President Anura Kumara Dissanayake met with Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri

Slow Pace of Strategic Indian Projects: These Can Potentially be Gateways to Sri Lanka’s Economic Revival

For India, delays in its strategic projects are not merely bureaucratic setbacks but a matter of national security. Colombo’s motives remain opaque, but for New Delhi, a presence in Sri Lanka’s North and East is non-negotiable. 

Beyond De-Dollarisation: Payment Diversification and Debt Resilience for Global South Nations

India could potentially become a bridge between regional economies and the wider Asian and Global South payment architecture. Greater interoperability could support remittances, tourism, trade and financial inclusion while reducing some transaction costs.

Critical Minerals: The New Oil of the 21st Century?

Critical minerals are not literally the new oil, but they may play a comparable role in defining the balance of power. The race has already begun, and India’s preparedness will determine whether it merely secures access to the resources of the new century or helps shape the industrial order that emerges from them.

Trade Pivot Weakens Pakistan’s Grip on Afghanistan, as Others Move in

Afghanistan has sought to limit or reduce its structural vulnerability by moving trade through Iran’s Chabahar Port and Central Asian corridors. Kabul is realigning Afghanistan’s external economic geography by looking towards Iran, Central Asia, China and India.

More on Economy, Trade and Development

Pakistan Army inducts first batch of China-made main battle tank VT4

Pakistan Army has inducted the first batch of the China North Industries Corporation (Norinco) VT4 main battle tank (MBT) into service, the military's media wing said

The China factor in Iran: China-Pakistan strategic nexus should not be overlooked

Biden would do well to recall Chinese assistance to Pakistan’s nuclear program and China recently replicating Wuhan’s P-4 virology research laboratory in Pakistan, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (Retd) for South Asia Monitor

China never considers India as a strategic rival: Ambassador Li

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming has claimed that China never takes India as a "strategic rival"; rather they consider India to be a good neighbor

Activists from 21 nations ask China to end financing Bangladesh coal power project

Activists from 21 countries have shot a letter to China and asked the nation to end the financing of a coal-fired power plant in Bangladesh

China prepares for security vacuum as US troops exit war-ravaged Afghanistan

China is feeling concerned that the exit of American troops from Afghanistan might create a security vacuum in the war-ravaged nation and pose a threat to its Belt and Road Initiative

China to Bangladesh: Don’t worry about debt-trap

A senior Chinese envoy has said Bangladesh should never worry about bad debt or the so-called debt trap, noting that Dhaka has managed foreign debt very well with an excellent system in place

Pakistan sets up Pak-China Relations Steering Committee to give a push to CPEC projects

The Pakistan government has set up Pak-China Relations Steering Committee to remove hurdles in the execution of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, in a bid to give a push to the multibillion-dollar strategic initiative

Presence of Chinese workers in PLA uniform in Sri Lanka questioned

Questions have been raised in the Sri Lankan media about the presence of Chinese individuals in uniform similar to those worn by soldiers in the People’s Liberation Army at a local development project in the southern part of the island nation

Pakistan prime minister’s expedient silence over the plight of Uyghur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang

Prime Minister Khan insists that when it comes the Uyghurs, “We speak to them (China) behind closed doors.”   If the Chinese do not let the Pakistani leadership talk about the Uyghurs in public, are we being told that they would indulge them privately? It is laughable.

Pakistan-China border closed over 20 months: Traders demonstrate in Islamabad

Traders recently demonstrated against the decision taken by the administration to keep the Pakistan-China border closed for the past 20 months

Take a hard line on China, reduce trade, economic and technological dependence: EICC tells EU

The Brussels-based Europe India Chamber of Commerce (EICC) has urged the European Union to fundamentally revisit its China policy keeping in mind long-term strategic interests and substantially reduce trade, economic and technological dependence on the Communist nation

An alternative to China’s BRI? But G7’s B3W needs backing of big business, US allies

Several BRI-related projects in developing countries in Asia and Africa have drawn criticism for lacking transparency, and not being economically sustainable, leading to debts that make countries dependent upon China or leads to a 'debt Trap', writes Tridivesh Singh Maini for South Asia Monitor

Pakistani PM praises Chinese and Pakistani engineers, workers for under-construction Dasu Hydropower project

Lauding the efforts of Pakistani and Chinese engineers and workers for the construction of the World Bank aided 4,320-megawatt Dasu hydropower project, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said the dam is vital for the development of Pakistan, as it will meet the country’s electricity need at a very reasonable tariff

Indian Navy keeping a close watch on China’s port projects in Sri Lanka

With the Chinese getting new port projects in Sri Lanka, a top Indian Navy officer said it "could pose a threat" to Indian interests in the region and there is a need to keep a close watch on such activities

China miffed as details of vaccine deal leaked in Nepal

China has expressed its displeasure with Nepal over the continuous leak to media of negotiations regarding the proposed vaccine deal between the two countries, reports say