The return of active engagement with agrarian issues in university spaces is central to forging student-farmer solidarity, contends Arsh Ajmera for South Asia Monitor
BRICS and the Shifting Sands of Global Power: Can it Evolve into a Credible Counterweight to Western Dominance?
BRICS represents more than just an economic grouping; it symbolizes the emergence of agency in the Global South. For too long, the contours of the world order were drawn in the boardrooms of Washington, London, and Brussels. That era is drawing to a close.
India's Trade Hesitancy Can Undermine Global And Regional Standing
A sharp 60% drop in Chinese rare earth exports this April disrupted Indian electric vehicle manufacturing—highlighting just how brittle alternative supply routes still are. Despite diplomatic friction, India lacks the industrial depth to delink quickly from China
Is Bangladesh Showing Signs Of Economic Recovery?
It may be a little too early to declare economic recovery, but certainly the growing forex reserve, remittance inflow, and surging exports are symptoms of the recovery that Bangladesh is aiming for. Bangladesh appears on the right track, though many other challenges remain.
India’s Strategic Embrace of the Global South: Modi’s Outreach to Africa and South America
Modi’s tour is, therefore, more than a series of diplomatic engagements; it is a declaration of India’s readiness to lead, collaborate, and contribute to shaping a just and inclusive global order. By leveraging historical ties, cultural affinity, technological strengths, and political goodwill, India is expanding its diplomatic footprint across the Global South.
More on Spotlight
Is China orchestrating Afghanistan's future through its proxies?
Afghanistan wants Beijing to formally apologize for China’s spy-cum-terror module caught operating in Kabul violating international norms before the Chinese detainees are released. However, China will consider this demand an affront, writes Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
South Asia: Structural transformation, trade openness and self-sufficiency
The region’s dependence on imports for production, as well as the contributions of its exports through value chains place some of its economies in an influential position within the global production and trading network, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor
Terrorists may not seize power in Pakistan, but enabling environment for extremism remains
The legacy of the Pakistani state’s sponsorship of some terror groups - mainly those used to help pursue its objectives in Afghanistan and India - means that the infrastructure of terror will prove difficult to dismantle (though Islamabad has made progress in curbing terror financing networks, amid strong international pressure), writes Michael Kugelman for South Asia Monitor
Was Nepal’s parliament dissolved at Beijing’s behest?
Dissent within Nepal’s Communist Party was brewing for a long time but dissolving parliament without a provision in the Constitution is unprecedented. China has invested too much in Nepal to let go of control of Nepalese politics, writes Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
India's swelling farm protests: Battle of attrition amid trust deficit
If contract farming is an idea whose time has come, it is necessary to ask why did it take off from 2002-03 and then sharply decline by 2011-12 in this vanguard agrarian state, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
Sustainable consumption in South Asia: Making use of sustainable opportunities from the pandemic
More importantly, the South Asia region needs to realise that workers and farmers have a key role to play in promoting sustainable consumption as they are both the end consumers as well as the producers at the start of the supply chain, writes George Cheriyan & Simi T.B. for South Asia Monitor
Bangladesh war of 1971: Pakistan's blinkered vision
But it is interesting to note that 49 years hence, there seems to be no change in how the nation views the civil war and a bloody separation of its eastern province, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
Pakistan should be compelled to apologise to Bangladesh for 1971 genocide
The ‘uncultured’ state of Pakistan has not apologized yet for the 1971 genocide. It should be compelled, writes Farabi Bin Zahir for South Asia Monitor
Biden's Asia policy: Will India be able to cultivate its proximity with Washington?
New Delhi also needs to recognize that the rules of diplomacy are changing and that country, especially the US under Biden, would not hesitate to make remarks about human rights violations or on communal tensions and certainly, the changes in the status of Jammu and Kashmir. None of these would qualify, for Biden’s Administration, as being ‘internal matters,’ writes Amb Amit Dasgupta (retd) for South Asia Monitor
Afghanistan, Bangladesh or undocumented Indians in US: Plight of displaced people needs attention
On this International Migrants Day, it is worth noting that not every migrant succeeds in an adopted land. For evidence, one need not go beyond the Indian American community. While the community’s many successes and accomplishments have been well-documented, a less-publicized fact is the plight of hundreds of thousands of Indian nationals in the United States, writes Frank Islam for South Asia Monitor
BJP’s fixation with polls made it ignore India's farmers
What the BJP may have realized, therefore, from these sporadic eruptions of protests is that electoral success is not the be-all and end-all of politics, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
Bangladesh's self-defeating 'sculpture politics': Who gains?
Many people want to know why the ruling Awami League is perpetuating this "sculpture politics". Why is this issue being given so much importance so as to forget the numerous other challenges Bangladesh is facing? writes Akmal Hossain for South Asia Monitor
RCEP and India: Read the fine print before joining
India for the time being has chosen to call for an adjournment on the multidimensional chessboard of multilateral trade/strategic agreements which can be seen as a wise move, writes Kumardeep Banerjee for South Asia Monitor
Much preaching, but little support for Bangladesh in the Rohingya crisis
Little help has been extended to Bangladesh to resolve the Rohingya problem. Even in international forums like the UN, no one voted for Bangladesh when it brought a resolution condemning human rights violations in Myanmar, particularly against Rohingya Muslims, writes Swadesh Roy for South Asia Monitor
