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.
Taking India's example of banning more than 200 Chinese apps, US President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order that blocks transactions with Chinese companies running eight apps, including Jack Ma-owned Ant Group's Alipay, Tencent's QQ and WeChat Pay applications
China's People Liberation Army escalated the situation at Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh by utilisation of "unorthodox weapons and amassing large number of troops", said India's Ministry of Defence in its year-end review
For the first time, China’s external aid and development agency, China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) is making a foray into Nepal, pledging to finance 15 pilot development projects in 13 northern districts of the country
The US Congress through a bipartisan law, the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) 2021 has condemned China for its aggression in eastern Ladakh
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that the next phase of CPEC would include the country’s agriculture sector, and it would emphasize increasing agricultural products in the country
Year 2020 proved to be yet another period of misunderstanding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
Tibetan exiles across the world on Sunday voted to elect their new 'Sikyong' or Prime Minister as well as members of the Tibetan Parliament-in-exile based here in this northern Indian hill town in Himachal Pradesh state
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Friday that the next phase of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would lay emphasis on the agricultural sector
Locals have been protesting against China-sponsored Damak Clean Industrial Park in Damak Municipality, demanding adequate compensation for the acquired land and transparency regarding the Chinese investment project located in Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s home constituency Jhapa-5
Pakistan has decided to pre-book a COVID-19 vaccine from Chinese state-owned company Sinopharm for emergency use for healthcare workers, the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination said on Thursday
Pakistan and China on Thursday decided to deepen their cooperation and work together for peace and stability in the region
A huge volume of goods destined for Nepal is stuck on the China border due to restrictions in movement along the northern border
After reports emerged about Pakistan's ally and "all-weather friend" China asking Islamabad to provide guarantees if it intends to avail the $6 billion package; Beijing has rejected "what it called rumors" of gradually ending financial support to Pakistan, pledged under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
Indian Air Force chief R.K.S. Bhadauria on Tuesday said that Pakistan is becoming a pawn in Chinese policy and Beijing could use it to enter Afghanistan after the exit of US forces
China's persecuted Uyghurs expect India to give up its silence and step in to prevent the "genocide" of the minority community, unlike other major powers, including Islamic nations, which are silent on the issue, a leading Uyghur leader has said