The Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) Islands

India Strategically Transforming Bay of Bengal Islands Into a Major Trade, Logistics and Military Hub

The Great Nicobar Island Development Project (GNIDP)  is a mammoth venture by India to strategically strengthen its presence in the Andaman Sea and Southeast Asia with its own transshipment hub. The mega-infrastructure project spans approximately166.10 sq km covering about 15% of the total landmass of Great Nicobar Island at the southernmost tip of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago.

One Wounded Indian Pilot Was the Last Line of Defense; That Is the Problem

An Emirati airline, an Indian captain, Israeli passengers, and Saudi authorities all played a part. India, re-elected to the ICAO Council last year, is well placed to push these standards into global aviation rules. The best tribute to Captain Machchhar is making sure the next crew never needs a hero.

Reimagining India-Canada Relations: Towards a Mutually Beneficial Relationship for Wider Public Good

Canada hosts close to 1.9 million persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) and 3% of Canada’s population, one of the largest ethnic groups in Canada’s multiethnic and multicultural society. Although immigration policy of Canada has tightened in recent years, yet a lot of students who study in Canada prefer to stay back and work in Canada acquiring permanent residency and citizenship.

In Pakistan's and Turkiye's Military Commitment, the Mecca Pact Faces its First Litmus Test

It would also explain why Pakistan is trying to preserve a distinction between supporting Saudi Arabia and fighting the Houthis. Pakistan has every reason to avoid another open-ended conflict in the Middle East. Its military is heavily committed to its own security challenges. Its economy cannot easily absorb the political and financial consequences 

More on Geopolitics, Security and Strategic Affairs

India beefs up air force with indigenous fighter jets: Dawn of a new era in military self-reliance

The most crucial justification for acquiring home-grown and home-built hardware is the military’s expectation that overhaul and replacement of parts, as well as repair of battle damage will be undertaken by the domestic industry in a most expeditious manner, writes Admiral Arun Prakash (retd) for South Asia Monitor

Is India headed for economic autarky?

The upshot of an inward-looking regime is a diminishing extent of trade openness - a sharp contrast with the East Asian miracle economies that prospered with export-orientation, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor

Is Imran Khan proxy for Pakistan Army's 'minus two' gambit?

The most significant thing at the several ‘jalsas’ (protest rallies) that opposition have been organising across the country in Pakistan is to challenge the army’s role and, for the first time, the top brass is being named, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor

Bangladesh: When democracy becomes a 'hybrid regime'

According to the EIU, for a decade Bangladesh has been in the middle of an autocratic and flawed democratic system, known as the hybrid regime, writes Mahmudul Hasan for South Asia Monitor

Black days: January 6, 2021 in the US, December 6, 1992 in India

It is clear, therefore, that the politics of polarization which divides the citizens of a country - whether in the US, India or countries in Europe - between nationalists and anti-nationals is here to stay, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor

William Burns, who guided India-US nuclear deal but is critical of Modi, named CIA chief

Drawing on his experience of working with New Delhi, Burns wrote in what could be his roadmap for relations between New Delhi and Washington, emphasising continuity saying that it was bigger than the ties between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Modi, writes Arul Louis for South Asia Monitor

Nepal and India: A shared history of subversion of democratic norms

Nepal’s story is not much different than that of India’s. Nepal’s prime ministers - Girija Prasad Koirala (1994), Manmohan Adhikari (1995), and K P Sharma Oli (2020-) have taken steps to dissolve the house despite their parties’ being in majority, write Jivesh Jha & Alok Kumar Yadav for South Asia Monitor

Hate and right-wing politics: Only secularism can ensure peace among communities

If white supremacism is the basis of right-wing politics in America and Europe, Hindu supremacism is in India. Both have their roots in the concept of the "Master Race" and the "Chosen Land", writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor 

South Asia’s energy cooperation: Politics can play the spoiler

South Asia’s diverse topography lends itself to greater cross-border power trade, but political inhibitions have ensured that actual progress has been less than the potential, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor

Polarization and its corrosive implications: US happenings have lessons for India

Polarization over the prevailing socio-political orientation since Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office has been marked and a bitter sectarian fissure has emerged in India, writes Cmde C Uday Bhaskar (retd) for South Asia Monitor

Bangladesh needs to resolve Rohingya crisis with help of regional countries

India is now a non-permanent member of the Security Council from January 2021. Following this, India has expressed interest in holding talks with Bangladesh and Myanmar on safe, dignified, and sustainable repatriation of Rohingya, writes Mohammad Rubel for South Asia Monitor

Is monarchy the answer to Nepal's 'unsuccessful' democracy?

Nepal scarcely has political ground prepared for the king to return to the throne.  The monarch also blatantly failed to deliver and fulfill their promises even when it had absolute power in the country's economic development, writes Bishesh Joshi and Laavesh Thapa for South Asia Monitor

India should take lead in shaping global maritime conventions to protect seafarers

Presently, there are almost two million seafarers worldwide with a significant number from the South Asian sub-continent.  Indians in fact constitute the third-largest number of seafaring officers in the world, writes Cmdre Anil Jai Singh (retd) for South Asia Monitor

Growing Pakistan-Turkey axis and China's grand regional strategy

While the US and Israel is focused on Iran going nuclear, Pakistan is quietly transferring nuclear technology to Turkey. Beijing will be too happy to conduct Turkey’s first nuclear test on Chinese soil as it did for Pakistan, writes Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor

South Asia: Emerging economic compulsions and the need for regional cooperation

A look at the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka - shows the importance of effective and modern trade facilitation measures, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor