The Islamabad Memorandum has bought time. But time is not neutral. It can be used to construct a more durable settlement, or by spoilers in Washington, Tehran and Tel Aviv to rebuild the case for war. The ceasefire will endure only if the difficult questions postponed in Islamabad are answered before those who opposed the truce succeed in answering them on the battlefield.
A big development happened in 2025. Nepal started exporting electricity to Bangladesh through India's transmission network. This was the first time Nepalese hydropower was commercially transmitted to Bangladesh via Indian territory. The initial export volume was 40 megawatts. The significance of the agreement is much bigger. It showed that regional energy cooperation can overcome political barriers.
India's rise as a major global power will depend not on the promises of allies or the intentions of adversaries but on its capacity to build economic strength, military capability, technological innovation, and strategic resilience. Partnerships will remain important. Cooperation will remain valuable. Engagement with the United States and other powers will continue to serve Indian interests. But the foundation of India's security cannot rest in Washington, Moscow, Beijing, or any other foreign capital.
However, evolving regional dynamics, particularly China’s expansion and Pakistan’s tactical nuclear developments, continue to test the durability and interpretation of this doctrine. While India has officially reiterated its commitment to No First Use, debates persist within strategic circles about its future applicability under extreme scenarios.
Pakistan has used its Centres of Excellence to promote and share best practices in nuclear security through three affiliated institutes: the Pakistan Centre of Excellence for Nuclear Security (PCENS), the National Institute of Safety and Security (NISAS), and the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), writes Rabia Javed for South Asia Monitor
Thirty prominent human rights advocates and peace activists, who disagree with a lot that is happening in Pakistan. Either living at home, but most of them exiled abroad, participated in the conference titled Enforced Disappearances, State-sanctioned killings, & Diminishing Democracy in Pakistan, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
The BJP found itself on the back foot was when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was pictured sitting on a pavement, talking to a group of migrants. It was a Haroun al-Rashid moment of a privileged person closely interacting with the unwashed masses, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
With the support of the United Arab Emirates, the Maldives not only prevented Pakistan from targeting India as Islamophobic during the OIC meeting, but also defended India’s record as a democratic, multicultural society, writes Shubha Singh for South Asia Monitor
This is a time when India should fashion itself as a new global health hub and provide global leadership in health. Pushing a new agenda for the WHO’s relocation from Geneva to India would make immense sense, writes Ram Krishna Sinha for South Asia Monitor
From Bangladesh to India and to Sri Lanka, the natural rubbers producers are getting squeezed under lockdowns and social distancing. It is sounding the death knell of the region’s rubber economy, writes K S Nayar for South Asia Monitor
Banks are generally very traditional in nature even though all the banks and financial institutions are going digital. Traditional nature change is again a challenge. The lockdown has come as a blessing in disguise as the changeover to digital systems can now pick pace, as it becomes the need of the day, writes Ashim Kumar Goswami for South Asia Monitor
Indian policy towards Nepal has been lackadaisical. Belief of mutual Hindu traditions should be viewed in the context of power in Nepal lying with the communists for whom religion is anathema, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
The question that arises uppermost is that are we learning the right lessons from these recurring weather episodes or just concentrating on immediate short-term disaster relief without taking any steps to make the regions ecologically sustainable and disaster resistant, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor
The coronavirus outbreak has hit the Maldivian economy hard, as travel restrictions and other preventive measures affected the country’s lucrative tourism industry, which contributes to the bulk of the island nation’s state revenue and foreign reserves, writes Kavita Bajeli-Datt for South Asia Monitor
On April 23, 2020, in a virtual conference ‘Enhancing regional cooperation in South Asia to combat COVID-19 related impact on its economics’ organized by the World Economic Forum, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina placed five-point proposals to combat this global crisis with collective responsibility and partnership from every society, writes Dr. Mohammad Tarikul Islam for South Asia Monitor
The Kalapani issue first came into prominence in 1997 when the Indian and Chinese governments came to an agreement to open a route for the annual Kailash-Mansarovar yatra through Lipulekh pass. Nepal objected to the use of Lipulekh, writes Shubha Singh for South Asia Monitor
Bihar is the poorest state of the country in per capita terms. Can it find the enormous resources required to fight the virus and its impact on the economy? writes Gulrez Hoda for South Asia Monitor
The row between the two nations heated up when Nepal’s Communist Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli on May 20 vowed before the country’s Parliament to reclaim the three “disputed areas” from New Delhi., writes Kavita Bajeli-Datt for South Asia Monitor
South Asia is home to over 1.8 billion people and houses half of the world’s impoverished communities, writes Aashish Kiphayet for South Asia Monitor
