Authors: 1. Hafsha Rahman, Independent Researcher2. Manashi Parashar, Assistant Professor, Assam Don Bosco University3. Thal Blankson, Independent Researcher4. Faisal Mahmood, Assistant Professor, Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi5. Ceren Kale, Independent Researcher6. Sandeep Singh ABSTRACT This paper examines the reconfiguration of strategic diplomacy in an era defined by the transitionfrom unipolarity to multipolarity. The diffusion of power which is marked by the rise of India,China, Russia and the expanded role of the European Union has challenged the institutionalarchitecture built during the post World War II and the post Cold War eras. While traditionalmultilateral forums such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization remain pillarsof international legitimacy in world politics, their operational capacity is increasingly constrainedby geo-political contestation and institutional challenges. This study is an investigation of twointerrelated dimensions: first, the ability of established multilateral organisations, includingBRICS, to facilitate cooperation among competing powers, and second, the emergence of adaptivestrategies such as digital diplomacy, climate diplomacy and minilateralism–that seek to circumventor complement institutional inertia. The paper explores recent scholarship and content analysis of various secondary data available. It argues that diplomacy in a multipolar world is not defined bythe decline of old forums but by their coexistence with innovative, flexible mechanisms tailoredto specific issues and coalitions. By conceptualising strategic diplomacy as hybrid and adaptive,this study highlights the need to rethink global governance as a process of institutional layeringrather than wholesale replacement in a fragmented international order.

Author: Urvi Wadhwa ABSTRACT This paper investigates whether India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) can serve as a scalable model for reducing transaction costs and enhancing financial integration in cross-border payments. UPI has revolutionised India’s domestic payment ecosystem by reducing costs, improving efficiency, and fostering financial inclusion. Building on this success, India has pursued cross-border collaborations with Singapore, the UAE, Bhutan, and Nepal. Using a case study and comparative analysis methodology, this paper reviews secondary data from the RBI, NPCI, BIS, IMF, and World Bank to assess the role of UPI in cross-border integration. The findings suggest that while UPI reduces costs and improves access, challenges such as interoperability, foreign exchange management, and regulatory harmonisation remain. The study applies Transaction Cost Economics and Network Effects theory to frame UPI’s scalability and evaluates policy implications for the G20’s cross-border payment agenda. The paper concludes that UPI offers a promising framework, though its global adoption depends on sustained policy coordination and technical interoperability.

Author: Adiba Saifi ABSTRACT India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP, 2023–2025) represents a watershed moment in the country’sevolving digital privacy landscape. This research provides a critical examination of the Act’s legislative ambitions,practical implementation realities, and the persistent “user experience gap” that often transforms consent forms and terms of use from enablers of privacy into obstacles to meaningful engagement. Employing a dual-lens framework that integrates technical infrastructure considerations with human behavioral practices, the paper draws on original empirical survey data complemented by comprehensive policy analysis to reveal persistent gaps in user awareness, consent usability, and equitable access to digital privacy protections (Saifi, 2025).The study synthesizes these insights with scholarly literature to propose actionable recommendations aimed attransforming data protection laws from abstract rights into everyday lived realities. Crucially, the researchforegrounds the concept of “security as practice”—the understanding that privacy protection is not merely a legal or technological product but a dynamic, context-driven process shaped by the interplay of technical tools, institutional frameworks, and user behaviors (Schneier, 2000; Williams, 2020). Findings reveal that while the DPDP Act establishes a robust legal foundation, its transformative potential depends fundamentally on bridging the critical divide between formal protections and the lived experiences of diverse user populations. This research contributes to the broader understanding of how emerging digital governance frameworks can balance legal rigor, technological innovation, and user-centric design in diverse socio-cultural contexts, with particular relevance for other Global South nations navigating digital policy reform.

Authors: 1. Agrawal Damini Rohit, MA Political Science IGNOU2. Arundhuti Panda, BA Hons. Political Science St. Xavier’s College ABSTRACT The “Silicon Valley of India”, Bangalore, has come a long way to be recognized as more thanjust an Tech Hub; it has also become a nodal point of India’s Digital Diplomacy. This paperstudies how para-diplomatic actions, which includes the involvement of non-central governmentsin international relations, are crucial in shaping the global narrative of India’s potential in the ageof Evolving Artificial Intelligence, Tech Advancements and developing Digital Infrastructure.The study highlights historical trajectories, policy frameworks and the role of non-state actors,among other engagements, making the city not merely a tech hub but a geopolitical asset for thefuture of India as a leading Global Power with respect to the Quaternary Sector. The role of India’s IT Capital in integrating the lesser focused upon Sustainable DevelopmentGoals (SDGs), especially goals post-SDG6, that is SDG7 to SDG17 with the fast-paceddigitalization, Artificial Intelligence and tech diplomacy is also scrutinized through this paper.Majorly, secondary resources have been used to conduct this research and analyze thetechnological ecosystem of Bangalore boosting India’s soft power diplomacy and foreign policynarrative along with boosted Global Partnerships. It also explores the foreseeable challenges andsuggests various recommendations for overcoming those challenges. The paper positions Bangalore in the limelight and aims at promoting paths of recognizing paradiplomacyto shape international cooperation and digital governance of India.

Authors: 1. Sagrika Singh, BA in Economics & History, University of Delhi2. Anika Srivastava, BA Hons. Political Science, University of Delhi ABSTRACT This paper explores the rise of Gen Z-led protests in Nepal as a part of broader trend of youthmobilization across South and Southeast Asia. It examines how these protests connect toSustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG 16), which focuses on peace, justice, and stronginstitutions. The paper places Nepal’s 2025 digital-era uprising, triggered by state censorshipand corruption scandals, in the context of similar movements in Bangladesh, Indonesia, andthe Philippines. This comparison highlights shared regional issues of accountability,inclusivity, and transparency. Using comparative literature and recent case evidence, thestudy illustrates how digitally connected youth activism is turning SDG 16 from a policyframework into a real political demand.The paper delves deeply into the institutional responses prompted by the leaderless anddigitally synchronized protests occurring in Nepal and throughout the broader region. Itreveals that state institutions have exhibited a fluctuating approach, swinging betweenoppressive measures, extensive surveillance, and targeted digital crackdowns, contrasted withattempts at reform, dialogue, and strategies for co-optation. This dichotomy reveals acomplex tension: on one hand, authorities strive to maintain political control in the face ofsocietal unrest, while on the other hand, they grapple with genuine demands foraccountability and reform from the populace.Furthermore, the study meticulously examines how these varying governmental reactionsinfluence public trust in institutions, the perceived legitimacy of democratic governance, andthe overall long-term outlook for inclusive political processes. By placing the Nepal 2025uprising within this wider comparative context, the analysis emphasizes a pressing question:do the adaptations made by these institutions ultimately foster stronger mechanisms foraccountability, or do they simply entrench existing authoritarian practices?Ultimately, the paper posits that the mobilization of Generation Z transcends mere temporarydissatisfaction; it represents a profound political force driving change. This demographic isurging governments to move beyond mere rhetoric and actively implement the principlesenshrined in Sustainable Development Goal 16 encompassing ideals of peace, justice, and theestablishment of robust institutions transforming these principles into tangible realities thatimprove everyday life and governance.

Authors: Harshdeep Kaur, Anand Raj ABSTRACT Despite progress in education and health, India continues to have one of the world’s lowest rates of womenparticipating in paid work. “This paper explores how women’s economic engagement influences theirbargaining power within households and how social and structural barriers shape that relationship. The studyis grounded in the Naila Kabeer (1999) framework of “resources–agency–achievements” and builds on aflow of concerns: limited participation, safety and mobility restrictions, earnings without decision-makingcontrol, concentration in informal work, the invisibility of unpaid care, restrictions despite education, and theresulting economic loss for the nation. Using secondary data from the National Family Health Survey(NFHS-5), the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), and the Time-Use Survey (2019), supplemented withinternational reports and recent literature, the paper examines multiple hypotheses, including: (1) whetherwomen’s income contributions strengthen their role in household decision-making; (2) the influence of jobtype and social respectability on bargaining outcomes; (3) the impact of unpaid care work on participationand agency; and (4–7) the roles of household wealth, social identity, demographic factors, and the exclusionof educated women in shaping bargaining power and national growth potential. A descriptive and analyticaldesign is applied, combining statistical trends with contextual interpretation. Findings suggest that whileincome is important, social norms, job quality, and caregiving burdens critically mediate women’s bargainingpower. The study concludes that enhancing women’s economic agency is not only central to gender equitybut also to India’s long-term growth, as undervaluing women’s work leads to both social and economic costs.

Authors: Christabel Okoroafor, Anushka Pandey, Natalie Joseph, Ceren Kale, AksharaShukla, Chibudom Ironuru ABSTRACT Migration is a fundamental aspect of human history, driven by the search for survival, security, andopportunity. From the earliest movements out of East Africa to contemporary global flows, migrationpatterns have always reflected deeply embedded political, economic, and environmental dynamics. Inthe modern era, migration is shaped by “push” factors such as conflict, poverty, and climate change, and“pull” factors like economic opportunity and safety. However, these movements are not merely personalchoices, they symbolize persistent global inequalities, particularly between the Global North andSouth. Statistics reveal that while 37% of migration occurs between Southern nations, corridors such asMexico–U.S. and Africa–Europe underscore the influence of geopolitical alliances, policy disparities,and entrenched systemic inequalities.The study of U.S. migration policy offers a powerful lens into these broader forces. Recent years havewitnessed profound shifts, especially under the Trump administration, which implemented sweepingrollbacks on humanitarian protections. Policies like the “Zero-Tolerance” family separation initiative,the “Remain in Mexico” protocol, travel bans targeting Muslim-majority and African countries, andnarrowing of asylum eligibility marked a stark departure from prior commitments to refugee and asylumrights. These measures resulted in widespread family separation, increased deportations, and fueled anatmosphere of fear and exclusion for migrants and asylum seekers.Moreover, the Trump administration’s approach has had long-term reverberations, weakeninginstitutional capacity, fueling backlogs, and politicizing immigration agencies. Even as the Bidenadministration has attempted to reverse some of these policies, structural barriers and the legacy ofenforcement-first strategies persist, complicating efforts toward humane migration justice and reform.The implications extend beyond the U.S., altering global attitudes and contributing to a backlash againstmultilateral cooperation on migration issues. As migration remains a key site of contestation andnegotiation, achieving genuine change will require not just policy reversal but structural transformationto address the deep-rooted inequalities, uphold human rights, and rebuild trust in migration governance.

Authors: Diptika Chatterjee and Daman Kaur ABSTRACT The paper represents the dynamic study about inequality in India with its serious implications on the natives of our country. In this paper, by considering alternative survey sources and data collection methods, we begin bydeveloping a measurable cum outcome based approach, which allows us to study the income dynamics of ourcountry over the past 5 years, we observed, studies that are examining education, inequality, and growth acrossmultiple countries. Trends of income inequalities, by a more formal examination of inequality, can also be takenthrough the decomposition of the Gini coefficient, which measures inequality in household income and consumption. The (Hces 2023-24, n.d.) showed an overall Gini index of consumption expenditure of 0.36, with ahigher Gini of 0.39 for urban India as compared to a Gini of 0.30 for the rural area. We emphasised that the quality of economic data in India is notably poor and has seen a constant and a significant decline overall. The Annual Status of Education Reports (ASER) data, reported for the years 2020-2024, also reinforces these observations as it offers information about participation and indications of qualitative differences in learning outcome.

Authors: Aditi Natasha Bhuinyan and Ayush Paul ABSTRACT This study evaluates the financial performance and crisis resilience of ESG-focused versus traditional equityindices in India. Using daily data from April 2011 to December 2024, it compares the NIFTY ESG Index with theNIFTY100 Traditional Index across cumulative returns, volatility, Sharpe ratios, and maximum drawdowns. Theanalysis reveals that the ESG index consistently outperforms the traditional benchmark, delivering highercumulative and risk-adjusted returns while maintaining comparable or lower downside risk. During periods ofmarket stress, notably the COVID-19 pandemic, ESG investments demonstrated superior resilience, with lowervolatility, faster recovery, and stronger Sharpe ratios. These findings suggest that ESG integration enhances bothlong-term financial performance and portfolio stability, challenging the notion that sustainable investing requiressacrificing returns. The study provides robust empirical evidence that ESG considerations in India cansimultaneously support profitability, risk management, and sustainable growth, highlighting their strategic valuefor investors, corporations, and policymakers seeking to align financial objectives with long-term sustainabilitygoals.