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

Bangladesh's self-defeating 'sculpture politics': Who gains?

Many people want to know why the ruling Awami League is perpetuating this "sculpture politics". Why is this issue being given so much importance so as to forget the numerous other challenges Bangladesh is facing? writes Akmal Hossain for South Asia Monitor

RCEP and India: Read the fine print before joining

India for the time being has chosen to call for an adjournment on the multidimensional chessboard of multilateral trade/strategic agreements which can be seen as a wise move, writes Kumardeep Banerjee for South Asia Monitor

Much preaching, but little support for Bangladesh in the Rohingya crisis

Little help has been extended to Bangladesh to resolve the Rohingya problem. Even in international forums like the UN, no one voted for Bangladesh when it brought a resolution condemning human rights violations in Myanmar, particularly against Rohingya Muslims, writes Swadesh Roy for South Asia Monitor

Beijing is settling Han Chinese on border with Bhutan and India

China’s aim of building these new villages along the LAC with India is multiple. These helped populate Han Chinese closer to the border areas,  overwhelming the Tibetan population demographically since the invasion and occupation of Tibet in 1959-51, writes Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (retd)  for South Asia Monitor

Carbon-neutral economy will be 'new normal'; India poised to be biggest contributor

India is forecast to be the biggest contributor to the ‘new normal’ doubling its renewable additions in 2021.  Wind and solar additions are expected to jump by 30 percent in both the US and China,  writes Rajendra Shende for South Asia Monitor 

Chuck Yeager: Aviation legend who batted for the Pakistan Air Force

In the course of his advisory duties, Yeager had made good friends in the higher echelons of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), and within a short period, he fell prey to an affliction, known, amongst diplomats, as ‘localitis,’ i.e, a deep sympathy, verging on identification, with the host country and its people, writes Admiral Arun Prakash (retd) for South Asia Monitor

India should create a corpus for post-COVID South Asia rebuilding

Would it be appropriate to suggest that the Modi government defer the construction of a new parliament building in Delhi, and use the funds (approximately Rs. 971 crores) to create a corpus for post-COVID South Asian rebuilding? writes Cmde C Uday Bhaskar (retd) for South Asia Monitor

South Asia: COVID-19 and the digital divide

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought in additional challenges to tackle amidst the technological disparities within Asia. There is a digital divide witnessed in the economies of South Asia, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor  

Aseefa Bhutto Zardari: A new star rises on Pakistan's political horizon

Pitching for her exiled father, Maryam has become a veteran. But she appeared to yield space to Aseefa, the surprise debutante, in terms of public response and social media fervour that followed this Multan rally, writes Mahendra Ved  for South Asia Monitor

India-Sri Lanka-Maldives trilateral: Towards consolidating regional maritime security

The resumption of this interaction last held in New Delhi in 2014 is an important step forward in recognising the magnitude of the external and internal threat to maritime security and to develop a shared approach to the security of this region, writes Cmde Anil Jai Singh (retd) for South Asia Monitor

Women journalists in Afghanistan: Defiant in the face of violence

The protection for journalists remains the biggest challenge in Afghanistan, and while women journalists make up just 17 percent of the news force, 30 percent of them have reported violence, writes Farida Nekzad for South Asia Monitor

Bangladesh within its rights in relocating Rohingyas

It is the height of hypocrisy if the global community led by the West lets Myanmar off the hook  and instead pressurises poor Bangladesh to not only shelter more than a million people in the overcrowded country but even dictate locations for settling them, writes Subir Bhaumik for South Asia Monitor

Can death penalty end Bangladesh’s rape culture?

Experts feel that impunity enjoyed by rapists in the country are not due to the fact that Bangladesh does not have a high punishment for rape - currently the highest punishment afforded is life imprisonment - but that rapists are convicted in only three percent of the cases, writes Tasmiah Nuhiya Ahmed for South Asia Monitor

What ails India's agitating farmers?

The anger of these agitating farmers is yet another manifestation of the narrative of farmer distress that stalks the India growth story, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor 

Pakistan remains vulnerable to a 'terrorist takeover'; Taliban deal 'poorly advised', says former US National Security Advisor John Bolton

With the outgoing President Donald Trump having ordered a nearly full US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan after almost two decades in the war-torn country, in Bolton’s assessment  there are clear dangers of a serious instability that could threaten not only the South Asian region but the rest of the world, writes Mayank Chhaya for South Asia Monitor