Introduction: Securing Borders in a New Age India's borders stretch across some of the world's most challenging terrains, including the Himalayas, deserts, dense forests, riverine regions, and vast coastlines. Protecting these frontiers has always been a complex task, requiring constant vigilance against threats such as terrorism, illegal infiltration, arms smuggling, and cross-border crime. However, the nature of these threats is rapidly evolving. Traditional security measures such as...

A bank transfer that once took days, multiple intermediaries and a fistful of fees can now be completed in seconds from a mobile phone. On June 6, India and Nepal operationalised the long-awaited linkage between India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Nepal's National Payments Interface (NPI), allowing instant, low-cost person-to-person remittances between the two neighbours. The launch, performed jointly by External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and Nepal's Foreign Minister Shisir...

When India upgraded its “Look East Policy” to the more ambitious “Act East Policy” in 2014, the shift was intended to be practical rather than symbolic. The Northeast was no longer to remain a peripheral frontier region; it was to become India’s land bridge to Southeast Asia. More than a decade later, the policy’s impact is becoming visible not in conference halls or diplomatic statements, but in the border villages of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, and Tripura. The transformation is...