Now entering the third year, the Emerging Middle Powers Initiative (KEMP) explores how senior experts and decision-makers in Germany, India, Brazil, Indonesia, and South Africa views their countries’ roles in the world. This initiative is conducted by a consortium of think tanks: Körber-Stiftung, Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI), BRICS Policy Center, South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), and Gateway House Indian Council on Global Relations.

In this episode, we unpack the realities of negotiating with great power, the risks that come with appeasement and why drawing red lines matters. This conversation unpacks insights from Shyam Saran's extensive diplomatic experience. Shyam Saran served as India’s Foreign Secretary (2004–2006), Chairman of India’s National Security Advisory Board, and the Prime Minister’s Envoy for Nuclear Affairs and Climate Change.

May 2025

In the third episode of Eyes on Middle Powers podcast on “India’s Strategic Positioning in a ‘Tricentric’ World,” Gautam Mukhopadhaya shared his vivid firsthand experiences as India’s envoy in Syria, Afghanistan, and Myanmar — spanning periods of political reform, violent insurgency, and transition. He recalled surviving repeated embassy attacks in Afghanistan and witnessing Myanmar’s liberalization era, giving listeners a rare, on-the-ground view of shifting geopolitics.