Mecca Pact

In Pakistan's and Turkiye's Military Commitment, the Mecca Pact Faces its First Litmus Test

It would also explain why Pakistan is trying to preserve a distinction between supporting Saudi Arabia and fighting the Houthis. Pakistan has every reason to avoid another open-ended conflict in the Middle East. Its military is heavily committed to its own security challenges. Its economy cannot easily absorb the political and financial consequences 

EU and India Should Cooperate Strategically on Middle East Stability

EU and India could establish a regular EU–India-Middle East Consultative Mechanism involving foreign-policy officials and experts. Its purpose would be to coordinate positions before major international gatherings and meetings. 

Sri Lanka’s Ruling Marxists-Leninists on Delhi, Beijing Visits: Embracing Diplomatic Pragmatism?

For Sri Lankan politics, this is more than diplomatic sightseeing. It raises a fundamental question whether the JVP is developing a sophisticated strategy of balancing relations with India and China or is it gradually adapting itself to the organisational models of powerful one-party or dominant-party systems in China and India respectively?

Continuing Kuki-Naga Conflict is a Threat to Northeast India's Security

The ongoing civil war in Myanmar has caused an influx of armed cadres (Meitei, Naga and Kuki) into Manipur's border tracts like Kamjong district, further squeezing finite land resources and aggravating historical territorial disputes. What began as a localized dispute under the state's newly elected government in February 2026 has escalated into intense, multi-district armed warfare. 

More on Geopolitics, Security and Strategic Affairs

COVID-19 will redefine global governance

The government's role has to transition from that of an arrogant extortionist to a responsible shareholder: The reality is that governments across the world generally collect between 25-40% of income as taxes, writes Prof Rajendra Pratap Gupta for South Asia Monitor 

Myanmar’s Rakhine conflict threatens regional peace

It would be in the interest of all stakeholders, including India, to drive the agenda for peace to ensure the insurgency does not spiral into an uncontrollable cycle of violence which engulfs the region, writes Jaideep Chanda for South Asia Monitor

‘Aurat March’: A groundbreaking rally against patriarchy in Pakistan

The term ‘Aurat’ itself signifies the negative connotation, vernacularly, with which South Asian women have to contend. The significant rally cry, “Mera Jism, Meri Marzi” highlighted women’s body rights and gender equality, writes Azeemah Saleem for South Asia Monitor

With laws, more social awareness needed to curb child pornography in South Asia

We have strict laws but it is quite difficult to control child pornography based on only laws. We must create social awareness to stop this horrific crime, writes Monira Nazmi Jahan for South Asia Monitor

India’s challenged foreign policy: Diplomatic missteps and domestic mismanagement

The domestic turmoil at the moment is not only reshaping the country’s foreign policy but also causing an inordinate impact on the trajectory of India’s international affairs, write Muhsin & Mufsin Puthan Purayil for South Asia Monitor

India, US need to realign tech relationship to meet rapidly changing global order

Now with the world increasingly getting caught in a spreading viral infection, and the US political theatre getting embroiled in approaching elections, the India-US agreement on trade doesn’t seem likely to happen before 2021, writes Kumardeep Banerjee for South Asia Monitor

Whither police reforms? Law enforcement may be failing Indian democracy

The current pattern of law enforcement in India dilutes the claim to be a  robust and equitable democracy and  the hapless citizen pays a heavy price, writes C Uday Bhaskar for South Asia Monitor

Modi's cancelled visit: Coronavirus saves the blushes for Delhi, Dhaka

The moment of relief for both sides, as it were, stems from the unstated, but nevertheless evident situation whereby Modi could have faced hostile protests in Dhaka that the Hasina regime was preparing meticulously to avoid, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor

Covid-19 turning point for globalisation, a challenge for India

While China may re-emerge from the crisis slightly weakened, the consequences can be devastating for countries like India, which missed out on most of the benefits of rapid globalisation and do not have the capital accumulation, unless they can reinvent themselves, writes Arul Louis for South Asia Monitor

Coronavirus helping save Modi government foreign policy blushes?

In the face of such sustained criticism, to which its foreign office is very unaccustomed, it is clear that India’s domestic politics are now placing India’s global ambitions at grave risk, writes Nilova Roy Chaudhury for South Asia Monitor

US, Taliban and the Doha Agreement: Afghan government short-shrifted

It is the agenda going forward that effectively puts a stamp over what the US assumes would be a Taliban-led, if not outright, Taliban government in Afghanistan, writes Shakti Sinha for South Asia Monitor

South Asia needs to reclaim its cultural ethos, revive SAARC

Although BIMSTEC has been gaining momentum in the recent past, it cannot be an alternative to SAARC, as it involves all the players in the region, including Pakistan, writes Samudrala VK for South Asia Monitor

Russia, India, China should cooperate to lead the Asian century

RIC, a troika of the three Eurasian powers, can work extensively on issues like counter-terrorism, transnational organised crime, illicit drug trafficking and climate change, writes Samudrala VK for South Asia Monitor

The Taliban, and Pakistan, have caught Trump in a duplicitous bind

What constituency Pakistan has in Capitol Hill is not known, but in putting up this deal, Pakistan has played its double game to the hilt, capitalizing on Trump’s pre-election promise of ‘bringing the boys home’, writes Lt Gen P C Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor

US-Taliban deal will only boost Trump’s electoral prospects and Pakistani influence

The requirement of a seven-day ‘reduction in violence’ for signing the deal was a joke that demonstrated abject surrender to the Taliban, writes Lt Gen PC Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor