The controversy surrounding the proposed Lord Ram statue has emerged at a time when the BNP government has been in office for only 100 days. Some political observers believe that certain groups may be attempting to exploit the issue to deepen existing tensions between Bangladesh and India
Every democracy permits foreign funding under regulated conditions. The question is whether democratic states possess adequate mechanisms to ensure transparency, accountability and protection against external influence operations, which could be against core national interests.
Over the past two months, a series of alleged push-in incidents along the Bangladesh-India border has reportedly left scores of people stranded in zero-line and no-man's-land areas under difficult conditions.
The central message at the Shangri-La Dialogue is that America is staying, but on new terms. It will remain the core military balancer in the Indo-Pacific, but it expects allies and partners to become serious contributors. The era of strategic free-riding is ending. The new Indo-Pacific order will increasingly be defined by those willing and able to share the burden of preserving it.
The ISKP’s current objective is to prevent the Taliban from accomplishing its objective as a government in Kabul and prevent it from fulfilling its promises to the Afghan people. In order to achieve this, ISIS/ISKP will continue to target not just Taliban fighters but also nations that may have alliances with the Taliban government, such as China, Russia, and Pakistan.
As the US tries to break the stranglehold of China on its supply chains, especially in hi-tech, India is emerging as a venue for what is now called 'friendshoring' – developing manufacturing in friendly countries that can be reliable partners. From being a recipient of food aid from the US seven decades ago, India has emerged as a partner in defence, space, health and technology.
The project, like several other initiatives of Bangladesh PM Hasina, has caught the attention of the world's policymakers as the largest such rehabilitation project in the world.
With over 4000 weapons in unauthorized hands, the Manipur tinderbox can explode anytime. Firing at each other between the Meities and Kukis using an assortment of small weaponry is going on intermittently with the Manipur Police and security forces unable to effectively control the violence.
Even if the role of women is overlooked or unacknowledged, they should continue to break barriers by fighting the challenges. Only then all gender-blind and biased, often spurious claims of men that they have greater roles and responsibilities in combating ill effects of the climate crisis will be replaced by women who are fighters of climate action, incandescent in their love, ardor and purpose to be changemakers.
It was after India’s second nuclear test in May 1998 that the India-France relationship warmed up. One major catalyst for this was that at a time when many nations were judgemental about India’s test, France’s stand was that it was India’s prerogative to conduct such a test based on the threats it faced.
Wickremesinghe’s visit to New Delhi, and the subsequent visits of the senior Chinese party functionary, the French president, and the Japanese foreign minister signal a renewed thrust by the global and regional powers to reinvigorate their influence in the Indian Ocean Region where Sri Lanka's strategic geographical location makes it a pivotal player.
Strong-arming Bangladesh into toeing its prescribed policy positions is part of the Biden Administration’s wider external agenda of promoting the liberal values of democracy and human rights as the centerpiece of its foreign policy. But the real problem doesn’t lie in policy postures, but rather in the way these policies are being executed.
On matters of foreign policy too, Nasheed is critical of China and favors the ‘India first’ policy, while Yameen has had positive relations with China and his party has recently protested against the Indian military presence in Maldives under the slogan ‘India Out’.
There has been discussion of alternate supply chains being created in India, Indonesia and Vietnam but supply chain issues originating from China are not going to go away in a hurry.
South Asia has no strong trade ties within the region, unlike many parts of Asia, and more particularly the developed parts of Asia, namely Southeast Asia and East Asia. South Asia, therefore, has to formulate its own macroeconomic policies to sustain growth keeping in mind global economic trends.
The Hindus entered cricket due to their long-standing social and business rivalry with the Parsis. The first Hindu club, the Bombay Union, was formed in 1866. Muslim cricket began with the Luxmani and Tyebjee families, who helped establish a Muslim cricket club in 1883.
Wife battering is universal in Bangladesh in almost all homes. However, this increases manifold during and after cyclones. There is a breakdown of social and familial infrastructure and livelihood patterns and violence increases with economic stress and anxiety.
Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) need to have policy responses to ensure checks and balances against generative AIs. The top-down policy approach may focus on banning the use of generative AIs. But participatory and adaptive approaches focus on developing policies that could accept the use of generative AIs in varying degrees, with the realisation that generative AIs are here to stay.
What is painful is the inability of civil society groups in the state to intervene during this critical time since the contending groups are not ready to negotiate with each other. However, one must not lose faith in the civil society which is based in Manipur's immediate neighbouring states like Nagaland, Mizoram, and Assam.
