On April 1, 2025, Finland’s Prime Minister announced the country’s intention to withdraw from the international treaty banning anti-personnel land mines. Contrary to the date’s association with pranks, this declaration is no April Fool’s joke. Historically, wars have compelled states to suspend, derogate from, or even terminate treaty obligations.
In 2021, during a seminar on gender mainstreaming in India’s foreign policy, India's External Affairs Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, emphasized the need for a gender-balanced foreign policy.
The India-Russia relationship has entered a new phase, marked by intensified bilateral engagements over the past six months. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Moscow twice this year, in July and October, to strengthen ties with Russia, a steadfast ally.
In the 1850s, upon receiving the first telegraph messages, the flummoxed British Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, famously exclaimed, "My God, this is the end of diplomacy!" His reaction reflected the skepticism and surprise that often accompany shifts in public diplomacy.
Every summer, news of people dying due to the scorching rays of the unforgiving sun circulates in popular media. Though the size of the published articles keeps decreasing in width and breadth as the season goes by, do not mistake its miniature manifestations as a sign of reduced importance.