Category: First Person

Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered the keynote address at the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women in Beijing on October 13, 2025, marking 30 years since the Fourth World Conference on Women. Xi outlined four proposals to advance women’s all-round development: fostering a peaceful and enabling environment; promoting high-quality development with women as beneficiaries; strengthening governance to protect women’s rights; and enhancing global cooperation under the UN’s central role. He also highlighted China’s progress and announced new commitments to support women’s empowerment worldwide.

On October 6, 2025, Dr. S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister of India, addressed the audience at the Aravalli Summit 2025 held at the School of International Studies, JNU. Reflecting on his journey, he noted how studying international relations had helped him practice it more adeptly. Further, he underscored the level of transformations taking place and their strategic consequences. Amidst this complex evolving landscape, he highlighted that from India’s perspective, three driving forces will propel the rise of India—demand, demographics, and data.

In his August 7 The New York Times op-ed, United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer argued that President Trump’s current trade policy, which uses a combination of tariffs and negotiated deals, is fundamentally remaking the international economic order. He characterised this shift as a ‘Trump Round’ of trade negotiations—a new phase in global economic governance in which tariffs are recognised as a legitimate tool of public policy. Greer claimed that, as a result, U.S. trading partners are showing unprecedented readiness to grant market access, align on economic and national security priorities, and rebalance trade in a more sustainable way.

Speaking at the UNSC Quarterly Open Debate on 23 July on the agenda ‘The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question,’ Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, called for a ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and an end to the human suffering in Gaza. He highlighted the grave humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where acute shortages of food, fuel, and medical services persist, and the education system is in a dire state. Reiterating that India was the first non-Arab country to recognise the Palestinian state, he said India’s ‘commitment towards the Palestinian cause is unwavering’ as he called for a two-state solution ‘within recognised and mutually agreed borders.’

Speaking at the 62nd Convocation of IIT Madras on 11 July, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval emphasised the success of Op Sindoor, praising it for its precision, planning and execution. He also addressed the misleading media narratives circulating information about damage on the Indian side during Op Sindoor. Reflecting optimism in India becoming the ‘tremendous power’, NSA underscored the role of the ‘X Factor’—its youth, both individually and collectively. Additionally, he stressed the significance of developing indigenous communication systems and drew linkage between technology and warfare.