After Munich, Rubio travelled to Budapest and aligned himself warmly with Orbán’s government, praising Hungary’s trajectory. For European leaders committed to participatory democracy and the rule of law, the signal must have been disquieting. It suggested that Washington’s conception of Western solidarity may prioritise cultural homogeneity over liberal pluralism.
The structural transformation of India’s export basket is no longer incremental—it is systemic. Technology-driven industries with higher value addition are steadily outpacing traditional sectors. If managed strategically, external tariff pressures could accelerate this transition. Rather than viewing tariff hikes solely as a threat, India can leverage them as a catalyst for deeper integration into global supply chains and stronger positioning in high-technology manufacturing. The reshaping of India’s export architecture is already underway. The tariff shock may simply fast-forward the process.
Considering the potential of AI in solving complex questions and generating contents in individual writing styles, institutions need to ask a few fundamental questions - what is the role of academia in ensuring that the learners are not being slaves to AI, but masters who are aware of the potential bias and hallucinations that has a huge impact on knowledge acquisition and dissemination? Should it be a social responsibility of higher educational institutions to ensure meaningful curriculum and assessment practices which make learners future ready in such a rapidly changing AI era?
Recent global adoption indices confirms that South Asia has become one of the most dynamic regions for cryptocurrency engagement, with implications for remittance use. According to the 2025 crypto adoption index by Chainalysis, India secured the top position worldwide in overall crypto adoption across retail usage, reflecting pervasive grassroots digital activity. Pakistan and Bangladesh also feature prominently, with Pakistan ranking among top three in Asia and Bangladesh within top 20
The ceasefire announcement on February 25 came just over two weeks after China and India agreed to military disengagement in eastern Ladakh, leading to speculation that the India-Pakistan ceasefire declaration and China-India disengagement plans aren't unrelated incidents, write Harsh Mahaseth and Ananya Shukla for South Asia Monitor
Perhaps even more than the BJP, the RSS must be deeply concerned about the present calamity since it can delay the implementation of its Hindutva project yet again, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
The Parliamentary Committee on Health and Welfare, in its recent report, had suggested that the public expenditure on health needs to be enhanced to at least 2.5 percent of GDP in the next 3 years, much of which should be invested in creating and modernising the strained infrastructure, reports V K Varadarajan for South Asia Monitor
The underlying reason for Bhutan to keep China at an arm’s length is not India’s strategic influence; rather it emanates from a firm belief that opening diplomatic ties with China is against its national interest, writes Thinley for South Asia Monitor
It is likely that under the Biden administration US-India relations will grow stronger and will have more routes to work on a range of issues -- free and open Indo-Pacific, restoring peace in Afghanistan, arms control, countering aggressive behavior of China and climate crisis with stress on multilateralism, writes Indu Saxena for South Asia Monitor
There have also been reports that other areas of Western Bhutan have been gradually encroached by China to secure access to the border with India, writes Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
The region, overall, has gone through a major strategic realignment with the increasing influence of China, and its ties with Pakistan. Also, unlike the 90s, there exists multi-dimensional international cooperation on the issue of Afghanistan today, writes Shraddha Nand Bhatnagar for South Asia Monitor
The Chinese footprint in the South Asian region has been steadily increasing, while that of India is being diluted and all the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) nations are differently dependent on Beijing for a mix of political, economic, trade and military support, writes Cmde C Uday Bhaskar (retd) for South Asia Monitor
If it’s any solace, this dreadful time has given rise to an unnamed bond among strangers—call it humanity, altruism, empathy—but it’s helping many of us stay afloat, writes Azera Parveen Rahman for South Asia Monitor
While India must resume supplies to its neighbors, there is much that it can also learn from some of their best practices, including Bhutan, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
Pakistan’s 'all-weather friend' China has intensified communication with the Taliban. Afghanistan is very significant for China for Its Belt and Road Initiative, writes Md. Ishtiak Hossain for South Asia Monitor
South Asia - which had the longest period of school closure - could face a learning crisis which will set us back by a decade, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor
India's foreign policy mandarins know more than anyone else that altruism does not exist in international relations and diplomacy must be conducted on the basis of realpolitik acting only in pursuit of their self-interest, writes Lt Gen Yash Malhotra (retd) for the South Asia Monitor
But most experts agree that the country can reach ‘herd immunity’ if 70 to 80 percent of the population is fully immunised. That comes to a population of 1.05 billion, for whom 2.10 billion doses are needed, writes Vinod Aggarwal for South Asia Monitor
It would be interesting to know how American security experts view the threat perceptions from the numerous affiliates of the bodies in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, some of whom target India, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
