Centre for Strategic and Foreign Relations

The Centre for Strategic and Foreign Relations (CSFR) at Vision India Foundation is dedicated to strengthening India’s international relations. It undertakes extensive research on India’s foreign policy priorities and strategic concerns. CSFR also works towards enhancing people-to-people relations through a series of programmes curated to cater to the strategic community in India and globally. In doing so, CSFR aims at contributing to building lasting relations based on mutual understanding and amicability.

Our Mission

Create: Thought leadership in the realm of India’s international relations by bringing to fore the core elements of strategy and soft power.

Convene: Discussions and deliberations to familiarize the Indian and global strategic community with Indian strategic thought and foreign policy conduct from the time of Kautilya to present-day diplomatic engagement

Connect: With young and like-minded change-agents as leaders of tomorrow with the aim of furthering people-to-people relations and knowledge exchange to works towards a mutually beneficial and sustained national and international interests.

Mentors

Amb. Asoke Mukerji

Indian Diplomat and Author

Former Permanent Representative of India to UN

Amb. Dinesh Bhatia

Ambassador of India to Republic of Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Former, Consul General of India - Canada

Amb. Preeti Saran

Member, United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Former Secy(East), Ministry of External Affairs - India.

Prof. Harsh Pant

Director, Studies & Head, Strategic Studies Programme,

Observer Research Foundation.

Prof. Sanjay Pulipaka

Senior Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML)

Senior Consultant, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER)

Prof. Sreeram Chaulia

Dean, Jindal School of International Affairs

OP Jindal Global University

Publications

Articles

The CSFR team has undertaken research and publications on myriad of issues of importance and relavance to India’s international interests. Some of their publications can be read here.

France, India and the Indo-Pacific

November 4, 2019

India’s Hamletian Dilemma About RCEP

September 28, 2019

Holistic Development of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

September 7, 2019

ARTICLE 370, FEDERALISM AND REORGANISATION OF STATES

September 1, 2019

India-US Relations: Natural Partners, With Conditions Applied

August 9, 2019

Space for Manoeuvre: Kashmir and International Politics

August 9, 2019

Stress in Indo-US Engagement?

July 27, 2019

Sri Lanka Bombings and the Spreading Arc of ISIS in India

June 14, 2019

BIMSTEC reaffirms PM Modi-led govt’s strategic focus

June 14, 2019

Kumbh Mela has enhanced India’s soft power

March 29, 2019

[Telugu] India takes part in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's Meet

February 28, 2019

The Shifting Contours of India – Pakistan Relations in the Aftermath of Pulwama

February 26, 2019

एशिया में उभरते सामरिक समीकरण

February 11, 2019

Mahathir Mohamad And The Diminishing Dream Of A ‘New Malaysia’

January 7, 2019

The Emerging Strategic Equation in Asia

January 7, 2019

India and the ‘Quad’: Forging an Innovative Approach

November 21, 2018

The Modi-Abe Meeting and the Emerging Strategic Equation

November 20, 2018

US Sanctions and the Iranian worldview

October 3, 2018

How Atal Bihari Vajpayee Shaped India’s Foreign Policy

September 20, 2018

India’s Island Diplomacy: Building an Indian Ocean Security Architecture

August 31, 2018

West Bengal as a lever in India’s Act East policy

August 28, 2018

What the US Iran Sanctions Mean for India

August 9, 2018

Deconstructing Wuhan- the formally informal summit?

July 14, 2018

India fuels the Global Energy Discourse

May 2, 2018

How India Must Take The Grand Alliance For Solar Power Forward

April 7, 2018

Envisioning India’s future

March 8, 2018

Modi-Merkel mutually beneficial partnership set to continue

September 17, 2017

Modi's Neighbourhood First Policy Must March on, With or Without Pakistan

March 16, 2017

How India can isolate Pakistan at Heart of Asia

December 5, 2016

Goa Summit could be the turning point for BIMSTEC

November 2, 2016

Water Conflict: Indus Water Treaty Up for Debate in India

October 21, 2016

Indus Waters Treaty is unfair on India, scrapping it can't be ruled out

September 29, 2016

How PM Modi's Afghanistan outreach can help in isolating Pakistan

September 21, 2016

Soft Power Briefs

The quarterly publication of CSFR is our endeavor to follow and contribute to India’s global engagements, particularly in the realm of soft power and public diplomacy as a means of furthering citexen engagement. To know more subscribe here.

Soft Power Brief - (July - Sept 2019)

Soft Power Brief - (April - June 2019)

Soft Power Brief - (Jan - Mar 2019)

Soft Power Brief - (July - September 2018)

Soft Power Brief - (April - June 2018)

Soft Power Brief - (January - March 2018)

Book Reviews

Centre for Strategic and Foreign Relations have recently started book reading club for deliberation and dissemination of knowledge pertaining to International Relation.

Book Review: Prisoners of Geography

Open Embrace: India-U.S. Ties in the Age of Modi and Trump

Initiatives

Young Diplomats Conclave:

The Young Diplomats Conclave (YDC) is an attempt to build lasting relations with future political leaders and international diplomatic community. Through a series of roundtables, YDC brings to fore the rising trends in diplomacy, provides a platform for strengthening people-to-people relations, and, facilitates interactions between Indian and international diplomats. YDC aims at acting upon mutually beneficial foreign policy interests rooted in cultural understanding and shared global aspirations. The first edition of YDC, in Nov 2017, was organized in partnership with Nehru Memorial Museum and Library and Jindal School of International Affairs. The second edition of YDC, in Jan 2019, was organized in partnership with Research and Information Systems for Developing Countries.

International Students Retreat

International Students Retreat (ISR) is an experiential programme curated for the global student community pursuing various academic disciplines in India on scholarships provided by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). Over 35 young scholars from 15 countries of Africa, South Asia and West Asia participated in this two-day programme.

ISR in convened through seminars on India’s political, economic and sociocultural landscape, workshops and field activities on leadership skills, and, personality grooming through presentations and cultural interactions. ISR was organized in February 2018 in partnership with the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda and ICCR Gujarat.

World Governance Expedition

World Governance Expedition (WGE) is a travel-based experiential programme, initiated in 2016. It invites young and motivated leaders from India to understand international best practices in governance and policy-making. It aims at introducing the delegation to various institutions, mechanisms and processes that shape socio-political interactions at national and international level. Previous WGEs have been organized in three countries in the United States of America (2016), the United Kingdom (2017), Israel (2018 & 2019) and Russia (2019). The Expedition to Israel – in October 2018 and April 2019 – was organized by Vision India Foundation in partnership with the Embassy of Israel as a representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israel. The upcoming Expedition will be held in Singapore in November 2019.