India needs to strengthen its existing bilateral relations with all the Arctic countries and continue to re-emphasize its call for peaceful resolution of Arctic disputes.

The impending removal of the piracy High Risk Area off the coast of Somalia presents an ideal opportunity for India, in partnership with the wider Indo-Pacific maritime community, to delegitimise China’s naval presence and strengthen regional mechanisms for ensuring maritime security.

Though the Janatha aragalaya (people’s struggle) against the Rajapaksas was spontaneous, the role of the Left organisations in galvanising this into a movement that ousted the Rajapaksa family is an important landmark in Left politics.

While the Russia–Ukraine crisis has given India the impetus to engage more proactively with European states, the need is to maintain and build on the momentum, in the pursuit of mutual benefit and prosperity.