On Monday, May 19, ORF America hosted a virtual launch of “A Blueprint to Advance the U.S.-India Energy Security Partnership”. This special report builds on the outcomes from closed-door workshops hosted by ORF America, which brought together Indian and American energy and climate experts, and proposes a U.S.-India Strategic Energy and Industrial Partnership.

To deepen bilateral collaboration on energy security, the report recommends:

• Research partnerships to leapfrog to next-generation technologies; 

• Trade missions and technology transfers in key sectors, such as automotive innovation and advanced battery manufacturing;

• Public-private partnerships to expand lithium-ion battery production and ancillary component industries; and

• Bilateral engagement between governments and financial institutions to fund and grow strategic sectors.

Drawing on the workshop outcomes, it is clear that the United States and India are best positioned to leverage their respective strengths and their bilateral relationship to: 1) develop and deploy energy technologies at scale at home and abroad; 2) reduce concentration in energy supply chains and manufacturing of new energy technologies of the future; and 3) continue to strengthen the both the domestic industrial base and the industrial corridor between the two countries.

Speakers:

• Opening Remarks: Medha Prasanna, Program Coordinator and Junior Fellow, ORF America

• Aditya Ramji, Director, Global South Clean Transportation Center, University of California, Davis

• Moderator: Anit Mukherjee, Senior Fellow, ORF America

Conference on “Advancing the Development Agenda in the Global South”

Hosted by ORF America and the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP)

The 2025 World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings are taking place in uncertain times for the global economy. The sweeping tariffs announced by the U.S. government have upended one of the main pillars of globalization. In addition, the rising debt burden in both developed and developing economies, the cutback in development assistance by the United States and Europe, and the expanding gap between the need for resources to combat climate change and its availability all add to the sense of uncertainty that policymakers would need to navigate over the coming years. In this changed scenario, how can the developing countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia — loosely known as the Global South — find solutions to address issues of economic growth, equity and sustainability?

Keynote: Rethinking the Development Agenda amid Global Economic Turmoil

• Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Former Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, Government of India and Distinguished Fellow, CSEP

Session 1: Institutional Reform and Debt Sustainability

• Auguste Tano Kouamé, Country Director for India, The World Bank

• Rakesh Mohan, President Emeritus and Distinguished Fellow, CSEP

• Moderator: Udaibir Das, Distinguished Senior Fellow, ORF America

Session 2: Advancing SDGs, Food and Health Security

• Eduardo Gonzalez-Pier, Former Deputy Minister for Health, Federal Government of Mexico

• Purnima Menon, Senior Director, Food and Nutrition Policy, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

• Moderator: Sandhya Venkateswaran, Senior Fellow, Human Development and Health Policy, CSEP

Session 3: Increasing Just and Equitable Climate Finance

• Rogério Studart, Senior Fellow, Brazilian Center of International Relations (CEBRI)

• Ridhika Batra, Vice President, Corporate Affairs (Americas), The Mahindra Group

• Moderator: Anit Mukherjee, Senior Fellow, ORF America

Event Summary

The keynote address delivered by Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia – one of the architects of India’s economic reforms in 1991 - focused on rethinking the debt, human development and climate challenges amidst the current global economic turmoil. His remarks underlined that these issues are not new. Instead, the pace of change is more intense than in the past, lending urgency to the calls for the reform multilateral organizations, global trade, development assistance and raising climate finance, in addition to confronting the challenges of labor displacement due to technological change.

The first session delved into institutional reform and debt sustainability. Over 60 countries are poor, fragile, and lack access to affordable capital. Coupled with issues of climate change, these countries are forced to choose between debt service or economic development. Speakers highlighted the fact that external aid can sometimes exacerbate debt problems through currency appreciation thereby handicapping exports from developing countries. Therefore, reform must focus more on proactive steps like redesigning public financial management, rebalancing risk, and shifting from reaction to resilience in economic policymaking. Additionally, both borrowers and lenders need to be more transparent to enable multilateral institutions to identify needs and priorities enabling them to bridge the gap.

The second session explored issues of SDGs, food, and health security. These continue to matter to the developing world and here indeed is the importance of developing countries or “South-South cooperation”. For example, countries in Latin America have addressed malnutrition through regional cooperation and can share this expertise with other countries and regions of the Global South. Going forward, developing countries should refine their capacity for more collective action in meeting the SDGs, creating platforms for knowledge exchange and access to resources that are becoming increasingly scare in the current global scenario.

The third session explored how to increase access to just and equitable climate finance. Key to addressing this issue is to define the respective roles of the public and private sectors. Sovereign financing through both domestic resource mobilization and access to external financing can send a positive signal to the private sector to invest at scale, focus on high-impact sectors and identify projects for collaboration. In the long run, this can drive innovation and accelerate adoption of new technologies. With the withdrawal of the United States from the COP process, the upcoming COP 30 meeting in Belém can drive more collective action from the Global South, especially Brazil, India, South Africa, Mexico, Indonesia, to mobilize climate finance and access to technology in an uncertain geopolitical environment.

On April 23, ORF America hosted a team from the World Bank and senior officials of the Government of India to discuss pathways for India to become a high-income country within a generation. The participants highlighted the achievements over the past three decades starting with the economic reforms in 1991, the subsequent period of liberalization, fiscal consolidation and investment in physical and social infrastructure, and, more recently, digitalization.

This has set a good foundation for the next three decades for the country to grow rapidly while addressing the gaps in human development, employment and increases in productivity. To do that, India would need to increase its investment-to-GDP ratio to over 40%, increase the female labor force participation rate to over 50% by 2035, and invest heavily in digital infrastructure to sustain the momentum of the ongoing digital transformation. In spite of the adverse global scenario, the speakers emphasized the importance of reducing trade barriers and participate more actively in global value chains. The participants agreed that India stands to gain significantly in the current geopolitical and geoeconomic transition if it focuses on its strengths — fiscal and monetary stability, strong institutions and accelerated human development — over the next three decades.

On March 13, ORF America hosted DC-based space policy experts for an engaging discussion on the fast-evolving world of international space policy. With the global space economy projected to be worth $1.8 trillion by 2035, the conversation included insights into the latest policy and regulatory developments from the United States, India, and private sector companies like SpaceX.

Other topics included the significance of India's growing presence in space, the urgent need for a regulatory framework to ensure space sustainability, and the impact of the second Trump administration on U.S. space policy.

This was the 12th convening of ORF America’s Briefings & Beer series, which offers young professionals in D.C. the opportunity to informally engage with distinguished foreign policy experts and network with peers.

Speakers: 

• Namrata Goswami, Professor of Space Security, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies

• Victoria Samson, Chief Director of Space Security and Stability, Secure World Foundation

• Brian Weeden, Systems Director, Center for Space Policy and Strategy at The Aerospace Corporation

• Moderator: Ishani Chettri, Communications Assistant, ORF America

On February 27, ORF America hosted a private roundtable to explore how the United States can cooperate with partners and allies to diversify and strengthen critical mineral supply chains. The discussion sought to address the effectiveness of alternative critical minerals supply solutions, the impact of China’s export controls on clean-tech markets and industries, and whether existing partnerships must be reevaluated to consider long-term goals and potential domestic contradictions.

Critical minerals are key inputs into advanced technology manufacturing and products, including crucial advances in emerging energy technology and electric vehicles. With friction and competition between the United States and China continuing in critical and emerging technologies advancement, export controls (as well as the threat of higher tariffs) have increased tensions. Over the same period, the People’s Republic of China initially implemented several soft licensing controls with an explicit ban on exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, and antimony, as well as restrictions on high-purity graphite exports, with further limits implemented in early 2025. 

The United States, allied governments, U.S. companies, and allied and partner companies, well aware of China’s chokehold over raw mining or processing of certain critical minerals, rare earths, and critical materials, established the Mineral Security Partnership to address these challenges through partners like Japan, Australia, the European Union, India, and many others as well as exploring domestic discovery, mining, and processing options. However, many large economies' medium-term needs for critical minerals in clean energy face supply risks (e.g., import dependence, availability to meet demand) for several minerals. 

The roundtable was attended by officials from the U.S. Department of State, members of the European Commission, representatives from the diplomatic corps, business groups, think tanks, and consultancy firms.

Speakers: 

• Moderator: Jeffrey D. Bean, Program Manager, ORF America

• Barbara Glowacka, Member of the Cabinet, Office of the Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson, European Commission 

• Dhruva Jaishankar, Executive Director, ORF America

• Mahnaz Khan, Vice President of Policy, Critical Supply Chains, Silverado Policy Accelerator

• Eike Klapper, First Secretary - Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs/Trade and Agriculture Section, Delegation of the European Union to the United States 

• Michael Newbill, Senior Advisor, Critical Mineral Supply Chains, U.S. Department of State

• Amb. Geoffrey R. Pyatt, Former Assistant Secretary of State, ENR Bureau, U.S. Department of State

• Aditya Ramji, Director, India ZEV Center at UC Davis 

On February 13, ORF America hosted members of the D.C. diplomatic corps for a discussion on Trump 2.0. The event was part of ORF America’s Briefings & Beer series, which offers young professionals in D.C. the opportunity to informally engage with distinguished foreign policy experts and network with peers.

Speakers: 

• Tamie Balaga, Political Counsellor, Embassy of Australia in Washington, D.C.

• Yoav Katz, Minister Counselor for Political Affairs, Israeli Embassy to the

  United States

• Maria Markowska, Head of the Political Section and First Counselor, Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Washington, D.C.

• Moderator: Medha Prasanna, Program Coordinator and Junior Fellow, ORF America

On December 6, ORF America hosted a private roundtable titled “Bridging Perspectives: Shaping Development Priorities for the Global South”. The event facilitated an insightful conversation on the pressing challenges for economic development in the Global South with a select group of participants from multilateral development banks, think tanks, philanthropies, and the private sector.

The participants reflected on key milestones from 2024 including the IMF and World Bank meetings, the Summit of the Future, and COP29 among others. The discussion identified critical gaps and proposed key action points for Global South collaboration in 2025.

As the collective influence of the Global South grows through the consecutive G20 presidencies of Indonesia, India, Brazil and South Africa, the upcoming Financing for Development conference, and COP30 in Bélem in 2025, the discussion focused on three key priorities:

1. Examining the outcomes from significant convenings in 2024, such as the UN Pact for the Future, the Global Digital Compact, the World Bank’s enhanced lending capacity, the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty established during Brazil’s G20 presidency, and the financial commitment made during COP29 for climate action.

2. Exploring whether or not the ongoing global commitments adequately addressed the urgency of the Global South’s needs.

3. Assessing the available opportunities for the Global South to take action to drive effective and sustainable solutions in 2025.

The participants noted the importance of articulating clear priorities and course of action to sustain the momentum generated in 2024. However, questions were raised about the adequacy and effectiveness of development finance to address the needs of the Global South particularly in climate adaption and clean energy transition. The discussions also called into question whether the current strategy of private sector engagement is appropriate and whether countries of the Global South had the capacity to absorb increased flow of resources effectively.

The conversations emphasized that the Global South needs more institutional capacity to gain credibility and provide leadership in multilateral forums. Countries of the Global South should agree on a set of priorities, develop action plans, and develop coordination mechanisms to strengthen their bargaining power to drive the global development agenda in 2025.

Attendees:

• Magdi Amin, Managing Partner, African Renaissance Partners

• Pepukaye Bardouille, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Barbados and Director, Bridgetown Initiative

• Ridhika Batra, Vice President Corporate Affairs, Mahindra Group

• Udaibir Das, Distinguished Senior Fellow, ORF America, and Visiting Professor, National Council for Applied Economic Research

• Alan Gelb, Senior Fellow Emeritus, Center for Global Development

• Hemang Jani, Senior Advisor to Executive Director, World Bank

• Vikrum Mathur, Senior Director, Tata Sons - North America

• Anit Mukherjee, Senior Fellow, ORF America

• Karen Rodriguez, Alternate Executive Director for Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Philippines, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago, World Bank

• Jordan Sandman, Principal, Investments, Co-Develop

• Sharon Stirling, Chief Operating Officer, ORF America

• Fabio Veras Soares, Director of International Studies, Institute for Applied Economic Research, Brasilia

• Brian Webster, Research Associate, Center for Global Development

Michael Newbill, Senior Advisor, Critical Mineral Supply chains, U.S Department of State, delivered keynote remarks on the importance of fostering U.S.-India climate cooperation and the active engagement of emerging leaders on climate and energy issues.

Following his remarks, the cohort presented the volume's nine chapters, covering critical topics like capacity building for climate action, green hydrogen, methane emissions, urban planning, electric vehicles, rooftop solar, mineral supply chains, digital public infrastructure, and the intersection of climate and health.

On November 12, ORF America hosted a discussion on the 2024 U.S. elections. The discussion explored the issues and trends that informed the outcome of the 2024 U.S. elections.

This was the tenth convening of the Briefings & Beer series, which is organized by ORF America for young professionals in Washington, D.C. The series offers young professionals the opportunity to informally engage with distinguished foreign policy experts, as well as a platform to network with peers. This discussion was attended by journalists, think tank analysts, and embassy officials.

Speakers: 

• Clifford Young, President, Ipsos U.S. Public Affairs

• Kristin Davison, Partner, Axiom Strategies

• Moderator: Natalie Boyse, Program Manager, Global Programs, ORF America

On September 18, ORF America hosted a discussion on U.S. elections and their future implications for transatlantic security with Kori Schake, Max Bergmann, and Constanze Stelzenmuller. The event was part of ORF America’s Briefings & Beer series.

The discussion revolved around three themes: ongoing foreign policy debates within the Democratic and Republican parties, possible changes to the U.S. and Europe’s strategy towards the Ukraine war, and future scenarios of NATO and Europe’s collective defense.

Participants highlighted how party perspectives are changing in both the United States and Europe on issues such as China, Russia, military interventions, and alliances. They also described how these issues are viewed in rural and suburban regions beyond D.C., Berlin, and Brussels. Participants also discussed U.S. strategy towards Ukraine and how policymakers are wrestling with budgetary constraints and other priorities including in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific regions. Finally, the session concluded with suggestions for different ways in which European countries can take more responsibility within NATO and possible outcomes for U.S.-Europe transatlantic security.

This was the eighth convening of the Briefings & Beer series, which is organized by ORF America for young professionals in Washington, D.C. The series offers young professionals the opportunity to informally engage with distinguished foreign policy experts, as well as a platform to network with peers. This discussion was attended by graduate students, journalists, think tank analysts, embassy officials, and military officers.

Speakers: 

• Max Bergmann, Director of Europe, Russia, and Eurasia Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies

• Kori Schake, Senior Fellow & Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute

• Constanze Stelzenmuller, Director of the Center on the United States and Europe & Fritz Stern Chair on Germany and Trans-Atlantic Relations, Brookings Institution

• Moderator: Ammar Nainar, Junior Fellow and Program Assistant, ORF America

On September 16, ORF America hosted a conversation with Smriti Zubin Irani, a notable Indian public figure who served as a Cabinet Minister from 2014 to 2024. During this time, she oversaw various portfolios including Women and Child Development; Education; Minority Affairs; Textiles; and Information and Broadcasting. She was the first woman to hold office as Cabinet Minister for Education and as Minister of Textiles.

The conversation revolved around the changing nature of politics in India, focusing on the role of women in India’s economy and society. How are more women integral to India’s political discourse today? How are women participating in India’s competitive democracy after the unanimous passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in 2023, which required that the Lok Sabha reserve at least 33 percent of seats for women?

Many women working in informal sectors are not recognized for their economic contributions. The 15.5 million women-owned businesses in India generate significant employment, but their impact is often undercounted. Irani, however, mentioned that there is a growing recognition of women's importance in the workforce. Introducing financial inclusion initiatives, such as opening bank accounts for women, has led to significant economic benefits, with women generating 12% higher revenue than men.

Yet challenges remain. Access to technology needs to be more affordable and accessible, especially given language barriers in India, which sometimes make access to innovative payment methods and other technological tools challenging. While the number of women pursuing STEM degrees and PhDs has increased by 100 percent, there needs to be a greater focus on helping them monetize their education, as well as increasing women's leadership roles in academia and beyond.

Speaker:

• Smriti Irani, former Indian Cabinet Minister for Education; Women & Child Development; Information and Broadcasting; Textiles; and Minority Affairs

• Moderator: Dhruva Jaishankar, Executive Director, ORF America