As the patron of the Taliban, Pakistan will wield more direct influence over Afghanistan as Washington winds down its involvement, writes Arul Louis for South Asia Monitor
South Asia’s Cities Are Growing - But May Not Remain Livable
What is unfolding across South Asia’s cities is not just an urban crisis, it is a reflection of deeper tensions within development itself. Growth is happening, but it is not translating into stability. Opportunities exist, but they are unevenly distributed. Systems are expanding, but not fast enough to keep up with demand. Cities, which have long been seen as places where people come to improve their lives, are increasingly becoming spaces where people struggle to sustain them.
Why Can't South Asia trade with itself? Tariff Shock Can be Turned Into Opportunity
South Asia’s tragedy is not geography or lack of industrial capacity. It is the failure to convert proximity into predictable partnerships. Trump’s tariff threats could remain episodic political theatre, or they could signal a more protectionist global environment. Either way, South Asia’s dependence on Western concessions exposes it to recurring uncertainty. Reviving SAFTA in spirit and substance would not eliminate trade with the West. It would diversify risk and embed value creation within the region.
Gulf War Strains Bangladesh's Economic Fragility, Test for New Government
The current war has exposed Bangladesh’s structural vulnerabilities: dependence on imported energy, fragile reserves, and narrow fiscal space. For the new government, the stakes are clear—stabilize fuel and food supplies now while building resilience through diversified energy, broader exports, and stronger social protection. Wars in the Gulf may be fought thousands of miles away, but their economic shockwaves reach Bangladesh within days. In the end, the crisis will be felt in three simple pressures shaping everyday life: oil prices, food costs, and migrant jobs.
Re-imagining Pakistan’s Human Capital Crisis: It Must Dismantle Policy Structures That Serve Elite Interests
This crisis did not emerge overnight. It is a product of neglecting the foundational capacity to invest in human capital, where Pakistan hardly puts less than 2% of its national GDP on human capital factors. Meanwhile, the regional peers like Bangladesh and India invest more in education and health, and Pakistan is still trapped in a cycle of short-term fiscal thinking, political instability, and elite capture that is systematically hollowing out the nation’s potential to rise and grow.
More on Spotlight
India needs to address challenges in education as a national imperative
India faces a grave challenge that has been accentuated by the pandemic. The crisis needs to be seen as a national imperative and addressed through a collective stakeholder approach with a sense of extreme urgency, writes Amit Dasgupta for South Asia Monitor
Islamists pose a challenge to Bangladesh's secularism
Conceding to the Islamist demand for stopping the installation of the Mujib statue at Dholaipar will be a huge political defeat for the Awami League, especially during the birth centenary of the founding father and a year before the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh's independence, writes Subir Bhaumik for South Asia Monitor
Can India be a silent bystander as RCEP shapes future of Asia?
On the face of it, exiting RCEP definitely represents a setback to India’s economic ambitions of engaging with the Indo-Pacific, including attracting supply chains away from China, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
Is it all lost for India’s Congress party?
There is little doubt that the Congress will have to pay a heavy price for its blunder in Bihar, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
Will China have its way in Ladakh de-escalation?
By not accusing China of intrusions and putting the onus for talks on the army, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who is the special representative for border talks, are shirking their responsibilities. This could be by design to blame the army for any territorial compromise forced by the government, writes Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
France learns the bitter truth about Islamic fundamentalism; need for concerted global action
EU is now acknowledging what India, through its counter-terrorism dialogues with the West, had been warning for years, that Islamic fundamentalist networks and sleeper cells are active across the EU, writes Amb Bhaswati Mukherjee (retd) for South Asia Monitor
Revisiting history: Pakistan's insidious resurrection of Junagadh issue
Today, there is nothing in Junagadh and its recent history to indicate the one-time, albeit brief, aspirations of its ambitious and misguided erstwhile Nawab to accede to Pakistan, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
Inland water transportation: Can Sahibganj become the Rotterdam of South Asia?
Interestingly, the current focus on encouraging inland water transportation along the Ganges and Brahmaputra only reactivates defunct commercial arteries of yesteryear when inland waterways linked Nepal, Bhutan, India, and Bangladesh, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
In Bangladesh, religion becomes a weapon when cultural norms fail
Bangladesh has witnessed many instances of mass lynchings, which is a major cause for concern as it looks that respect for rule of law has vanished, writes Aashish Kiphayet for South Asia Monitor
Bihar elections: Tejashwi Yadav the new star on India's political horizon as Congress decline continues
Because of the Congress’s failure to get its act together, the entire opposition in India appears to be in a moribund condition while the BJP has cleverly combined its pitch for vikas or development with an occasional dose of communal animosity to propel itself forward, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
India to experience behavioural change in urban mobility; non-motorised transport will occupy prime position
India is witnessing the arrival of a new generation of mobility discourses, which are nuanced enough to provide sustainable urban mobility, says Hardeep Singh Puri, India's Urban Development Minister
Biden victory: Plenty of positives for India, Indian Americans
In this year’s election Joe Biden won and so did the American democracy. That is a good thing for the United States, for India and indeed for the world, writes Frank F Islam for South Asia Monitor
US foreign policy changes under Biden could have profound impact on South Asia
Joe Biden may not drastically reverse foreign policy decisions of his predecessor like Donald Trump did of Barack Obama but Biden’s novel approaches to issues and regions could have ramifications for South Asia even as India-US relationship continues to grow, writes Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (Retd) for South Asia Monitor
Road to economic revival in South Asia looks difficult but not impossible
Of the 176 million people expected to be pushed into poverty at the $3.20 per day poverty line, two-thirds are in South Asia. The addition is due to the raising of the poverty estimating line, which has been termed as the new poor, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor
