One of the most striking features of South Asian trade is how little the region trades internally. Intra-regional trade within South Asia remains among the lowest in the world relative to geographic proximity. Political tensions — especially between India and Pakistan — have prevented the emergence of a deeply integrated regional production system comparable to ASEAN or the European Union. This is a major missed opportunity.
Scarcity of cooking fuel is pushing people, particularly across South Asia, toward hunger. Livelihoods have been lost among the large unorganised labour force while thousands of self-employed street vendors, smaller restaurants and eateries are being forced to close shop, facing a scary, insecure future. For middle class households across India, everyday snacks like the samosa or dosa have become scarce because of shortage and high prices of cooking gas cylinders.
India is one of the world’s largest suppliers of generic medicines and APIs to Europe. If the EU begins favouring “Made in EU” pharmaceutical production through procurement preferences, subsidies or state aid, Indian drug manufacturers could face reduced access to EU public procurement contracts and tougher supply-chain resilience requirements.
India’s pharma export market has been affected as India supplies medicines to more than 200 countries. Supply chain interruption not only hurts Indian producers but also creates medicine scarcity in the US, UK, and African markets that highly depend on Indian generics. From the logistics end, re-routing of cargo away from conflict-ridden corridors such as the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz has increased freight insurance premiums, distressing Indian exporters who function on lean cost structures.
The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) power projects have been affected by circular debt and the Pakistani government has not been able to clear Rs 188 billion due payments in breach of a bilateral energy framework agreement, media reports said
As the Everest base camp in Nepal reported several COVID-19 cases, China has decided to create a “line of separation” at the summit to prevent climbers from COVID-19 hit Nepal from mingling with those from the Chinese side
China has said it was working closely with Sri Lankan authorities to encourage collaboration among biotech companies of the two countries to produce a covid vaccine in the island nation
Expressing concern over Pakistan’s growing debt, China has shown reluctance to approve USD 6 billion loan for the Mainline-I (ML-I) railway track -- the single largest project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor -- according to the record of a meeting and senior Pakistani officials, Express Tribune reported
The first batch of a Chinese made Covid 19 vaccine being processed in Pakistan would be available for use by May end, a senior Minister said
Pakistan's deep bond with China also costs its wildlife species
Authorities in Pakistan have awarded a hydropower extension project worth $354 million to a Chinese firm, reported Dawn
A top US lawmaker has welcomed India's decision to not allow Chinese telecom companies to conduct 5G trials in the nation, a move seen as a strong message sent to Beijing by New Delhi
India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, France’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian, and Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne met in London for the first India-France-Australia Trilateral Ministerial Dialogue on 4 May on the sidelines of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting where they once again reiterated the commitment to advance shared values and working together to achieve a free, open, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific
In a bid to preempt any possibility of raising power tariff, Pakistan will seek debt restructuring of USD 3 billion against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) energy projects, a top official said
Wang Yi, the Chinese foreign minister, will visit Sri Lanka next month, Daily Mirror reported
Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday interacted with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and discussed the importance of supply chains and air flights being kept open in the current scenario when India is witnessing massive rise in COVID-19 cases, officials said
Geopolitical analyst Fabien Baussart feels that China's military modernization is a threat to global security
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday sent a message of condolences to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the COVID-19 pandemic in the country
Bangladesh will ink a contract soon to import the coronavirus vaccine made by China’s Sinopharm, a senior minister said
