Kartavya) above rights. From foundational wisdom of Vedas to comprehensive codes of Dharmasutras and diverse philosophical treatises, classical Indian literature prescribes detailed guidelines for social conduct. These texts established explicit norms for civic behaviour and codified specific penalties and fines for non-compliance. A prime illustration is found in Chanakya’s Arthashastra, a treatise written approximately 2,400 years ago. In Book II, Chapter XXXVI, Chanakya stipulates: “Whoever throws dirt in the street shall be punished with a fine of 1/8th of a pana; whoever causes mire or water to collect in the street shall be fined 1/4th of a pana; whoever commits the above offences in the king’s road (rajmarga) shall be punished with double the above fine.” This exhaustive chapter outlines rights, responsibilities, and civic obligations binding common citizens, skilled professionals, and state officials alike. Consequently, concept of a structured societal order is deeply rooted in Bharat’s ancient heritage and has been practiced throughout its history. However, as unbridled materialism and consumerism assume dominance in modern life, moral ethics, traditional values, and personal duty often recede into background. In such a climate, written statutes and constitutional frameworks become necessary instruments to delineate fundamental rights and duties, causing external rule of law to supplant internal moral regulation. Yet, if every citizen conscientiously fulfils their intrinsic duties, the transformation will extend far beyond individual lives to enrich the broader social fabric and enhance national pride. Furthermore, widespread self-regulation inevitably alleviates the heavy strain placed upon overburdened law enforcement agencies and judicial systems. When citizens proactively fulfil their civic responsibilities, state intervention is minimized. Meaningful improvement in the public sphere often hinges upon adherence to relatively simple, everyday habits. Consider, for instance, water conservation. Although Earth is designated as ” Blue Planet ” because water covers approximately 71 per cent of its surface, nearly 97 per cent of that volume consists of saline ocean water. Of the remaining three percent of global freshwater, less than one percent is readily accessible for human consumption. While certain regions of Bharat enjoy an abundance of potable water, this availability should never be treated as license for waste. In practice, however, squandering water remains widespread; thus, water conservation directly correlates with sustaining life. Curbing waste and cultivating active water preservation must be recognized as essential civic obligations. Similarly, energy security represents a crucial global concern, particularly for developing and underdeveloped nations. Rationalizing energy consumption, spanning petroleum products to electrical power, helps preserve foreign exchange reserves, protects the natural environment, and mitigates financial strain on individual households. Addressing energy waste requires fundamental behavioural adjustments. It is common to observe individuals conversing by the roadside with vehicle engines idling, or leaving air conditioners, lighting, and electrical appliances operating in vacant homes and offices where they serve no purpose whatsoever. Related challenges manifest daily on the roads, where responsible driving is vital to ensuring safe transit for everyone. Hundreds of thousands of lives are lost annually in road accidents due to widespread disregard for traffic regulations, a tragedy that could be dramatically curtailed through a heightened sense of civic compliance. Across society, everyday infractions abound: drinking water is mindlessly squandered to wash vehicles and clean floors, traffic laws are flagrantly flouted whenever law enforcement is absent, tax evasion is routinely sought, taxpayer-funded public property is vandalized by anti-social elements, protesters, and addicts, and food is carelessly wasted at immense scale. Enacting ever-more stringent legislation cannot solve these challenges alone; real progress depends upon cultivating an internal ethical consciousness within the general citizenry. Civic duty equally encompasses a citizen’s democratic obligation to participate actively in elections across all tiers of governance. In this realm, the efforts of RSS to boost voter turnout across various electoral cycles have been noteworthy, serving to significantly complement official government initiatives. Swayamsevaks actively engage in voter awareness drives, urging citizens to exercise their franchise while providing practical assistance, such as helping elderly and infirm voters reach polling booths, thereby setting a powerful example of civic engagement for the younger generation. These persistent lapses highlight areas where citizens of Bharat are frequently criticized for a perceived deficit in civic sense, a quality indispensable for societal

Bharat Hindus Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) United Kingdom United States USA World

RSS: Massive, Complex and Quickly Evolving!

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh a vast, powerful Hindu volunteer organization has become target of a counterproductive Western campaign. Bill Drexel Mohan Bhagwat idrees mohammed/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Mayor Zohran Mamdani found time in his busy schedule to condemn a visit to New York two weeks ago by the head of an Indian nonprofit that almost none of his constituents had ever heard of. The visitor was Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, the vast Hindu volunteer organization that trained Prime Minister Narendra Modi and founded the party he leads. On Aug. 29, Mr. Bhagwat addressed some 5,000 people at Madison Square Garden at an event billed as a celebration of “universal oneness.” Mr. Mamdani, when pressed at a news conference to cancel the booking, called the RSS’s Hindu nationalist vision “exclusionary” and its rise “incredibly troubling,” while conceding the city had no authority over a private event. Others joined in, too. The federal U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which has sought sanctions against the RSS, called for Mr. Bhagwat’s visa to be revoked. Before his subsequent Toronto appearance, nearly 270 organizations asked Ottawa to bar him and consider designating the RSS a terrorist entity. In London, where he spoke this week, numerous groups asked Mayor Sadiq Khan to deny him any city-controlled venue. The campaign borrows its playbook from the effort to make a pariah of Zionism—so directly that the anti-RSS protest outside Madison Square Garden turned on itself over Israel, with demonstrators shouting down Brad Lander, a congressional nominee who had come to join them, for being a Zionist. As with the campaign against Israel, the effort to isolate the RSS damages American interests more than its target. Founded in central India in 1925, the RSS runs roughly 83,000 regular neighborhood gatherings across India—an hour of physical drills, songs, games and instruction in its account of Hindu civilization, meant to strengthen the character of young Indian men. The atmosphere is something like the Boy Scouts, and nearly all of its roughly five million participants are unpaid, often attending daily before work. These volunteers are motivated by a shared sense of patriotism and see themselves as strengthening their country. Its influence is even larger than the numbers indicate. The RSS acts as the vanguard of the broader Hindu nationalist movement and has incubated some 2,500 spinoff organizations, including one of Hinduism’s most representative religious councils, India’s largest labor union, and its largest private-school network. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which it founded, has grown to become the largest political party in the world, claiming more than 140 million members. And the RSS and its network act as an accelerator for the BJP’s top talent: Mr. Modi began as a full-time RSS organizer, joining a cadre who vow to forgo marriage and personal wealth. Several of Mr. Modi’s cabinet ministers, state chief ministers and other senior officials were similarly drawn into the BJP through the RSS’s orbit and meet periodically with its leaders. Western disapproval isn’t going to hamper an organization this large and potent. Slamming the door on India’s most influential civil-society organization accomplishes nothing, save empowering the factions of the RSS to which its critics most object, which tend to agree that there is little conversation to be had. Critics allege that the organization’s ideology amounts to Hindu supremacy, casting India’s sizable Muslim and Christian minorities as intruders in Indian history and relegating them to second-class citizenship. Mohandas Gandhi’s assassin was at one point an RSS member, and though he maintained he had left the organization in favor of a more assertive approach to activism, the association has marred the RSS’s reputation. Reports of rising violence against minorities in areas of India where the BJP is strongest have dogged Hindu nationalism’s political ascent, and the RSS has been accused of participating, which the organization denies. But like India itself, the RSS is massive, complex and quickly evolving. Even its sharpest critics concede its outward-facing work largely consists of charity and social-service projects, many of which are extremely popular. India is home to one-sixth of humanity, breakneck modernization and the world’s most ethnically, religiously and linguistically diverse population, so some degree of social friction is unavoidable, however tragic. When social unrest arises, it can be difficult in the chaos to know how much responsibility can be assigned to the RSS or its affiliates, and RSS members frequently claim misattribution from their political adversaries. Moreover, in recent years senior RSS figures have made public statements about caste and Muslims that are very hard to square with the charges against them and the most objectionable statements of the organization’s early leadership. These may be smoke screens, as critics claim, but may also be signs that the organization is moderating under the responsibilities of leading a social movement that commands political power. One need not endorse the RSS’s views to know that it is imperative the U.S. engage with it and seek to understand it. India is on track to become the world’s third-largest economy, is indispensable to the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific, and is increasingly consequential in a restive Middle East. With public appearances like those that drew Mr. Mamdani’s condemnation, the RSS has indicated an interest in greater international engagement. That should be a welcome development to anyone hoping for more productive U.S.-India relations. (Drexel is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, London. This write up was first published by Wall Street Journal on September 7, 2026)

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Brief: RSS for Universal Oneness

Between 25 August and 7 September 2026, in the closing weeks of its centenary year, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh carried a hundred years of experience to three countries. Dr. Mohan Bhagwat, its Sarsanghchalak, addressed an interfaith summit and the Universal Oneness Celebration at Madison Square Garden in New York, delivered the keynote at Hindu Vishwa Bandhu in Toronto, and closed the visit at a Celebration of Oneness in London. In each setting, one recognition held: that truth is one though human beings describe it differently, that diversity is the natural expression of an underlying unity rather than its contradiction, and that service is owed to the whole rather than to those who share one’s own identity. He told faith leaders that dialogue and service must proceed together. He told the diaspora that loyalty to the land they live in comes first, and that what they carry from Bharat is meant to be lived rather than merely remembered. He told a room in London, in his own words, that we should give our emphasis to what unites us rather than what divides us. This brief documents those engagements in full, drawing on primary transcripts, official releases and the addresses as delivered. Download it here.

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From Swami Vivekananda to Dr. Mohan Bhagwat: The Continuing Journey of India’s Spiritual and Intellectual Tradition

Priyank Kanoongo New York’s Madison Square Garden is not merely a vast auditorium; it is one of those prestigious platforms in the world where the presentation of an idea becomes, in itself, a part of global dialogue. The address delivered from such a platform by Dr. Mohan Bhagwat, Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, assumes special significance because it reflects not merely the message of an organisation, but the continuity of India’s long spiritual and civilisational tradition of thought—one of the most influential expressions of which in the modern world was Swami Vivekananda’s Chicago address of 1893. In Chicago, Swami Vivekananda presented before the world an India whose spiritual consciousness possessed the ability to view diverse beliefs and faiths not as mutually conflicting, but as different paths leading towards the truth. He did not confine the Indian perspective merely to tolerance; rather, he connected it with the higher ideal of acceptance. He spoke of a civilisation that, throughout history, had provided refuge to communities fleeing religious persecution and had accommodated different faiths within itself. In his address, India was not merely a geographical entity; it emerged as a civilisation whose strength lay not in eliminating diversity, but in carrying diverse identities together. More than a century later, Mohan Ji’s address appears as a contemporary expression of that very civilisational vision. It is here that the most important ideological connection between the two emerges. Swami Vivekananda introduced the world to India’s spiritual vision; Mohan Ji connects that same vision with the social and global questions of the present day. Swami Ji presented the coexistence of different religious traditions as one of India’s spiritual achievements, whereas Mohan Ji presents it as the Indian vision of “Unity in Diversity”—eliminating diversity is not the solution; what is necessary is to recognise the underlying unity within it. This difference is not merely one of language; it also reflects the requirements of the two different eras. During Vivekananda’s time, the question was how the world should understand an India viewed through a colonial lens, and with what confidence India itself should recognise its civilisational strength. Today, the question is different. The world is technologically more interconnected than ever before, yet divisions based on identity, religion, culture, race and ideology have also intensified in many societies. At such a time, the question is: what can India offer to the world from its thousands of years of experience of coexistence? Mohan Ji’s answer appears to lie in this very civilisational consciousness of India. His interpretation of Hindutva in the address also emerges within this broader context. Rather than limiting Hindutva to any single mode of worship or narrow religious identity, he associates it with a way of looking at life and society in which an individual looks beyond oneself towards society, understands duties alongside rights, and experiences a sense of oneness amid diversity. In this context, his view that if someone believes that Muslims should have no place in India, such thinking does not understand the fundamental spirit of Hindutva, assumes particular significance. It points towards a conception in which India’s civilisational unity is not based upon the exclusion of any community or the denial of its identity, but upon the ability to carry different communities together. Here, a clear resonance of Swami Vivekananda’s tradition of thought can be heard. For him too, India’s spiritual strength did not mean victory over another faith or its elimination. He saw India’s strength in the fact that this land had given space to different beliefs, maintained the possibility of dialogue among them, and did not restrict the search for spiritual truth to any single path. Mohan Ji connects this very spirit with the contemporary questions of social harmony and human unity. Another important dimension of his thought is his appeal to Indians living abroad. Remaining connected to one’s motherland and cultural roots while simultaneously demonstrating loyalty, honesty and responsibility towards one’s land of work are not contradictory ideas. It is equally necessary to fulfil one’s responsibilities towards the country and society in which one lives and with which one’s labour, life and future are connected. This brings forth a broader element of the Indian perspective in which preserving one’s own identity and respecting the existence of others go hand in hand. “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” does not mean eliminating one’s distinct identity; rather, it means developing the capacity to view the world as one family while remaining rooted in one’s own identity. The relevance of this idea has increased even further today. Technology has reduced geographical distances, but social and ideological distances have increased in many places. Identity-based conflicts, religious polarisation and cultural clashes have become major questions in global discourse. At such a time, India’s civilisational experience cannot remain merely a memory of a glorious past; it must be transformed into an idea that is useful for the present and the future. It is here that the broader significance of Mohan Ji’s address becomes apparent. The India that Vivekananda presented confidently on the world stage was politically subjugated. His challenge was to ensure that the world did not view India merely through the lens of poverty, colonial subjugation or backwardness, but also understood its profound philosophical, spiritual and cultural consciousness. Today, circumstances have changed. India is independent, it engages with the world with confidence, and its role in global discourse has steadily increased. Therefore, the presentation of India’s civilisational vision can no longer remain confined merely to explaining itself to the world; it naturally also carries an aspiration to contribute towards finding solutions to contemporary global challenges. This is the most significant transformation in the journey from Chicago to Madison Square. Then, India was telling the world—understand us in the light of our reality and our civilisation. Today, India can also say—understand our civilisational experience; perhaps it may contain answers to some of the questions confronting today’s world. Yet, within this transformation, a profound continuity remains. Swami Vivekananda carried India’s spiritual strength to the West, but he also urged India to

Bharat Hindus Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) United States USA World

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Civilisational Dialogue and Global Oneness

A century of service, and the centenary visit of Dr Mohan Bhagwat to the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. On 25 August 2026, Dr Mohan Bhagwat, Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, began a three nation tour of the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, at the invitation of local associations and community organisations in each country. The visit falls within the centenary year of the movement he leads, and the head of the world’s largest socio-cultural voluntary movement rarely addresses audiences abroad. Across the three countries the tour opens a civilisational dialogue, in gatherings of the diaspora and in meetings with Hindu organisations, community associations and leaders drawn from science, technology, business, academia and public life.Hindu organisations, community associations and leaders draw This brief sets out the context. It traces the hundred year journey of the RSS from a small gathering in Nagpur in 1925 to more than one hundred thousand local gatherings sustained without fees, salaries or external funding, and records the service that has accompanied it, from the three thousand Partition relief camps of 1947 to the 342,000 swayamsevaks who served at 67,000 locations during the pandemic. Its closing chapters turn to what that century offers the world. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the world is one family, is not an inheritance to be recited but a working proposition, and it is placed here alongside the lessons of a hundred years on harmony in societies, on the family, on ecology, on self reliance and on civic character. These are questions every society is now asking. They are offered freely to all who are asking them.

Bharat Canada Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) United Kingdom United States USA World

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Let the Dice Roll!

RSS chief’s message of Universal Oneness in New York, Toronto & London would put to rest intellectual terrorism of extreme intolerant variety. K.A. Badarinath There are ways to silence and push into a corner an opponent. You can vilify, frame, abuse or discredit him or her. You can try and delegitimise or caricature someone to reflect your antipathy or sheer opposition to him or her. If the opponent is an organization with irrefutable and unassailable standing, then go after its boss. This is how Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) sarsanghchalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat has been targeted. In the brilliant movie ‘The Taj Story’ directed by Tushar Amrish Goel, Paresh Rawal who plays the lead role of Vishnu Das talks about ‘intellectual terrorism’ of obnoxious variety that distorts Bharat’s history, ethos and teachings. While trying to frame RSS and Bhagwat, perhaps this strategy was operationalized big time in the Western landscape of US, Canada and United Kingdom by usual ‘intellectual terrorists.’ Such characters who claim to be intellectuals were branded as ‘dimagi naxals’ by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his 80-th Independence Day address from ramparts of Red Fort. Though, Modi spoke of those with naxal or Left extreme mindset with conviction to annihilate opponents in Indian context, such elements have been active and extreme even in Western theatre. When RSS Chief Dr Mohan Bhagwat touches down in New York today, the noise seeking ban on RSS is bound to hit the stratosphere. A handful of Left extremists and radical Islamists have been on rampaging spree across social media with their ‘intolerance’ and demand to prevent RSS chief from participating as keynote speaker at an inter-faith conference of over 6000 US residents in Madison Square Garden on this Saturday. Over 200 organizations have come together to hold this ‘Universal Oneness’ conference to send out a message of interconnectedness under aegis of Ahead (American Hindus for Engagement and Dialogue) Forum. This civilizational dialogue in US will feature multi-faith leaders to promote spirituality, peace, engagement at societal level in the backdrop of conflicts and wars waging in West Asia and Eastern Europe. Scores of civic leaders, representatives of public institutions, community and interfaith organizations representatives apart from huge Hindu community in United States is expected to converge at ‘universal oneness’ conference. Such gatherings are scheduled to happen in both Toronto and London during next fortnight as RSS chief criss-crosses Canada and United Kingdom to spread the message of community service, environment friendly lifestyles, civic engagement, family systems, sustainable development alternatives and above all ‘Vasudaiva Kutumbakam’ that denotes entire world as one big happy family. One is reminded of the historic Parliament of Religions held in Chicago, Illinois on September 11, 1893 where Swami Vivekananda had taken stage with the message of universal oneness and introduced Hindutva or Hinduness as a way of life seeped in tolerance, inclusiveness and universal acceptance. Harmony amongst people pursuing different faiths was the core of Swami Vivekananda’s message then. And, today its no different. RSS chief Dr Mohan Bhagwat goes there with message of ‘universal oneness’ for peace and prosperity of global communities. Rooted in respect and harmony, this dialogue of faith leaders is expected to open a big dialogue on global stage. In recent years, His holiness Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King Jr to Pope Francis have pushed for ‘global togetherness’ for communities around the world to prosper against backdrop of conflicts, disease, backwardness, illiteracy, limited access to resources or excessive consumerism having destabilizing effect on humanity. Amidst the good, bad and the ugly campaigns happening around the world, RSS chief would take positive message of peace from Bharat, present the RSS related facts, selfless service done in 100-years and clear misconceptions on Hindutva and Bharat. A forward looking statement on what next going forward is again a big possibility. While diaspora engagement, meetings with business persons and prominent Indian origin people are scheduled in New York, Bhagwat would meet top Sikh community leaders in Toronto and London. Canada leg of Dr Bhagwat’s trip in particular is significant given calls by Khalistani extremists mounting an aggressive anti-Hindu campaign. While most Sikh leaders, businessmen, community and public representatives have dissociated from Khalistani narratives against Bhagwat and RSS, Islamist radicals (not many Muslims) propelled by Pakistan’s dirty tricks department seems to have supported the campaign. In both London and Toronto apart from New York, Hindu diaspora dialogue, different stakeholders’ meetings would mark RSS chief’s visit to Western world. Dr Bhagwat’s visit would be in continuation of the civilizational dialogue that RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale initiated earlier this year as part of the centennial thrust. Creating a market place for goods, services with production and consumption at the core has been central to Western concept of globalization. With the message of universal oneness, spiritual oneness and sanatan dharmic values, Dr Bhagwat would pursue his own view of globalization once initiated by the Hindu faith leaders like Swami Vivekananda. Taking global interconnectedness beyond technology and economic spread is something central to RSS chief’s visit to three top western countries. Let’s hear him out!(author is a veteran journalist, Director & Chief Executive of Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies, a non-partisan think tank based in New Delhi)

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Wait for Washington Over!

India should evolve its own Indo-Pacific strategy as US turns an unreliable partner in counter balancing China in the region. NC Bipindra For nearly a decade, “Indo-Pacific” was more than a map. It was a promise. When the Pentagon renamed Pacific Command to Indo-Pacific Command in 2018, the message to New Delhi was unmistakable: India mattered, the Indian Ocean mattered, and Washington saw its future security architecture running through Asia’s two oceans, not one. That promise is now being unwound. In June 2026, the Trump administration reverted the command’s name to the original Pacific Command, a decision Pentagon officials framed as return to a “more traditional maritime focus” even as they insisted the mission, deterring China, remains unchanged. Symbolism in geopolitics is rarely so and this one lands at a difficult moment for India’s regional strategy. Quad on Paper with no timelines The name change of US command didn’t happen in isolation. It followed nearly two years in which Trump has treated the Quad, the informal grouping of the US, India, Japan, and Australia, as an afterthought. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise to hold a Quad leaders’ summit in India got derailed as Trump repeatedly deprioritised the meeting, first in 2025 and now with 2026 summit plans clouded by uncertainty. Foreign ministers have kept the format alive through lower-level meetings, and Australia, this year’s rotating chair, is still hoping to host a leaders’ summit. But the pattern is clear: the Quad survives on bureaucratic momentum, not presidential commitment. This drift has coincided with genuine strain in US – India relationship itself. Steep US tariffs on Indian goods, a stalled bilateral trade agreement and Trump’s own description of a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as ” G-2 ” summit have unsettled Indian policymakers who spent years building the case that Washington saw India as its indispensable Indo-Pacific partner. Why This Matters More Than the Optics Suggest China has not paused while Washington’s attention wandered. Beijing continues to expand naval presence in the Indian Ocean, deepen port and infrastructure footholds from Gwadar to Hambantota, and press territorial claims from the South China Sea to the Line of Actual Control with India itself. People’s Liberation Army Navy now operates the largest fleet in the world by hull count and Chinese research and survey vessels routinely transit waters that India considers its strategic backyard. Nothing changes because Washington swapped a word on a building in Camp H. M. Smith in Aiea on Hawaii’s Oahu Island. But it does change the assumptions India has built its regional posture for the better part of a decade as a muscular, consistently engaged United States would anchor the coalition-building work against Chinese assertiveness. The risk for India isn’t abandonment exactly. Pentagon officials and military commanders have been clear that operational focus on China and Taiwan contingencies persists regardless of the command’s name. The risk is something subtler and arguably more dangerous: a Washington that remains rhetorically committed to countering China while becoming unpredictable and transactional in practice, leaving India to guess, summit by summit, whether American backing will show up when it’s needed. Options before India! India helped popularise the term “Indo-Pacific” as an alternative to the China-centric “Asia-Pacific” framing, precisely to assert its own centrality in the region’s future. It cannot now let that framework be defined, or left undefined, by decisions made in Washington. New Delhi should double down on its own Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative and push it as the organising concept for regional partners, rather than waiting for American validation. Quad’s usefulness was always going to be capped by willingness of its most powerful member to show up. India has other tools: India-France-Australia trilateral, deepening ties with the Philippines and Vietnam on maritime domain awareness, expanded defence cooperation with Japan independent of Quad choreography and closer coordination with European powers like the UK and Germany, who have their own Indo-Pacific tilts. None of these replace US relationship, but together they reduce dependence on any single partner’s political calendar. If US security umbrella is becoming less predictable, India’s own blue-water capability becomes more urgent, not less. That means faster submarine and aircraft carrier programmes, expanded maritime surveillance across the Indian Ocean Region, and continued investment in bases and logistics agreements with Indian Ocean island states like Mauritius, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, where Chinese influence has been creeping in. Resolving tariff disputes and completing a bilateral trade deal with Washington remains genuinely valuable for India’s economy and does help stabilise ties. But India should pursue this as an economic goal in its own right, not as a precondition for security cooperation it treats as guaranteed. Coupling the two only gives Washington leverage to hold Indo-Pacific security commitments hostage to unrelated trade demands, as arguably already happened around the 2025 summit. None of this means walking away from the US relationship, which remains central to any credible China-balancing strategy given American military capacity in the Pacific. But India should signal clearly, through its own diplomacy and defence posture, that it is building parallel options. Paradoxically, an India less dependent on the US is an India more attractive to Washington as a serious partner, not less. Bigger Picture Pacific Command name change is a small bureaucratic decision that captures a large strategic truth: American Indo-Pacific policy under Trump has become less institutional and more personality-driven, shifting with individual meetings, tariff disputes and summit attendance rather than long-term architecture. That’s a hard environment for allies who built their planning around American constancy. For India, the answer isn’t panic or public rupture with Washington. It’s strategic maturity. The country that once needed the “Indo” in the Indo-Pacific to assert its relevance now has the economic weight, naval ambitions, and regional relationships to define that relevance on its own terms, with or without a matching name on a building in Hawaii. (Author is Chairman, Law and Society Alliance, a New Delhi-based think tank, and guest columnist with CIHS)

Bharat Geopolitics Policy Press Release Trade World

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PRESS NOTE: CIHS Hosted Interactive Session with Ambassador of Poland

New Delhi, August 21, 2026 – The Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies (CIHS), held an engaging and insightful interactive session on “India-Poland People Connect” with H.E. Dr. Piotr Antoni Świtalski, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to India, at India Habitat Centre (IHC), Maple Room, Lodhi Road, New Delhi The thought-provoking discussion on Indo-Poland civilizational, cultural and people-to-people connection in a rapidly changing global order brought together scholars, policy experts and strategic thinkers to examine multifaceted ties between India and Poland, covering areas such as diplomacy, trade, education, cultural exchange and technology cooperation. In his welcome address K.A. Badarinath, Chief Executive and Director at CIHS, emphasised strong cultural, civilizational and democratic values that bind the Indo-Poland Relationship. He highlighted the necessity of enhancing people-to-people connectivity, cultural and civilizational bonds and strong international associations in shaping a peaceful and prosperous future for global communities. H.E. Piotr Antoni Switalski, in his address, highlighted shared values and historical linkages between India and Poland and called Poland’s economic rise an “economic miracle” powered by human capital, much like modern India. “With trade at $ 5 billion, there is a huge potential to double it, urging India to “use Poland” as a friendly gateway to Europe,” he noted. H.E. Piotr Antoni Świtalski, Ambassador of Poland to India, described India as a highly “effective partner” at a time when the world faces increasing unpredictability and “many disruptive forces.” He emphasised that Poland understands India’s longstanding defence relationship with Russia and believes that “Russia should not stand in the way of our dialogue, our cooperation and our partnership. We leave it aside.” On Poland’s relations with Pakistan, H.E. Świtalski said that while Warsaw maintains diplomatic and economic ties with Islamabad, this should not be interpreted as an anti-India position. During the interactive session, participants raised thought-provoking questions on topics ranging from terrorism to trade, H.E. Switalski responded with openness stating that Poland supports India’s “right to pursue terrorists everywhere they go and his country is on India’s side when it comes to fighting terrorism because “we are a victim” of that too. Delivering a vote of thanks, Rahul Pawa, Director of Research at CIHS, expressed gratitude to H.E. Dr. Piotr Antoni Świtalski for his invaluable insights and openness, to the distinguished scholars for their participation and contributing to a meaningful dialogue that reaffirmed the importance of fostering connections between people. “India and Poland are not new acquaintances. Our connection is centuries old and one can see it everywhere in streets of Warsaw and Łódź that carry the names of Gandhi and Tagore, in a century of Sanskrit scholarship at Warsaw and at Kraków and in yoga schools across Poland that have outlasted several political systems,” he noted. CIHS is committed to strengthening this sacred bond through research, cultural dialogue and by serving as a bridge for sustained discussion and deeper people-to-people connections. At CIHS, we believe that cooperation between states endures only when it rests on connection between people.

Geopolitics Bharat Press Release World

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PRESS NOTE: CIHS to Host Polish Ambassador for a scintillating Dialogue People Connect

New Delhi, August 18, 2026 – Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies (CIHS), a non-partisan think tank based in New Delhi, will host an interactive session with H.E. Mr. Piotr Antoni Świtalski, Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to India, “India-Poland People Connect” This dialogue will bring together scholars, policy experts and strategic thinkers to examine multifaceted ties between India and Poland, covering areas such as diplomacy, trade, education, cultural exchange and technology cooperation. “We are delighted to host H.E. Mr. Piotr Antoni Świtalski, as he shares his perspective on Indo-Polish relations. This event underscores the significance of strong international partnership in shaping a peaceful and prosperous future for global communities,” said K.A. Badarinath, Director and Chief Executive, CIHS. Rahul Pawa, Director of Research at CIHS, added, “India and Poland have a long history of fruitful collaborations. We look forward to dynamic exchange of ideas that will foster deeper understanding and pave the way for innovative joint initiatives.” It will provide a unique opportunity to gain deeper insights into longstanding partnership between the two nations and explore avenues for strengthening cooperation in years ahead. This event is part of CIHS’s broader initiative to facilitate global dialogue that promote mutual respect, strategic cooperation and informed policy development. Event Details:Title: “India-Poland People Connect” – In Conversation with H.E. Mr. Piotr Antoni ŚwitalskiDate: Thursday, August 20, 2026Time: 4:00 PM to 5:00 PMVenue: Maple Hall, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New DelhiOrganized by: Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies (CIHS) RSVP and Contact information:Vivek Raina+91 98109 27987vivek@cihs.org.in About the Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies (CIHS) CIHS is a think tank committed to fostering meaningful dialogue and research on global affairs, sustainable development and socio-economic progress. By bringing together policymakers, academics, and industry leaders, CIHS aims to drive positive change through collaborative and holistic approaches to pressing challenges.

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