BIMSTEC

Growing Salience of BIMSTEC : Reconnecting the Bay of Bengal Civilisation Through Trade and Connectivity

If the twentieth century was shaped by the Atlantic and the early twenty-first century witnessed the rise of the Pacific, the coming decades may well belong to the Bay of Bengal. The foundations of that future will not be built solely through trade agreements or infrastructure projects. They will emerge from a shared commitment to connectivity, cooperation and civilisational understanding.

West Bengal's Economic Transformation: A Blueprint for Growth

West Bengal has the resources, talent, culture, and strategic location necessary to become one of India’s most prosperous states. By combining efficient governance, investment-friendly policies, infrastructure development, education, innovation, trade expansion, tourism growth, environmental sustainability, and social inclusion, the state can achieve rapid economic transformation and substantially raise incomes, employment, and overall quality of life.

India’s Balance-of-Payments Challenge: Need for Structural Transformation in Uncertain Times

India possesses immense talent, entrepreneurial capacity, and a large domestic market, yet it still lacks sufficient depth in high-end manufacturing, research and development, semiconductor ecosystems, advanced engineering, and globally dominant product companies.

What Trade Patterns Reveal About South Asia’s Economic Future

One of the most striking features of South Asian trade is how little the region trades internally. Intra-regional trade within South Asia remains among the lowest in the world relative to geographic proximity. Political tensions — especially between India and Pakistan — have prevented the emergence of a deeply integrated regional production system comparable to ASEAN or the European Union.  This is a major missed opportunity.

More on Geoeconomics, Trade and Development

To oust Chinese firm, India offers grant for power project in Northern Sri Lanka

Within a month after a Chinese firm won the bids to develop three renewable power projects in three northern islands in Sri Lanka, just 50 km off the Tamil Nadu coast, India has reportedly offered Sri Lanka $12 million grant to develop the power projects

Can Pakistan Railways stay on track with China waving red flag?

The Imran Khan government is struggling badly to keep Pakistan Railways on track after putting "all its eggs in the Chinese basket" and Beijing pulling the plug on financing various projects under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

Indian Army uses drones, cameras to monitor Chinese troop pullback

Indian Army teams armed with drones and cameras are monitoring evacuation and dismantlement of military infrastructure by Chinese troops at Pangong Lake in Eastern Ladakh

With eye on China, India and Japan see strategic convergence in Northeast

With China as the elephant in the room, India-Japan strategic ties are moving to the next level

Chinese army vacating Finger 4 area of Pangong Lake, says India

The Chinese People's Liberation Army is finally vacating Finger 4 area on the northern bank of Pangong lake that it had occupied last year and changed the status quo on the Line of Actual Control with India

China-funded nephrology hospital completed in Sri Lanka

The construction of a China-funded National Nephrology Hospital in Polonnaruwa district of the north-central region of Sri Lanka has been completed, reported Newswire

Another Chinese vaccine gets nod for emergency use in Pakistan

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has issued emergency use authorisation to the COVID-19 vaccine by Chinese company Cansino Biologics Inc, officials said, adding the supply of the doses will begin in a few weeks

India has 'given in' to China's 1959 claim on LAC: Former general

Though the Modi government has trumpeted the India-China disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh as a victory, Indian Army veteran, Lt. Gen. H.S. Panag, called it pragmatic acceptance of weakness and Beijing's 1959 claim

Indian and Chinese troops begin frontline thinning at disputed LAC

After nine months of standoff and nine rounds of military talks, disengagement by Indian and Chinese frontline troops from the flashpoints at Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh began on Wednesday, with officials on both sides claiming that the process is taking place in a step-by-step manner

China, India in troop withdrawal along LAC, says Beijing

China and India on Wednesday began their simultaneous withdrawal of troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, according to an official statement issued by the Chinese government

US to stand by India in face of China's aggressive action

In the face of China's aggressive actions against India, the US will stand with New Delhi, according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price

80 Chinese companies still 'active' in India

As the Indian government pushes the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' vision, official data show that about 80 Chinese companies established in India are 'active' currently

Pakistani politician glosses over plight of Uyghur Muslims, praises Xinjiang's 'development'

A Pakistani politician is receiving high praise from China for his comments on "economic development and progress" in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, an area in Western China infamous for crimes against humanity committed against Muslim Uyghurs and other members of ethnic and religious minority groups

Chinese company threatens international arbitration over delayed CPEC project

In the latest development, Chinese company Pak Matiari- Lahore Transmission Company (PMLTC), which completed ±660kV Matiari-Lahore HVDC Transmission Project with investment of $2.2 billion in two years time, has threatened to move the international arbitration court against the government-owned company National Transmission Dispatch Company (NTDC) for creating hurdles in the commissioning of the project

China terms Indian minister's statement as 'unwitting confession'

Minister and former Indian Army chief Gen (retd) V.K. Singh's comment about Indian troops crossing the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has sparked a war of words between the two countries, prompting Beijing to blame New Delhi for the military tension on the borders