Indian Vice President C.P. Radhakrishnan visit to Sri Lanka

Trincomalee Energy Hub Development Will be a Strategic Milestone in India-Sri Lanka Ties

If one location matters most to India in Sri Lanka, it is Trincomalee. With one of the finest natural harbours in the world, Trincomalee has immense commercial, naval, and energy value. For decades, strategists in New Delhi have viewed it as critical to the security architecture of the Bay of Bengal.

SAARC vs BIMSTEC: Why Regional Integration is Failing in South Asia

South Asia cannot remain an archipelago of isolated economies connected only by shared history and mutual suspicion. Changing acronyms does not change reality. Summit declarations will not achieve true economic integration. True integration requires the political courage to dismantle physical and bureaucratic walls. Only then will the region stop holding its immense potential captive.
 

Body Blows to Indian Democracy: The Deeper Story of a Parliamentary Bill That Failed

The resultant reduced trust signals a declining democratic discourse that should be the biggest worry for the nation at this stage. The bill that failed thus tells the deeper story of all that is going wrong in the Indian democracy, bit by bit, in areas that are clearly visible and sometimes in many invisible ways.

Manipur’s Unfinished War: When Suppressed Conflict Returns with Firepower

Manipur today is not merely a regional crisis. It is a test of India’s democratic resilience. It highlights the limits of governance models that prioritize control over consensus. Without a shift toward genuine political engagement that addresses the fears, rights, and representation of all communities, the conflict will persist and resurface with greater intensity.
 

More on Spotlight

Lessons from tragic barge sinking off Bombay High: Glaring omissions and inadequacies

The P 305 tragedy ought to be the catalyst for radical reforms in India's offshore support sector, writes Commander Anand B Kulkarni (retd) for South Asia Monitor

Climate change: South Asia in danger of extreme events

The implications are straightforward: With rising levels of carbon dioxide in the future, there will be stronger rains with potentially destructive outcomes in the South Asian region, writes N. Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor 

A year after Galwan clash: India's stress on military modernization, strategic partnerships to counter China

India needs to deter China through a combination of its military prowess, discerning diplomatic action, and devising ways to become economically self-reliant with investment partnerships and collaborations with like-minded nations, writes Indu Saxena for South Asia Monitor

Multiple state actors' clashing interests may throw Afghanistan's future into uncertainty

China is also keen to extend the coverage of CPEC and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to Afghanistan. This expansion of China’s footprint would be a matter of huge concern for both the US and India, writes Amb Ashok Sajjanhar (retd) for South Asia Monitor

South Asian nations must formulate holistic strategies to deal with remittance fall

In 2021, there could thus actually be a drop in remittances - more so after the second wave of Covid 19, and the recent travel restrictions imposed by many countries including those in the Gulf on travelers from South Asia, write Tridivesh Singh Maini and  Karan Bidani for South Asia Monitor

As SAARC falters, BIMSTEC's seamless transport connectivity project a big step in regional economic integration

BIMSTEC gained importance and traction after progress in SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) got stalled following heightened frosty ties between India and Pakistan, writes  Ranjana Narayan for South Asia Monitor

Latest on India, Pakistan – a battle over Basmati

Although India controls two-thirds of the global Basmati market, competition between the nations has grown in recent years as Pakistan increases sales to Europe, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor

Beyond oil and gas: India must look to West Asia with a new vision and mission

India must augment science and technology transfer and research cooperation in space with nations like Saudi Arabia, Israel, UAE, Bahrain and Qatar, writes  Aneek Chatterjee for South Asia Monitor

Growth, jobs and IMF conditionalities: Pakistan’s daunting budgetary challenges

As there are 110 million youth in the country, there is a need for generating two million jobs every year to absorb them, the finance minister said, adding that “if we do not go into growth mode, we will have a major crisis on the streets”, writes  N. Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor

Multi-track cooperation a must to tackle non-traditional security issues in Himalayan region

Although current Sino-Indian relations are still in a state of relative tension, Beijing is encouraging Chinese companies to meet India’s procurement demands for oxygen concentrators and other anti-pandemic supplies, writes  Siwei Liu for South Asia Monitor

G7 meeting: Unique opportunity for Indian PM Modi to remind the developed world of climate finance

The invitation to Narendra Modi for G7, where China is not invited, also reaffirms a stark reality that there is no alternative on the horizon to Modi’s bold and decisive role in the global play and India's strategic geopolitical position that hedges against China’s hegemony, writes  Rajendra Shende for South Asia Monitor

World Environment Day: Concerted effort crucial for restoring ecosystem in South Asia

The inherently low EPI scores of the South Asian countries underline the need for more sustainable efforts within the region to address concerns relating to air and water quality, climate change and biodiversity, write George Cheriyan and Simi T.B for South Asia Monitor

China’s strategic foothold in Sri Lanka: tough choices for India

As Sri Lanka has clasped China’s strategic hands a la Pakistan, India will have to carefully calibrate its moves, writes  M.R. Narayan Swamy for South Asia Monitor

How the Israel-Palestine conflict polarised society in India's Communist-ruled Kerala state

Unfortunately, the developments surrounding Soumya's tragic death in Israel brought out starkly the social and religious faultlines in a politically-conscious Kerala where Hindu, Christian and Muslim communities had previously always coexisted, writes  Dr. Vineeth Mathoor for South Asia Monitor

India should enlist services of Indian American physicians in its fight against COVID-19

New Delhi should relax some of the regulations to enable Indian American physicians to get involved in Covid treatment on a larger scale, writes Frank F. Islam for South Asia Monitor