
Pakistan can be expected to up the ante on terror, but any misadventure by Pakistan will be suitably responded to by India, writes Lt Gen Prakash Chand Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
Current geopolitical realities imply that Pakistan must not interfere in Bangladesh’s internal affairs, nor question Bangladesh’s close ties with India, a country that has actively helped Bangladesh in its liberation, a relation that has passed the test of time and is historic.
The India factor - and the burning desire to get even militarily for the East Pakistan debacle - loomed large in whatever he did or say, especially after he became the country’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), a designation he gave himself after seizing power in 1999 and later, as the President.
The march of the Indian army did save Kashmir from the marauding tribals (supported by the Pakistan army). The cease-fire was declared to protect civilians and also to ensure that a peaceful solution will emerge through the United Nations. The matter of being taken to the United Nations has been criticized, but that must have been the best option in that circumstance. Patel very much approved of it.
And the Pakistani intelligence service, the ISI, began supporting elements of the Islamic State Khorasan group in Afghanistan in carrying out attacks against Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. As a consequence, the Afghan Taliban had to do something not only to see off the new Pakistani challenge but also to unite the broken country behind it. So, it re-established its links with the Pakistani Taliban in carrying out attacks within Pakistan and also increased the level of hostility along the Durand Line.
Pakistan can be expected to up the ante on terror, but any misadventure by Pakistan will be suitably responded to by India, writes Lt Gen Prakash Chand Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
If, in the name of security, the BJP can, with one stroke, undo the federal asymmetry which was a product of the unique circumstances pertaining to the accession of J&K state to India, with a complex set of legal and constitutional mechanisms, the same can be done to the Northeast special powers, but with greater ease, writes Reeta Tremblay for South Asia Monitor
After a decade, these three countries - Nepal, a Hindu majority country, Bhutan, a Buddhist country and Maldives, an Islamic country - make a compelling study in the journey of democracy, writes Rishija Singh for South Asia Monitor
Despite dramatization of Pakistan’s nuclear capabilities, it is quite clear that South Asia has remained safe from any major conflict due to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, writes Rabia Javed for South Asia Monitor
By narrowing the space for dissent and dichotomizing values, the ruling Awami League has effectively defanged the opposition, media as well as ordinary people writes Rishija Singh for South Asia Monitor
The warmongering narrative, primarily driven by the ruling party and the media at large, may fetch some electoral gains to the BJP but it has proved to be welcome fodder for the Army in Pakistan as it tries to reinvent itself to remain relevant, writes Mayank Mishra for South Asia Monitor
As those who follow the India-Pakistan dynamic would know, there are two aspects to this relationship, often diametrically at odds with each other. A neutral observer would not know where the truth lies - perhaps, in between
Some foreign policy analysts from Southeast Asia have questioned the lack of performance by India, hinting at a subtle resistance to the concept of “Indo-Pacific” as a replacement to the old “Asia-Pacific,” writes Tunchinmang Langel for South Asia Monitor
Given their situation, the only reason most Afghan refugees are staying on in India is to get a chance to go to any European country, writes Khatima Emami for South Asia Monitor
In a tumultuous fortnight, during which many an illusion was shattered at the turn of the year, some home truths emerged in the chronically accident-prone ties between India and Pakistan