South Asia remains one of the least integrated regions in the world despite geographical proximity and complementary economic structures. Greater regional trade, improved transport connectivity, cross-border electricity markets, digital payment systems and investment partnerships could substantially reduce external vulnerabilities.
Between 2004 and 2023, India produced roughly five million graduates every year, but graduate employment increased by only around 2.8 million annually. Even fewer obtained salaried employment. Millions are either unemployed or working below their qualifications or in the waiting room for the elusive government job.
Policy instability during the 2015-2024 likely pushed back Sri Lanka’s path towards becoming South Asia’s first High-Income Country. The 2022 financial crisis would never have happened as stable growth during the first half of 2015–2024 would have built enough buffer to weather impact of the Covid pandemic
China’s Belt and Road Initiative - which funded Sri Lanka’s Hambantota Port through loans resulting in a 99-year lease to Chinese State-owned enterprise in 2017 due to Colombo’s struggle to service said loans - follows the same expansionary script.
Nepal's Ministry of Home Affairs has written a letter to the foreign ministry to take up the border issue with China, almost a week after a government panel’s report confirmed some of the boundary pillars were unilaterally shifted, a media report said
In yet another reminder that the de facto border between India and China remains contentious in several regions beyond Ladakh, details are emerging about the latest incursion by Chinese forces, this time in Uttarakhand's Barahoti region, north of the Nanda Devi biosphere reserve
Almost a week after China raised the issue of delay in several China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday assured the expeditious implementation of projects, arguing the difficulties were due to the Covid-19 pandemic
A panel appointed by the Nepal government to look into the boundary issues along the border with China has recommended forming a joint team of experts from both countries to resolve the matter, a media report says
In what is being seen as one of the most candid assessments of the challenges its ties with China, India’s Ambassador Vikram Misri has listed “avoid shifting goalposts”, “take a one-sided view of concerns and sensitivities”, and “viewing bilateral relations through the prism of relations with other countries” as “obstacles which could block progress” in the relationship
The various unilateral sanctions or restrictions on Afghanistan should be lifted as soon as possible, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang said, adding that Afghan foreign reserves are “national assets of Afghanistan” and should be used by its people
A Chinese automobile major has signed a preliminary deal that can pave the way to a bus assembly plant in southern Sri Lanka’s China-funded Hambantota port
A number of Chinese investors involved in multiple projects across Pakistan have raised the issue of outstanding payments with the highest level in the government as the Pakistan government is failing to pay their dues on time, media reports say
China Thursday cited a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution, issued after New Delhi's 1998 nuclear tests, to question India’s missile programme amid reports of an upcoming test for the Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile, The Hindu reported
Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has conveyed to his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that the two sides should work for an early resolution of the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control - the de facto border - in eastern Ladakh and that China avoid viewing its ties with India through the lens of a third country
The situation in Afghanistan can deteriorate resulting in more turmoil, says India's Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, and China could potentially "step into Afghanistan" in times to come
Days after the Taliban announced its new interim government, China said it will provide emergency humanitarian aid worth $31 million, including food, medicine, and Covid-19 vaccines to Afghanistan
Noting that the Galwan Valley clash in Ladakh last year between Indian and Chinese forces took bilateral ties in a "completely different direction", Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday that the challenge of how to manage the relationship with China ranks "very, very high" in India
Continuing with its series of bilateral and multilateral exercises in the Indo-Pacific region, with the Chinese dragon continuing to be the elephant in the room, the Indian Navy is participating in a naval exercise with the Australian Navy from September 6 to September 10
The Nepal government has formed a committee comprising senior government officials to inspect a remote piece of land in the country’s north along the China border as local officials claimed the land is being encroached upon by China
