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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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Attack on Sikh shrine exposes Pakistan’s disdain for minorities

The 'deep state' and the Imran Khan government should care about the pitiable condition of minorities in their own country instead of worrying about Muslim and Sikh minorities in India, writes Jai Kumar Verma for South Asia Monitor

CAA has hurt India’s foreign policy and global image

The lack of homework by the Modi government on the adverse implications of the CAA is now clearly visible both domestically and internationally, writes Alakh Ranjan for South Asia Monitor

The Rajapaksas return in Sri Lanka: Should India be worried?

Sri Lanka is at the centre of the IOR and the country which will have greater stakes and leverage over this island nation will have an edge in the Indian Ocean, writes Alakh Ranjan for South Asia Monitor

Needed political will to solve Delhi's pollution crisis

There are enough existing solutions to alleviate air pollution which is a result of a waste-disposal problem.  However, there is a need to have political and administrative will to implement them, writes Anil Rajvanshi for South Asia Monitor

India and Bhutan explore new areas of engagement

India understands the needs of Bhutan and is equally willing to diversify the relationship beyond hydropower. During his last visit, Modi showed India’s intent towards the diversification of bilateral relations, writes Alakh Ranjan for South Asia Monitor

Policy lessons from Mahatma Gandhi: Decentralised development and sustainable living

Gandhi was an engineer at heart. He improvised and built equipment like better snake-catching tools, small cotton-spinning wheel (takli) and chappals (sandals) from used tires. In 1929, he even instituted an INR one lakh prize (INR 20 crores in today’s value; 2.6 times bigger than the Nobel Prize) for the design of a modern charkha (spinning wheel), writes  Anil K Rajvanshi for South Asia Monitor

The Afghan deadlock: Was it a Trump subterfuge or a secret understanding?

Trump realized that the draft deal, if signed, would be labeled a surrender to the Taliban, which would be politically damaging for him. Another reason could be that he never really wanted to meet the Taliban, but wanted to showcase the peace efforts made, and place indirect pressure on them through the subterfuge writes Lt Gen PC Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor

Quietly, India crafts a new strategic partnership with Africa

With India's growing political and strategic interest in the continent, and inclination to leverage its diaspora as an instrument of soft power, it’s natural for New Delhi to establish a beachhead in Somalia, that straddles the Horn of Africa,  the source of the Nile and a gate to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, through which tens of thousands of vessels pass through Somali waters every year in what is one of the world’s busiest sea-trading lanes, writes Tarun Basu for South Asia Monitor

Trump cancelling Taliban pact brings relief to world capitals, including Delhi

Delhi has not yet made an official statement, but legitimizing the Taliban at a Camp David ceremony would  have had an adverse impact on India’s strategic interests in the region, writes C Uday Bhaskar for South Asia Monitor

Putting NRC in perspective: Assam is not communal, has never been

For an outsider, the NRC process has come to be perceived as anti-Muslim. This is drawing the line along religious identity—a factor to which the indigenous Assamese Muslim community does not agree, but whose voice has been largely ignored in this massive debate, writes Azera Parveen Rahman for South Asia Monitor

Af-Pak region can become another Syria after US withdrawal

Trump ordering withdrawal of some troops is very much on the cards. The situation in Afghanistan over the next few months is unpredictable, with the internal turmoil and economic situation in Pakistan also deteriorating, writes Lt Gen Prakash Chand Katoch  (retd) for South Asia Monitor

Vatican diplomacy can help Sri Lanka leverage its strengths

Sri Lanka, being an Indian Ocean island nation strategically located at the international maritime crossroads, has significant diplomatic influence in the West due its Christian community, write Srimal Fernando and Mizly Nizar for South Asia Monitor

Credible deterrence must remain leitmotif of India’s security policies

The creation of a CDS cannot (and must not) be an isolated action because it carries with it a whole new ecosystem that can transform India’s national security paradigm. writes Admiral Arun Prakash (retd) for South Asia Monitor

India must rethink its Balochistan policy

Why can’t India begin by addressing the Balochistan problem at international forums, especially the heavy-handed suppression and continuing human rights abuses the people of that province face?, writes Nilova Roy Chaudhury for South Asia Monitor

India needs to watch out for Pakistan's diabolical moves to stir conflict

Pakistan's only real option is to provoke large scale communal conflict simultaneously in states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Kashmir, which can spread to other regions. That can be blamed on the ruling dispensation's 'anti-Muslim' policies, against which many voices have been raised in India, writes Subir Bhaumik for South Asia Monitor