By prioritising energy security, resolving the Teesta dispute, modernising border management, and strengthening economic integration, the two countries can contribute significantly to peace and prosperity in South Asia. The manner in which India and Bangladesh manage their differences will carry implications far beyond their borders.If successful, the partnership has the potential to emerge as a major engine of regional growth and stability. The time has come for cautious resets to evolve into bold and visionary action grounded in mutual respect, trust, and shared prosperity.
Increased industrial activity in India could generate demand for raw materials, intermediate goods, and services from countries such as Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Bangladesh’s textile industry could strengthen its links with Indian manufacturing networks, while Sri Lanka may gain from expanded opportunities in tourism, logistics, and services.
What emerges from this moment is not a singular crisis but a layered one, shaped by global disruptions, local cost pressures, and structural vulnerabilities. Workers are leaving Delhi not because the city has stopped offering work, but because it has become increasingly difficult to live sustainably in the capital city while working.
It is high time South Asian countries not only pass stricter environmental regulations but also strictly enforce them, making sure that there is no factory releasing waste water without adequate treatment. Besides, upholding legally binding labour standards must also be a priority together with ensuring safety of the workplace environment.
An economic crisis should not become a matter of party polemics unless the problem lies in management. Bangladesh’s economic recession is largely attributed to the pandemic and the Ukraine war and has the least to do with economic management. As a result, it is a state matter, and requires a consensus among the political parties to deal with it effectively.
If the postponement of local body polls means less democracy for some time, let it be so, and it is in the interest of Sri Lanka.
While campaigns for honesty in public and private life by various sources have been taking place for a long time in the country, this has not seen any reduction in the level of corruption in India. The repeated catching of corrupt persons by the vigilance department has also not yielded many benefits as they are only the proverbial tip of the iceberg.
Thus reading, listening to great stories, discussing interesting issues in schools, will help children learn to focus and will help them to reduce their fears and make them better citizens.
Authoritarian party leaders and military or religious dictators do not wish to confront alternative ideas or opinions; so there is always an attempt to suppress the ‘other’ voices, both offline and online. These often lead them to put citizens into an eco-chamber where only praising of the power structure gets heard and echoed. Tolerance is the first victim of this, and the next is free speech, and then freedom in general.
‘Can Interfaith Collaboration Contribute to Climate Justice?’ -- the discussion was the fifteenth in the Sapan series ‘Imagine! Neighbours in Peace’.
Love for book reading cannot take place overnight. All of us need to work together to make our children get into the habit of reading books. So on every occasion, we should gift books to children.
The Tatmadaw's violence, repression, and civil war in Myanmar have left people living in perpetual fear and uncertainty. The international community must restore democracy to Myanmar's youth and give displaced people like the Rohingyas new hope.
BBC has since decades been projecting the Indian Army and security forces who have been bearing the brunt of terrorism in J&K and the Northeast for decades as violators of human rights, very often at the behest of terrorist organisations through their overground representatives and separatists.
If autonomy, creativity, freedom to design curriculum, the appointment of faculties, and incentivization of research are used as a sales pitch to lure world-acclaimed institutions, why not set your own house (Indian universities) in order first? Why not harness the potential of Indian universities like the JNU instead of stigmatising them?
But unfortunately, the entire history, struggle, and ideas of nationalism of Netaji are restricted to a few paras in history textbooks.
The Wickremesinghe government argues that sustained protests undermine the rule of law and create an anarchical situation in the country. Using these justifications, the government has been continuing its brutal and often violent repression in order to remain in power.
The troubled Rakhine region of Myanmar can potentially become a trade hub between Bangladesh and Myanmar.
If we keep our noses clean it will help us to remain healthy and happy!
The pre-conditions for the wishes on the eve of 2023 for peace and harmony to be realized is that the battle for the future has to be fought and won in the minds and hearts of the people.
