The Rajapaksas have entertained several projects with Chinese support and money, which is bound to cost Sri Lanka its sovereignty dearly in the coming years, if corrective steps are not taken, writes N.S.Venkataraman for South Asia Monitor
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
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.
Bangladesh's Prime Minister need not visit India simply to keep relations cordial, but when engagement can advance its interests, refusing engagement becomes a cost of its own. The objective should be to preserve leverage through engagement, not to mistake rigidity for leverage.
However, the political situation has gradually begun to show currents that may move against Munir. The Supreme Court of Pakistan’s order to shift former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Munir’s arch-rival, to a private hospital and the statement by the US Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor affirming that J&K is "an important part of India", reinforces the impression of classic temporariness and limited strategic relevance of Pakistan in US-Pak relations.
The Rajapaksas have entertained several projects with Chinese support and money, which is bound to cost Sri Lanka its sovereignty dearly in the coming years, if corrective steps are not taken, writes N.S.Venkataraman for South Asia Monitor
It is high time the Chinese political and military leadership are made to realise that chronic hegemonism and doggedness in constantly trying to crawl and clutch Indian territories are not going to work anymore and that the LAC must be clarified, writes Anil Bhat for South Asia Monitor
For India, however, questions arise whether the RIC fits New Delhi’s objectives as it increases its strategic engagement with the United States, Japan, and Australia which goes against the RIC’s objective to undermine a growing American presence in the Indo-Pacific, writes Shantanu Roy-Chaudhury for South Asia Monitor
Given Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean, India seeks to exert all its influence to rebalance the island nation away from the dragon’s embrace, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
Changing our transport behaviour is therefore the need of the hour. It becomes imperative that cycling and pedestrian walking is fully integrated with our existing public transport systems, writes Pankaj M Munjal for South Asia Monitor
The struggle for building a Ram Temple should be seen as a clash between civilizational values, writes Arun Anand for South Asia Monitor
India’s current policy reorientation suggests that for it to overcome its continental and regional challenges vis-à-vis China’s increasing assertion, it must also involve itself in Beijing’s geographic neighborhood, writes Don McLain Gill for South Asia Monitor
Is the Hindu rashtra already here, marking the end of Nehruvian secularism? Just as Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan is said to be keen on reviving the Islamic Ottoman empire, forsaking Kemal Ataturk’s secularism, is Modi leading India towards the pre-Muslim period of ancient India?, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
It is clear that Nepal is exposed to multiple forms of infectious diseases. So, it becomes imperative for the Nepal government to be better equipped and expedite viral monitoring to stop possible outbreaks in the future, writes Jivesh Jha for South Asia Monitor
There is little doubt, however, that the removal of the “temporary” provision of a special status for Jammu & Kashmir does have a strong measure of support outside the ruling party because it was perceived as an artificial barrier that fostered separatism, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
India has hopes on continuing talks but for Beijing, talks are only to gain time - similar to what the terrorists do, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
There are numerous conjectures against or in support of Ritchie who is fighting her own court battles against the PPP brass. But it is not difficult to conclude that she is being used to tarnish the PPP leaders, dead and living, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
There is a crying need for establishing a Nepal Study Center in New Delhi and an India Study Center in Kathmandu, writes Kamal Dev Bhattarai for South Asia Monitor
As the world battled a never health threat in coronavirus, India’s dependable pharmaceutical sector has risen to the occasion, writes Dr. Gurpreet Sandhu for South Asia Monitor
Our goal is to achieve punitive and credible deterrence capability against Pakistan and China respectively. While it will be a challenge, India has the capabilities and capacities to fight a two-front war and ensuring a stalemate, which will be a strategic victory, with grave consequences to the aggressors, writes Lt Gen P R Kumar (retd) for South Asia Monitor