India can offer to lend a helping hand in a new shared spirit of sporting togetherness that can bind South Asia, writes Sirshendu Panth for South Asia Monitor
Ghost Communities of the Wakhan: How an Imperial Buffer Zone Became China’s Next Frontier
The Wakhan Corridor has become a possible trade road for China's economic expansion. The corridor provides China with strategic advantages. First, it offers potential overland access to Afghanistan and on to Pakistan and the Arabian Sea
Iran and the Strait of Hormuz Blockade: Why Tehran did not Close the Strait Earlier
Before the mid-2020s, Iran lacked the specific low-cost tactical capability (drones, missiles and tech int) required to hold SoH against the US military. Today, the newly acquired capabilities allow Iran to enforce an effective, sustainable, and lethal denial-of-access corridor at a much lower cost.
Beijing's Subtle Power Play in South Asia: Is China’s Governance Model Influencing Democratic Nations?
China’s growing influence on small countries thus extends far beyond trade and infrastructure. It shapes debates on governance, challenges democratic norms, and pressures sovereign states to align with Beijing’s priorities. For nations like Sri Lanka and Nepal, the dilemma is stark
Prolonged West Asia Conflict: US Loss of Credibility, Enormous Cost to the World
Here is something that is perhaps not widely reported. According to this account, Iranian forces were able to destroy a significant part of the logistics infrastructure supporting these large carrier operations. They struck the central logistics hub in Bahrain very early in the conflict.
More on Geopolitics, Security and Strategic Affairs
Fears of a return to the dark days stalk Afghan women amid Taliban's advance
The forty years of protracted war has impacted Afghan society, especially women, in a way that has few parallels in human history, writes Shraddha Nand Bhatnagar for South Asia Monitor
A non-adversarial tax environment must for India to become an attractive investment destination
Although the Indian government believes that FDI is coming into the country in record amounts, most of it is through mergers and acquisitions and not greenfield investments which entail building factories, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
US bombs and appeals notwithstanding, Afghan reconciliation not on Taliban agenda
The US may continue to bomb the Taliban and keep asking them to reconcile but such a scenario is not going to unfold, especially when nothing has been done in 20 years to block the financial support and arms supplies to the Taliban, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
South Asia’s women athletes displayed grit and determination to overcome discrimination, bullying and neglect
If sportswomen are treated equally and provided with equitable opportunities, women athletes from South Asia are bound to participate in greater numbers in top international events like the Olympics, writes Sarita Bartaula for South Asia Monitor
US-China rivalry makes for complex Indo-Pacific power dynamics
India ought to tread cautiously in aligning with the US as a counterweight to China, writes Mayank Mishra for South Asia Monitor
Vikrant sets sail: India demonstrates prowess to design and build aircraft carriers
Warship building and design is an arduous undertaking and India now joins a select group of nations that have demonstrated proven capability to conceive, design, and build an aircraft carrier, writes C Uday Bhaskar for South Asia Monitor
Indian American Rashad Hussain’s nomination is Biden’s way of sending powerful message to the world
One can be optimistic that Biden’s selection will lead to a debate on freedom of religion and more interfaith dialogues in South Asia and other parts of the world, writes Frank F. Islam for South Asia Monitor
Pakistan’s geoeconomic strategy is riddled with self-inflicted challenges and policy contradictions
Instability in Afghanistan along with the discord with Pakistan does not augur well for South and Central Asian connectivity, writes Niranjan Marjani for South Asia Monitor
Jammu and Kashmir is now firmly on the path of development
With the historic revocation, the Indian government has finally applied salve on the festering anger in Kashmir: anger born out of chronic underdevelopment and misgovernance, writes Suchismita Panda for South Asia Monitor
Revive BCIM Economic Corridor for a sustainable techno-ecological trans-regional alliance
Cooperation among BCIM members is essential for the sustainable development of the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin, writes Dipankar Dey for South Asia Monitor
Afghanistan's civil war is there to stay: Taming the Taliban is no easy task
US Secretary of Defense General Lloyd James Austin has said that the Afghan forces must slow the Taliban’s momentum. The question is how, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
West Bengal can play a critical role in the success of India’s Act East policy
With the ever-growing presence of China in Southeast Asia, it would be injudicious to keep the economic and strategic prospects that West Bengal has to offer underutilized, and hostage to petty internal politics, writes Anondeeta Chakraborty for South Asia Monitor
India needs to become drone-conscious to counter aerial cross-border threats
Not only was the use of a weaponized drone on the Jammu IAF base an act of war but a violation of the ceasefire agreement concluded by DGs, military operations, of India and Pakistan, effective from midnight, 24-25 February 2021, writes Col. Anil Bhat (Retd) for South Asia Monitor
Will China learn a lesson from the 'terror attack' in Pakistan on its workers?
The Pakistan incident against Chinese workers is all the more worrying as Chinese personnel and technicians are working on various projects not only in Pakistan, but in other South Asian countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, as well as many African nations, writes N S Venkataram for South Asia Monitor
