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Is Pakistan playing with fire by aligning clandestinely with the ISK?

The growing camaraderie between Pakistan’s military and the ISK  poses a threat to the entire South Asian region.

The Rohingya tragedy and global inaction: How much longer can Bangladesh carry the burden?

The encampments in Cox's Bazar have metamorphosed into hotbeds of militant activities, underpinned by the infusion of funds from the Middle East, Pakistan, and other nations, which are cynically utilized to perpetrate a nexus of militancy within these precincts.

How the Russian connection insulated India from oil shock and brought economic stability

The revival of trade relations with old friend Russia is  the turning point in India’s oil dependency on the Arab world. This has strengthened India’s resilience to oil shock to a considerable extent.

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.

More on Spotlight

As SAARC falters, BIMSTEC's seamless transport connectivity project a big step in regional economic integration

BIMSTEC gained importance and traction after progress in SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) got stalled following heightened frosty ties between India and Pakistan, writes  Ranjana Narayan for South Asia Monitor

Latest on India, Pakistan – a battle over Basmati

Although India controls two-thirds of the global Basmati market, competition between the nations has grown in recent years as Pakistan increases sales to Europe, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor

Beyond oil and gas: India must look to West Asia with a new vision and mission

India must augment science and technology transfer and research cooperation in space with nations like Saudi Arabia, Israel, UAE, Bahrain and Qatar, writes  Aneek Chatterjee for South Asia Monitor

Growth, jobs and IMF conditionalities: Pakistan’s daunting budgetary challenges

As there are 110 million youth in the country, there is a need for generating two million jobs every year to absorb them, the finance minister said, adding that “if we do not go into growth mode, we will have a major crisis on the streets”, writes  N. Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor

Multi-track cooperation a must to tackle non-traditional security issues in Himalayan region

Although current Sino-Indian relations are still in a state of relative tension, Beijing is encouraging Chinese companies to meet India’s procurement demands for oxygen concentrators and other anti-pandemic supplies, writes  Siwei Liu for South Asia Monitor

G7 meeting: Unique opportunity for Indian PM Modi to remind the developed world of climate finance

The invitation to Narendra Modi for G7, where China is not invited, also reaffirms a stark reality that there is no alternative on the horizon to Modi’s bold and decisive role in the global play and India's strategic geopolitical position that hedges against China’s hegemony, writes  Rajendra Shende for South Asia Monitor

World Environment Day: Concerted effort crucial for restoring ecosystem in South Asia

The inherently low EPI scores of the South Asian countries underline the need for more sustainable efforts within the region to address concerns relating to air and water quality, climate change and biodiversity, write George Cheriyan and Simi T.B for South Asia Monitor

China’s strategic foothold in Sri Lanka: tough choices for India

As Sri Lanka has clasped China’s strategic hands a la Pakistan, India will have to carefully calibrate its moves, writes  M.R. Narayan Swamy for South Asia Monitor

How the Israel-Palestine conflict polarised society in India's Communist-ruled Kerala state

Unfortunately, the developments surrounding Soumya's tragic death in Israel brought out starkly the social and religious faultlines in a politically-conscious Kerala where Hindu, Christian and Muslim communities had previously always coexisted, writes  Dr. Vineeth Mathoor for South Asia Monitor

India should enlist services of Indian American physicians in its fight against COVID-19

New Delhi should relax some of the regulations to enable Indian American physicians to get involved in Covid treatment on a larger scale, writes Frank F. Islam for South Asia Monitor

A scary future awaits Pakistan post foreign troop withdrawal from Afghanistan

But Pakistan runs the risk of its Pashtun-dominated areas joining up with the Afghan Taliban, especially since the overbearing Punjabi domination is disliked in Pakistan and Pakistan can’t possibly control the Afghan Taliban completely after foreign troops exit Afghanistan, writes Lt. Gen. Prakash Katoch (Retd) for South Asia Monitor

Can Colombo Port City become South Asia’s new offshore financial center?

Port City project itself is looking more like a calculated gamble in a country where gambling/ betting are frowned upon publicly, but practiced commonly, writes Indika Hettiarachchi for South Asia Monitor

Online victimization and changing landscape of violence against women and girls in India

It might be prudent to pass the amendment to the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act 1986 (IRWA), to include virtual spaces, that has been pending before the Indian parliament for nine years, writes Aaliya Waziri for South Asia Monitor

Why China wants its own Dalai Lama

One thing is clear: a Dalai Lama picked by atheist China will lack legitimacy in the eyes of the world. And if two Dalai Lamas emerge, it will be a test for India: who will it recognize as the temporal head of the Tibetan Buddhists, writes  M.R. Narayan Swamy for South Asia Monitor

India has to resist attempts to change its pluralist identity

But if India fails to adhere to this main tenet of a modern society, it risks being labeled as an “electoral autocracy”, as Sweden’s V-Dem Institute has done, or “partly free”, as America’s Freedom House has done, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor