We need to learn a lot from China’s foreign policy; and when our own response to China is weak-kneed, how do we expect Sri Lanka to take up cudgels with Beijing?
A significant factor that emerged after India launched Operation Sindoor against Pakistan in May 2025 was the strain in the India-US relationship under the Trump administration, driven by aggressive tariff disputes and policy friction. This indirectly accelerated India’s push to diversify partnerships, prompting New Delhi to lean more pragmatically into closer economic and strategic ties with middle powers such as Australia.
India and China need not share identical geopolitical visions to agree that a stable border, prosperous border communities and transparent rules are preferable to uncertainty. The most useful measure of Nathu La’s success may therefore be not how many tonnes cross the pass, but how routinely two neighbouring systems learn to work together.
December could therefore become much more than Victory Month. It could become a test of whether Bangladesh's next chapter will be written through democratic accommodation or another round of political vengeance. The danger is that a leader returning to face her past could inadvertently reopen the country's deepest wounds.
Russia wants to use the Far East to diversify away from the West, but it risks becoming excessively dependent on China. That is why Southeast Asia, India, Japan and other Asian partners matter to Moscow as they provide Russia with a wider Asian field and fallback and reduces the risk that Russia’s entire eastern pivot becomes a one-way dependence on Beijing.
We need to learn a lot from China’s foreign policy; and when our own response to China is weak-kneed, how do we expect Sri Lanka to take up cudgels with Beijing?
If the Taliban’s original purpose in taking over Kabul last year was to gradually gain some international recognition for what it calls the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, it now stands fully destroyed
The ideological shift in politics towards prioritizing the majority religious denomination that has morphed into assertive political Hindutva goes against the fabric of the 'Idea of India' enshrined in the constitution
During the last eight years, Prime Minister Modi has elevated the quality of governance to a higher level and has introduced several imaginative schemes, keeping in view the requirement of the people at the lower economic level as well as the compulsive need to forge ahead in terms of technology and productivity
In recent years there has been a paradigm shift in the manner in which the government is bringing about significant policy measures to make India self-reliant and instituting mechanisms to overcome bureaucratic bottlenecks which had plagued the system for long
Although the Solih visit went off very well, concerns remained over domestic politics in the Maldives.
To reconcile the people of Bhutan and bring peace, we need collaborative efforts. Community agencies, local organizations, religious leaders, politicians, the King of Bhutan and businesses, all can play essential roles in this process
The challenges in the path of the fraternity project are many. But we must overcome them, as it is on the pillar of fraternal relations that a well-functioning and healthy democracy rests
Yet, with new technologies of 3D printing, reasonably priced materials and the Internet, one can teach students in such a way so that learning becomes enjoyable
The entire exercise can be seen as a striving to raise national morale among the people buffeted by economic stress and political turbulence
What is needed more is an end to the hate campaigns against the Muslim community and the start of affirmative action for the weaker sections of the Muslim population, writes Dr Ram Puniyani for South Asia Monitor
Thousands of Pakistani families are bearing the violation of the right to truth. Balochistan has been confronted with the burning issue of missing persons for the past two decades, writes Nizam Hassan for South Aisa Monitor
The visit by the Indian Army chief to Bhutan in the backdrop of China’s territorial advances in Bhutan and India have brought into focus China’s future intentions, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
But even if we put the moral aspect aside and try to be pragmatic, to regard Russia as a future strategic partner is also wrong. It will not bring any benefit - economic or military – to India, write Prof (Dr) Vesselin Popovski, Prof Abhinav Mehrotra and Surabhi Bhandari for South Asia Monitor
By holding the military accountable for its atrocities against the Rohingya, the ICJ might create the incentive for further international action to ensure justice for all victims of Myanmar’s security forces, writes Dr Arpita Hazarika for South Asia Monitor