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Lessons of COVID-19 for US and India: Need to invest in global public health, promote democratic norms

Both the US and India are remarkable democratic experiments and their ability to champion democratic norms and freedoms - rather than weaken them - will prove critical to global peace and prosperity in the years ahead, write Sohini Chatterjee & Swadesh Chatterjee for South Asia Monitor

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Covid-19 turning point for globalisation, a challenge for India

While China may re-emerge from the crisis slightly weakened, the consequences can be devastating for countries like India, which missed out on most of the benefits of rapid globalisation and do not have the capital accumulation, unless they can reinvent themselves, writes Arul Louis for South Asia Monitor

Coronavirus helping save Modi government foreign policy blushes?

In the face of such sustained criticism, to which its foreign office is very unaccustomed, it is clear that India’s domestic politics are now placing India’s global ambitions at grave risk, writes Nilova Roy Chaudhury for South Asia Monitor

US, Taliban and the Doha Agreement: Afghan government short-shrifted

It is the agenda going forward that effectively puts a stamp over what the US assumes would be a Taliban-led, if not outright, Taliban government in Afghanistan, writes Shakti Sinha for South Asia Monitor

South Asia needs to reclaim its cultural ethos, revive SAARC

Although BIMSTEC has been gaining momentum in the recent past, it cannot be an alternative to SAARC, as it involves all the players in the region, including Pakistan, writes Samudrala VK for South Asia Monitor

Russia, India, China should cooperate to lead the Asian century

RIC, a troika of the three Eurasian powers, can work extensively on issues like counter-terrorism, transnational organised crime, illicit drug trafficking and climate change, writes Samudrala VK for South Asia Monitor

The Taliban, and Pakistan, have caught Trump in a duplicitous bind

What constituency Pakistan has in Capitol Hill is not known, but in putting up this deal, Pakistan has played its double game to the hilt, capitalizing on Trump’s pre-election promise of ‘bringing the boys home’, writes Lt Gen P C Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor

US-Taliban deal will only boost Trump’s electoral prospects and Pakistani influence

The requirement of a seven-day ‘reduction in violence’ for signing the deal was a joke that demonstrated abject surrender to the Taliban, writes Lt Gen PC Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor

For Trump facing re-election India was the 51st US state!

If the adulation of Trump and the rally made it seem like India was the 51st state in Trump's re-election campaign, it may be because Modi bets on the re-election of a tough, right-wing hardliner with whom he shares some characteristics, writes Arul Louis for South Asia Monitor

To ‘Act East’ effectively requires India to ‘Learn East’

In order to effectively “Act East” we must first try to “Learn East” once again to rediscover the opportunities for prosperity that lie therein, writes By Amb Sarva Chakravarti (retd) for South Asia Monitor

A Bollywood film that got Trump's attention and sends out a social message

The LGBT issue is far from gaining social acceptability in a diverse and conservative society that India and much of South Asia is. But things are changing, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor 

The Indus Waters Treaty: Enduring agreement provides security in strained India-Pakistan ties

Today’s dispute (between India and Pakistan) is now less about Kashmir and Kashmiris and more about a river system with its headwaters in Kashmir writes Anuttama Banerji for South Asia Monitor

US-Taliban talks: Peace is still elusive

The present peace accord is fragile as there are several forces which are against the peace, and they may try to disrupt the agreement, writes Jai Kumar Verma for South Asia Monitor

Delhi riots have dented Modi’s image

For, what happened in the capital during the two days of the Trump visit, especially on the last day, was no less damaging to the Prime Minister’s reputation than the electoral setback, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor

Popular dissent in India threatens the government's idea of domination

The women of Shaheen Bagh at Delhi and their sisters at innumerable other locations all over India have changed the narrative of dissent... causing utter confusion of thought as well as action at the level of the Indian government, writes Dr Udai Vir Singh for South Asia Monitor

Bangladesh has a tradition of religious harmony: American senator’s remarks cause outrage

There is no incident in Bangladesh that can prove that any Bangladeshi has been persecuted by the government for his or her religious beliefs, writes Swadesh Roy for South Asia Monitor