BJP campaign

Indian elections: Is BJP paying for its overconfidence?

All in all, the issues on the agenda are very different from the issues that the BJP thought would be on the agenda. The finals could go down to the wire and there will be many lessons learned once the votes are counted and the results are declared.

When the Americans failed Afghanistan: Chronicle of the dramatic collapse of a nation

India, which found itself quite behind the curve like the US in gauging the rapidly changing political dynamics, first shut down its consulates and then its embassy just as the Afghan Republic collapsed on August 15, 2021. But once it realised it would be foolhardy to expect the revival of the Republic, it tacitly started mending fences with the Taliban, sending what it called a "technical team" to Kabul, resumed humanitarian aid, and discontinued diplomatic support to the embassy in New Delhi that was in the hands of representatives of the ousted Ghani government

Iranian president’s Sri Lanka visit is a pointer to Tehran's Indian Ocean ambitions

Before visiting Sri Lanka, Raisi visited Pakistan as part of his South Asian tour, and it is a salient factor that both Pakistan and China are equally important to the BRI as the Chinese have invested millions of dollars in both countries.

Sri Lanka's Aragalaya protests demonstrated nested sovereignty

This nerve centre of protests proved to be a fertile ground for new ideas and creative approaches to digital activism and served as a beacon of hope for many Sri Lankans seeking positive change. 

More on Spotlight

India should explore expanding scope of 'two plus two' dialogue by including more countries, ministries to meet global challenges

While forging these dialogues, India should not forget Bangladesh as the interests of the two neighbors are increasingly converging in recent times, writes Shubham for South Asia Monitor

Pakistan’s energy sector is going through a paradigm shift: A greener electricity production portfolio is a policy imperative

The Pakistan government has set a target of generating at least 20 percent renewable energy by 2025 and at least 30 percent in the next five years, writes Haris Mushtaq for South Asia Monitor

India must come out in support of the rights of women in Afghanistan

It is in India’s strategic interest to continue its engagement with the Taliban, but withhold any official recognition, and continue to wait and watch to see if the regime’s assurances are matched by its deeds, writes Nisha Sahai Achuthan for South Asia Monitor

Engagement with Taliban provides Pakistan strategic depth, opportunity to create pan-Islamic axis up to the Gulf

Engagement with the Taliban and the latter’s return to the driver’s seat in Afghanistan allows Pakistan to bring the Afghanistan issue to the forefront of the ‘South Asia regional security architecture’, writes Anuttama Banerji for South Asia Monitor

Bangladesh needs to be supported in thwarting Beijing's hegemonic designs

China’s growing investment and expanding economic activities in Bangladesh do not necessarily enable it to influence Dhaka’s foreign policy decisions, or seize infrastructure if loans are not repaid, or even potentially secure its support in a regional conflict, writes Rupak Bhattacharjee for South Asia Monitor

US policy paralysis at critical moments in region working to China’s advantage

The bond between US intelligence agency CIA and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is well known and recently declassified British documents reveal MI-6 connived with Pakistan and Taliban in Afghanistan, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor

South Asian government needs to relax fiscal austerity, promote high-skill, high value-added sectors

The most important challenge for South Asia is to revive livelihoods, which the crisis has devastated across the region, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor

Mahatma Gandhi and India@75: Fabricated news making a mockery of Gandhi's quest for truth

Paradoxically, but not surprisingly,  over the last six decades, the collective commitment to truth as a principle to be adhered to with Gandhian conviction has been diluted progressively, writes Cmde C Uday Bhaskar (retd) for South Asia Monitor 

Mantra of development should be spirituality with high technology – the Gandhian way

Gandhi believed in all-inclusive growth and felt that India can only become a great nation when its teeming and impoverished rural masses become better off, writes Anil K. Rajvanshi for South Asia Monitor

Global efforts, moral discourses and educational awareness must for combating terrorism

Terrorists and extremists need discourses in the inculcation of eternal moral values and practicing of yoga and meditation that can contribute immensely to attaining a perfect and balanced personality as described in ancient Indian classical texts, writes Prof. Sudhanshu Tripathi for South Asia Monitor

Lata Mangeshkar, at 92, plans to croon again: The music legend's singing truly defies attitudinal and technological changes

If Lata’s ‘Allah, Karam Karna’ and ‘Allah Reham” are popular among the Muslims, two of the Indian cinema’s best bhakti (devotional) songs, “Allah Tero Naam Ishwar Tero Naam” and “Prabhu Tero Naam”  are sung six decades after she rendered them in Hum Dono, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor

Will Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Tamil diaspora shake hands?

A section of the diaspora has taken a line that it needs to bury the past and open a line with India, which many blame for the plight of the Sri Lankan Tamils, writes M.R. Narayan Swamy for South Asia Monitor

Will the Indian government’s move to use tech to fix agriculture enthuse its farmers?

But will this productivity-driving initiative really take off when the most prosperous farmers belonging to the vanguard agrarian regions of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh firmly remain on the path of agitation against government efforts to fix agriculture through reform? writes N. Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor

Can a Japan-India-Russia-China-South Korea coalition cement the Indo-Pacific?

Examining new paradigms and alternate formulations often leads to game-changing events,  writes Lt Gen PR Kumar (retd) for South Asia Monitor

COP26 in Glasgow: Developed countries should stop giving excuses, keep climate finance commitments

Strangely, Kerry, while extracting ambitious emission cuts during his rounds of developing countries, does not talk about meeting the financial commitments given by President Barack Obama in Copenhagen in 2009. He talks only about initiating a ‘finance dialogue’ with developing countries, writes Rajendra Shende for South Asia Monitor