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.
Indian Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Wednesday met troops deployed in harsh winter conditions at forward locations at the Line of Actual Control and reviewed the prevailing tense situation with China. General Naravane also reviewed troops preparedness at the forward location
Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi has called on President Bidya Devi Bhandari following the dissolution of House of Representatives – a decision that led to the formal splitting up of the largest party in Nepal
Though living in exile for over half a century in the Himalayan foothills, the longing to see his homeland Lhasa - currently under Chinese occupation - is still fresh in the mind of an elderly globe-trotting Buddhist monk, the Dalai Lama, who resides in this north Indian hill town
China has sought additional guarantees before sanctioning $6 billion loan for Main Line-1 (ML-1) project due to weakening financial position of Pakistan and also proposed a mix of commercial and concessional loan against Islamabad’s desire to secure the cheapest lending
Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong on Tuesday appreciated the contributions made by Pakistani and Chinese staff working on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects have achieved major progress despite grave economic and health challenges posed by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, CPEC Authority chairman Asim Saleem Bajwa said
China’s Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong called on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa at military’s headquarters in Rawalpindi and discussed matters of mutual interest including CPEC and defence cooperation
More than 51 percent of respondents in rural India perceive the Covid 19 pandemic to be a "conspiracy by China"
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is not a threat to British interests, said British High Commissioner to Pakistan Christian Turner. “I am always very clear about CPEC
On Sunday, Hilsa and Lapcha border points in Humla district were opened for a day after 10 months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. The borders were closed again on Monday
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited on Friday an operational base of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) to witness Pakistan-China joint air exercise, titled “Shaheen-IX”, according to the military's media wing
The US Congress has expressed concern over China's “aggression” along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) - the de facto border with India - and declared as “baseless” the territorial claims by Beijing in the Himalayas
Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming today said Bangladesh has become a role model in development under the great leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who like her father has been surprising the world through one after another national achievement
Police and security officials on Tuesday disarmed a bomb planted on the car of a Chinese restaurant owner in Karachi's posh Clifton locality near Bilawal House
'India' figured over 100 times in cryptic codewords in the leaked database of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) employees embedded in some of the biggest global companies and government agencies
