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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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