Those who have closely watched Modi believe that the prime minister wanted to give a clear signal that his government would be in a pro-active mode to handle long pending issues, writes Arun Anand for South Asia Monitor

The reason Pakistan was afraid of the plebiscite was that the raiders and troops it had sent in “had indulged in loot, arson, rape, and murder in the State. Scores of villages and towns were destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people uprooted, writes Arul Louis for South Asia Monitor

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

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

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