The NATO summit can indirectly transform India from a regional power into a West Asia stakeholder by integrating India into maritime security frameworks, supporting connectivity projects, strengthening intelligence ties, reinforcing India’s role as an alternative to China. The long-term outcome is that India could emerge as a pillar of stability linking Europe, the Gulf, and the Indo-Pacific
Japan has also proposed developing a Bay of Bengal–Northeast India Industrial Value Chain aimed at transforming the region into an integrated industrial zone. As part of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision, this includes strengthening cross-border connectivity with Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan.
China's expressed interest in modernising and upgrading both Chattogram and Mongla ports suggests the emergence of an interconnected infrastructure network linking the Bay of Bengal with southwestern China through Myanmar. If realised, such connectivity would enhance trade flows, improve regional logistics and deepen China's economic footprint across the Bay of Bengal littoral, while simultaneously increasing Bangladesh's importance as a regional transit and connectivity hub.
While Washington and New Delhi seek to strengthen bilateral ties with Colombo, Beijing has strategically engaged with the political forces that control the government. By engaging directly with actors at the core of Sri Lanka’s governance, Beijing appears to be signalling its strategic intent—projecting influence and reinforcing ideological ties.
I believe that as an Afghan and as a youth, after the full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, no pretext and justification will exist for the Taliban to continue the war - the jihad against a foreign power, writes Bator Arsalan for South Asia Monitor
The least India can do is to let the Tibetan community in India select a new Dalai Lama; if there are two Dalai Lamas (one selected in India and one in China), New Delhi should have nothing to do with the Beijing-backed Dalai Lama, writes M.R. Narayan Swamy for South Asia Monitor
Amid pervasive expansion of Chinese influence in Myanmar, New Delhi doesn’t want to give further space to Beijing and feels the best option is to remain silent on the Myanmar military’s actions, writes Pema Tseten Lachungpa for South Asia Monitor
Police brutality in India is a form of institutional violence as it is closely connected with law enforcement and torture is perceived as an expeditious method of policing, writes Rahul Machaiah for South Asia Monitor
Politically, the Sheikh Hasina government has adroitly maneuvered a middle but autonomous road for Bangladesh, away from the influences of two regional powers, China and India, writes Aneek Chatterjee for South Asia Monitor
The nation, and especially Hindus and Muslims, will be waiting with bated breath to see what impact the RSS supremo’s advice has on the ruling BJP, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
Dilip Kumar suffered during the phases when neighbors Pakistan and India went to war, but his popularity and the run of his films remained unaffected, on both sides of the border, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
Pakistan fails to realize that with US troops exiting Afghanistan, Washington will no longer overlook the generation of terrorism and recruitment of child soldiers by Pakistan, especially when it is wedded to Beijing against the US, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (Retd) for South Asia Monitor
Although Bhutan will succeed in its vaccination drive, the scramble in the South Asian region for doses underscores the highly iniquitous access to vaccines to fight Covid-19, writes N. Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
The Chinese Communists were never shy in shaking hands with insurgents and rebels from India. In contrast, the Dalai Lama has never wielded a weapon. In that sense, he is also a Mahatma Gandhi, writes M.R. Narayan Swamy for South Asia Monitor
The Supreme Court of Nepal issued 246 verdicts in 2019-2020 to be implemented by the various ministries, The government, in most cases, didn’t comply with the court orders, writes Ravi Nayak for South Asia Monitor
The government’s vaccination outreach to remote border areas, in Kashmir and the Northeast, and the local people's smiling embrace of these efforts was an indication of their comfort level and confidence in the Indian system, writes Nilova Roy Chaudhury for South Asia Monitor
In the long run, if tactically implemented, the B3W initiative can also help India and its allies balance China’s String of Pearls strategy in South Asia and beyond, writes Pradeep S. Mehta for South Asia Monitor
A defeat in Punjab or in Goa will not bother the BJP too much. But UP is different not only because its location in the heartland has always provided significant pointers about political trends, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
“Hollywood-Bollywood vulgarity” has been one of Imran Khan’s pet peeves for long and he has ordered the drafting of a new nationalist, culturally-centred film policy for Pakistan that is yet to be made public, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
