While peace in Afghanistan seems a long way off, and the two issues are not connected, the Pearl/Sheikh issue has emerged as a diplomatic hot potato, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
Porous Borders, Shadow Wars and Grey-Zone Infiltration: The Geopolitical Rift in US-India Intelligence Relations
The Pannun case in the US, the preceding Nijjar row in Canada, the unyielding diplomatic stances of their respective governments, and the coordinated, adversarial statements issued by the Five Eyes alliance, collectively triggered a quiet but intense counter-intelligence pivot by New Delhi.
India-US Relations: When Objectives Overlap, Perspectives Differ
One of the most durable strengths of India-US relations lies outside the government. The five million strong Indian diaspora has become an extraordinary bridge between the two societies. Indian Americans occupy influential positions in technology, academia, medicine, business and public administration. This human connectivity provides resilience that many bilateral relationships lack.
Cocos (Keeling), Sabang and Car Nicobar: India’s Quiet Maritime Rewiring
India and Australia are not building a grand alliance; they are building useful capacity. Indonesia, through its archipelagic geography, fits into that larger maritime dynamic. Taken together, these developments show how strategy is increasingly made through nodes, not narratives.
China’s Water Threats, India’s Malacca Leverage and Growing Indo-Pacific Contestation
While China's leverage over India runs through an upstream river Beijing controls, India's leverage over China runs through a chokepoint India will now sit astride. The Strait of Malacca is a 930-km passage between the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra through which an approximate of 40–50 percent of global trade and 80 percent of China's crude oil imports transit.
More on Geopolitics and Strategic Affairs
For India’s national security, time for civil and military synergy
The time has come for holistic civil-military integration and synergy in India to meet the challenges of a multi-polar, multi-domain world especially with a belligerent and hegemonistic China and its ally Pakistan in our immediate neighbourhood, writes Lt Gen PR Kumar (retd) for South Asia Monitor
Indian government and farmers: Is a prolonged deadlock on the cards?
The government might have been more accommodating if it is wasn’t jittery about the political impact of a retreat at a time when the BJP faces four crucial elections where its chances are not foolproof, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
Nepal’s proposed international airport poses a threat to the environment
Nijgadh is planned to be the largest airport in South Asia in terms of area, covering 8,045.79 hectares. While a new international airport is needed, the Nijgadh dream comes with an environmental nightmare, write Harsh Mahaseth and Pranjal Risal for South Asia Monitor
Sino-Indian ties likely to remain a 'cold peace' in 2021: But keep communication lines open
Although it is unrealistic to have too high expectations for Sino-Indian relations in 2021, it is certain that the two sides would not want to make bilateral relations further worse, writes Siwei Liu for South Asia Monitor
Return of jackboots in Myanmar: Major implications for region
The army is upset with the NLD government for agreeing to take back from Bangladesh the Rohingya Muslim refugees in phases after a Chinese-mediated dialogue. Nearly 40,000 Rohingyas are expected to return in the first phase, writes Subir Bhaumik for South Asia Monitor
Afghanistan should not be turned into a nest of terrorism again
Biden needs to go through all the wrong decisions made by Trump and come out with valuable and healthy steps to maintain democracy in Afghanistan and to respect the blood its soldiers had shed, and end the war, writes Majidullah Rasooli for South Asia Monitor
Gandhi’s 73rd death anniversary: Remembering the apostle of peace in today's context
Gandhiji had a presence. That is a mark of a great soul and a very much evolved spiritual being. To Gandhiji spirituality came first; other things like politics, public life, etc. were by-products of his spirituality, writes Anil K Rajvanshi for South Asia Monitor
Growing Indo-Saudi Arabia ties will amaze the world
The contributions made by the Indian community in the development of Saudi Arabia have always been appreciated by the Saudi government. Keeping in view the contribution of expat Indians, the Saudi government, irrespective of their religion, treats every expat Indian equally like its own citizen, writes Asif Rameez Daudi for South Asia Monitor
Billionaire raj: Can India address its growing wealth disparity?
The massive and growing concentration of incomes is not good news for India's fragile social fabric as it can trigger a political backlash, writes N. Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
Digitalisation as a policy priority: How South Asia compares with Southeast Asia
In South Asia, while digitalisation is of a high priority intervention, the other more basic issues such as enabling access to livelihood, health and education would need to be addressed and given a much higher priority so that inequalities in per capita consumption expenditure that prevail among households are addressed immediately, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor
Health Diplomacy: India-made vaccine at centre stage of pandemic management
India has a longer track record of supplying medicines and vaccines to the rest of the world, than any other country, including China, writes Rajendra Shende for South Asia Monitor
US reviving military ties with Pakistan for Afghan peace amounts to chasing a chimera
The US under Biden is all set to revive military ties with Islamabad hoping that Pakistan will help bring peace in Afghanistan. America has obviously not learned any lessons over the decades, writes Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
Pakistan's slow assimilation of Gilgit-Baltistan: A strategic challenge for India
Pakistan so far has given limited autonomy to the local population after having wrested G-B after the accession. But it now wants to declare it as a provisional province of the country, writes Pushp Saraf for South Asia Monitor
Bangladesh economy showed resilience during COVID; but prosperity should reach all
By 2025, Bangladesh is forecast to be the 34th largest economy in the world and will continue at second place in South Asia after India, writes Mohammad Rubel for South Asia Monitor
