The current war has exposed Bangladesh’s structural vulnerabilities: dependence on imported energy, fragile reserves, and narrow fiscal space. For the new government, the stakes are clear—stabilize fuel and food supplies now while building resilience through diversified energy, broader exports, and stronger social protection. Wars in the Gulf may be fought thousands of miles away, but their economic shockwaves reach Bangladesh within days. In the end, the crisis will be felt in three simple pressures shaping everyday life: oil prices, food costs, and migrant jobs.
This crisis did not emerge overnight. It is a product of neglecting the foundational capacity to invest in human capital, where Pakistan hardly puts less than 2% of its national GDP on human capital factors. Meanwhile, the regional peers like Bangladesh and India invest more in education and health, and Pakistan is still trapped in a cycle of short-term fiscal thinking, political instability, and elite capture that is systematically hollowing out the nation’s potential to rise and grow.
In 2026, the “strategic autonomy” that we so often discuss must evolve from a defensive crouch to a balanced offensive infrastructure play. India’s success will be measured by its ability to convince the Trump administration that a stable, digitally-sovereign BRICS is actually a better trade partner than a chaotic, bankrupt one.
Yunus created a suffocating atmosphere in Bangladesh by pushing the country towards the fate of a Caliphate, threatening the nation’s Bengali soul. Simultaneously, he weaponized the ICT and turned it into an instrument of targeting Sheikh Hasina by appointing Jamaat-e-Islami leaders into key positions in it. As a result, Hasina was handed death penalty in two cases, while she faces hundreds of murder charges—most of which were lodged by the activists of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat.
The most crucial justification for acquiring home-grown and home-built hardware is the military’s expectation that overhaul and replacement of parts, as well as repair of battle damage will be undertaken by the domestic industry in a most expeditious manner, writes Admiral Arun Prakash (retd) for South Asia Monitor
The upshot of an inward-looking regime is a diminishing extent of trade openness - a sharp contrast with the East Asian miracle economies that prospered with export-orientation, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
The most significant thing at the several ‘jalsas’ (protest rallies) that opposition have been organising across the country in Pakistan is to challenge the army’s role and, for the first time, the top brass is being named, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
According to the EIU, for a decade Bangladesh has been in the middle of an autocratic and flawed democratic system, known as the hybrid regime, writes Mahmudul Hasan for South Asia Monitor
It is clear, therefore, that the politics of polarization which divides the citizens of a country - whether in the US, India or countries in Europe - between nationalists and anti-nationals is here to stay, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
Drawing on his experience of working with New Delhi, Burns wrote in what could be his roadmap for relations between New Delhi and Washington, emphasising continuity saying that it was bigger than the ties between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Modi, writes Arul Louis for South Asia Monitor
Nepal’s story is not much different than that of India’s. Nepal’s prime ministers - Girija Prasad Koirala (1994), Manmohan Adhikari (1995), and K P Sharma Oli (2020-) have taken steps to dissolve the house despite their parties’ being in majority, write Jivesh Jha & Alok Kumar Yadav for South Asia Monitor
If white supremacism is the basis of right-wing politics in America and Europe, Hindu supremacism is in India. Both have their roots in the concept of the "Master Race" and the "Chosen Land", writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
South Asia’s diverse topography lends itself to greater cross-border power trade, but political inhibitions have ensured that actual progress has been less than the potential, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
Polarization over the prevailing socio-political orientation since Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office has been marked and a bitter sectarian fissure has emerged in India, writes Cmde C Uday Bhaskar (retd) for South Asia Monitor
India is now a non-permanent member of the Security Council from January 2021. Following this, India has expressed interest in holding talks with Bangladesh and Myanmar on safe, dignified, and sustainable repatriation of Rohingya, writes Mohammad Rubel for South Asia Monitor
Nepal scarcely has political ground prepared for the king to return to the throne. The monarch also blatantly failed to deliver and fulfill their promises even when it had absolute power in the country's economic development, writes Bishesh Joshi and Laavesh Thapa for South Asia Monitor
Presently, there are almost two million seafarers worldwide with a significant number from the South Asian sub-continent. Indians in fact constitute the third-largest number of seafaring officers in the world, writes Cmdre Anil Jai Singh (retd) for South Asia Monitor
While the US and Israel is focused on Iran going nuclear, Pakistan is quietly transferring nuclear technology to Turkey. Beijing will be too happy to conduct Turkey’s first nuclear test on Chinese soil as it did for Pakistan, writes Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
A look at the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka - shows the importance of effective and modern trade facilitation measures, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor
