Context

• The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek (August 31–September 1, 2026) and the BRICS summit in New Delhi (September 12–13, 2026) marked significant developments in Indian foreign policy.
• India endorsed declarations supporting Iran and Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
• It revealed the growing challenges of strategic autonomy and multi-alignment amid intensifying geopolitical rivalries.

The Strategic Significance of SCO and BRICS

• The SCO and BRICS provide platforms for cooperation among Russia, India, China, and other emerging powers.
• Russia uses them to demonstrate that it is not internationally isolated, while China seeks to expand its geopolitical influence and challenge Western dominance.
• India participates in these organisations while maintaining relations with Western forums such as the G-7.
• This approach enables New Delhi to protect its national interests without aligning exclusively with any major power.

A Surprise Pivot

• At Bishkek, India endorsed a declaration condemning attacks on Iran, reaffirming its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and mourning the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in U.S.-Israeli air strikes.
• This represented a departure from India’s traditional reluctance to directly criticise Washington and Tel Aviv.
• India also supported strong statements affirming Palestinian rights and the two-state solution, despite maintaining close relations with Israel.
• Meanwhile PM Modi publicly urged Mr. Putin to end Russia’s prolonged war in Ukraine.
• India’s position may have been influenced by its desire to secure the participation of Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the BRICS summit.
• Following Operation Sindoor (2025), India faced concerns about diplomatic marginalisation, while Pakistan gained prominence through its mediation role in the Iran conflict.
• A successful BRICS summit was therefore important for restoring India’s international standing.

Contradictory shifts

• India’s support for Iran did not signify a complete break with Washington.
• Mr. Modi’s public appeal to Putin demonstrated concern about the Ukraine conflict and reassured Western governments of India’s continuing engagement with their position.
• Consequently, India supported declarations accommodating Russian interests while publicly urging Moscow to end the war.
• These contrasting approaches expose the difficulties of multi-alignment.
• India seeks to maintain relations with Israel while opposing attacks on Iran, purchase Russian oil while strengthening Western partnerships, and participate in BRICS without appearing anti-American.
• Mr. Modi and Mr. Xi met on the side-lines of the New Delhi summit, although they had not held bilateral talks in Bishkek.
• Neither summit declaration mentioned Ukraine, allowing the organisations to avoid directly criticising Moscow.

The Problem of Selective Diplomacy

• At the 2022 SCO summit in Samarkand, PM Modi told Putin that today’s era is not an era of war.
• India subsequently used this statement to explain that purchasing discounted Russian oil did not imply support for Russia’s invasion.
• However, India has not issued comparable public admonitions to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over military campaigns across West Asia or to U.S. President Donald Trump following American attacks on Iran.
• India’s own military action against Pakistan during Operation Sindoor also complicates its opposition to warfare. Such selective diplomacy may undermine India’s credibility.
• Moscow could interpret Mr. Modi’s statements as performative gestures intended to reassure the West rather than expressions of consistently applied principles.

Where Ties with Russia Stand?

• Russia remains important to India for energy security, defence cooperation, and military supplies.
• However, India has diversified its defence procurement by increasingly turning to France, Israel, and the United States, reducing its dependence on Russian arms.
• Meanwhile, Russia is strengthening its partnership with China.
• Although India and Russia continue to share strategic interests, their relationship is becoming increasingly transactional, shaped by immediate economic and geopolitical considerations.
• India must therefore balance closer Western engagement with the need to preserve its longstanding relationship with Moscow.
• Excessive criticism could weaken mutual trust, while continued dependence on Russian supplies could constrain India’s strategic flexibility.

Conclusion

• The 2026 SCO and BRICS summits demonstrated both the opportunities and limitations of India’s multi-alignment strategy.
• India’s positions on Iran and Ukraine reflect its efforts to preserve diplomatic flexibility, but inconsistent responses to international conflicts risk undermining its credibility.
• India must reconcile strategic autonomy with diplomatic consistency, diversify its partnerships, and protect its national interests without becoming dependent on any single power.
• Its global influence will ultimately depend on strategic clarity, credible diplomacy, and principled decision-making in an increasingly fragmented international order.

Context

• The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has warned that the world could cross the 1.5°C global warming threshold within the next few years, increasing pressure for faster decarbonisation.
• India must balance economic growth with climate commitments, but its unfinished infrastructure development offers an opportunity to adopt low-carbon growth from the beginning.
• According to NITI Aayog, 86% of India’s building stock in 2070 is yet to be constructed. Total floor space is projected to rise from 18 billion square metres in 2020 to 42 billion by 2070.
• Steel capacity is targeted to reach 300 million tonnes by 2030–31, while cement production could increase to 660 million tonnes by 2030.
• These projections demonstrate the need to integrate sustainability into infrastructure planning to prevent long-term environmental damage.

The Advantage of Choice

• India’s Infrastructure Opportunity
  • India’s infrastructure deficit is often considered an obstacle to decarbonisation because demand for steel, cement and electricity will continue to grow.
  • However, much of its future infrastructure remains a choice rather than an inheritance.
  • India can incorporate energy efficiency and cleaner technologies into new investments, avoiding costly retrofits and stranded assets.
  • The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that approximately 80% of the building stock advanced economies will use in 2050 already exists.
  • In the European Union, 85% of buildings predate 2000, around three-quarters perform poorly in energy efficiency, and only about 1% are renovated annually.
• Strengthening Building Regulations
  • India can avoid similar problems by adopting sustainable building designs from the outset.
  • The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) reports that 27 States have notified the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) 2017, but only 21 have legally incorporated it.
  • The Energy Conservation and Sustainable Building Code (ECSBC) 2024 and Eco-Niwas Samhita (ENS) 2024 provide updated standards for commercial and residential buildings.
  • States should integrate these codes into building permits, occupancy certificates and grid connections, making compliance enforceable rather than voluntary.

The Issue in the Power Sector

• Expanding Transmission and Storage
  • India has expanded renewable-energy generation rapidly, but transmission infrastructure has not kept pace.
  • The IEA estimates that transmission bottlenecks have constrained approximately 60 GW of renewable capacity.
  • Meanwhile, the Ministry of Power plans around 590 GW of generation additions between 2023 and 2032.
  • Without adequate transmission and storage, renewable electricity may not reach consumption centres reliably.
  • Electrification of transport, cooling and industry will further increase demand.
  • Therefore, transmission networks and energy storage must be developed alongside, or sometimes ahead of, new generation capacity.
• Decarbonising Steel and Cement
  • Decarbonising steel and cement is more difficult because technologies such as hydrogen-based green steel and large-scale carbon capture remain economically or technologically challenging.
  • Premature technology mandates could increase costs and lock industries into inefficient processes.
• Using Public Procurement to Encourage Green Industry
  • Instead, public procurement can create demand for low-emission materials.
  • Government agencies, Indian Railways and the National Highways Authority of India purchase substantial quantities of steel and cement, giving them considerable influence over industrial practices.
  • India’s green-steel taxonomy and proposed aggregated procurement through competitive bidding offer a practical approach.
  • Tenders can establish emissions-intensity thresholds without prescribing production methods.
  • Competition would encourage innovation, reveal the additional cost of greener materials and allow standards to become progressively stricter.
  • Aligning these thresholds with the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS) would ensure consistent policy incentives and encourage industrial decarbonisation.

Costs and Risks

• Addressing High Financing Costs
  • The IEA estimates that India’s cost of capital for grid-scale renewable projects is about 80% higher than in advanced economies.
  • High upfront costs and expensive borrowing can make otherwise viable clean-energy projects unattractive.
  • Targeted support through payment-security mechanisms, partial credit guarantees and concessional debt can reduce financing and payment risks, encouraging private investment.
• Balancing Public Support and Financial Risks
  • Public finance must be used carefully. Subsidising unproven technologies could transfer commercial risks to taxpayers.
  • Governments should distinguish between mature technologies requiring financial support and emerging technologies that still face significant technical and economic uncertainty.
  • A balanced financing strategy can promote clean infrastructure while protecting public resources and maintaining financial discipline.

Conclusion

• India must invest heavily to build its future economy, but the environmental consequences will depend on the choices made today.
• Efficient infrastructure, renewable energy and sustainable construction should be prioritised wherever technologies are mature.
• By making informed investment decisions today, the country can reduce future costs, strengthen energy security, limit emissions and achieve sustainable economic growth.

About SGLT2 Inhibitors:

• SGLT2 (Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2) inhibitors are a class of medications primarily used to treat Type 2 diabetes (T2D).
  • T2D, the most common type of diabetes, is a disease that occurs when the blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high.
• SGLT2 Inhibitors manage blood sugar by helping kidneys remove extra glucose.

How do SGLT2 inhibitors work?

• SGLT2 is a protein in the kidneys that reabsorbs glucose.
• Typically, when glucose in the blood flows through the kidneys, some glucose goes back into the bloodstream.
• SGLT2 inhibitors block that process, so the kidneys don’t reabsorb glucose.

• The use of SGLT2 inhibitors is as follows:
  • They also help improve kidney and heart health for people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) or heart failure.
  • They can slow the progression of kidney disease and reduce the risk of needing dialysis.
  • SGLT2 inhibitors also lower the risk of heart failure flare-ups.

Common SGLT2 inhibitors:

• Dapagliflozin
• Empagliflozin
• Canagliflozin
• Ertugliflozin
• Some of the side effects include:
  • Higher risk of developing genital and urinary tract infections
  • Urinating more frequently
  • Flu like symptoms
  • Nausea
  • Joint pain.

About Defence Acquisition Council (DAC):

• It is the highest decision-making body of India's Ministry of Defence on procurement.
• Main Objective: To ensure expeditious procurement of the approved requirements of the armed forces in terms of capabilities sought and time frame prescribed by optimally utilizing the allocated budgetary resources.
• Formation: It was formed after the Group of Minister’s recommendations on ‘Reforming the National Security System’, in 2001, post-Kargil War (1999).
• Composition:
  • The Defence Minister is the chairman of DAC.
  • Its members include senior civil and military leaders of the Ministry of Defence, among them the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force; the Defence Secretary; and other senior officials responsible for finance, production, and acquisition.
• Functions:
  • Give in-principle approval to long-term perspective planning, as applicable under the current framework.
  • Categorisation of the acquisition proposals relating to ‘Buy’, ‘Buy & Make’, and ‘Make’.
  • Look into issues relating to single vendor clearance.
  • Take decisions regarding the Transfer of Technology under the ‘Buy & Make’ category of acquisition proposals.
  • Field trial evaluation.
• The categorisation decisions taken by the DAC are especially significant, because they influence whether contracts flow to Indian designers and manufacturers or to foreign suppliers.
• Through its approvals, the DAC effectively sets the direction of India's military modernisation.

About Greater Flamingo:

• It is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family.
• Scientific Name: Phoenicopterus roseus
• Habitat and Distribution:
  • The Greater flamingo inhabits Africa, the Middle East, southern Europe, and the Indian subcontinent.
  • They occur in relatively shallow water bodies, such as saline lagoons, salt pans, large alkaline or saline lakes, and estuaries.
  • Breeding takes place on sandbanks, mudflats, sandy or rocky islands, or open beaches.
• Features:
  • It is a large bird with an elegant body, a long and slender neck, and extremely long legs.
  • Its plumage is predominantly pale pink, with more intense shades on the wings and black wingtips.
  • The beak is thick, downward-curved, and pink with a black tip.
  • The legs are long, thin, and bright pink, perfectly adapted for moving through shallow waters.
  • Juveniles have a gray-brown coloration, with some pink on their underparts, tail and wings, with the legs and beak being mainly brown.
  • They are a highly social species, nesting in large, dense colonies.
  • They feed by filtering water with their specialized beaks, consuming crustaceans, algae, and small invertebrates.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN Red List: Least Concern

Key Facts about Veeranam Lake:

• Veeranam Lake (Veeranarayanan Lake) is a man-made lake located Tamil Nadu.
• It is among the oldest and largest man-made lakes in Tamil Nadu.
• Built during the 10th century CE by Rajaditya Chola, the son of Parantaka Chola I, the lake stands as a remarkable example of the Chola Empire’s engineering excellence and irrigation planning.
• It was constructed to strengthen irrigation and support the northern territories of the Chola kingdom.
• The lake is fed by Vadavar river and Sengal stream.
• It continues to serve as a lifeline for agriculture in the region and is also an important source of drinking water for Chennai through the New Veeranam Water Supply Scheme.
• Veeranam Lake is closely associated with Kalki Krishnamurthy’s celebrated historical novel Ponniyin Selvan.