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.
Almost a week after the Chinese firm Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Company Ltd (STEC) became the lowest bidder for constructing the 5.6-km New Ashok Nagar-Sahibabad underground tunnel of the 82 km Delhi-Meerut RRTS project, the India's Ministry of Urban Development on Wednesday clarified that the tender is in "process" and "yet to be finalised"
In a stunning disclosure, Pakistan maritime affairs secretary admitted on Wednesday that the original Gwadar Port concession agreement offered only 20-year – not 40-year – tax holiday to port operators and there was no provision for extending the tax concession to sub-contractors
The government of Afghanistan has asked for help from China in the training of medical staff to fight the coronavirus
Around 120 Indian soldiers, almost an entire company, was trapped and encircled by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) and followed by savage and deceptive attacks, many to a point of mutilation, on Monday night, informed military sources said
Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, in a phone conversation with his Chinese counterpart on Wednesday, asked China to "reassess its actions and take corrective steps" in view of the "unprecedented" violence along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh
The US says it supports peaceful resolution of the stand-off between India and China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh where at least 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops have been killed in violent clashes
A day after India lost 20 of its soldiers in the bloodiest border skirmish in 45 years with the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on Monday night, China said that it has always "maintained sovereignty over the Galwan Valley region"
China on Wednesday continued to send mixed signals with its support for peaceful resolution of the stand-off in Ladakh on the one hand, and laying claim in the Galwan valley on the other
Tibet’s Jhomba County had provided health materials to Mustang. Earlier, Mustang District Disaster Management Committee had sought health materials from the Tibet government to control and contain COVID-19 in the district
India on Tuesday hit out at China for unilaterally attempting to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh, which led to the killings of troops of both the countries in a violent clash on Monday night
Pakistan's Senate panel on finance directed the government on Tuesday to produce Pakistan-China bilateral agreement on Gwadar port after it found the budget proposal to grant up to 40 years tax exemptions to the port city operators “unconstitutional”
An unspecified number of Chinese troops were killed on Monday night in clashes with Indian soldiers along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh where both sides have been locked in a face-off since May
India should rethink and revise its 'One China' policy and exploit the geographic, ethnic, and economic faultlines within the Asian giant, such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang, former Deputy National Security Adviser of India Arvind Gupta said
The visiting Chinese medical experts have said the use of Ritonavir, Resochin, Ribavirin, and Arbidol can be effective to some extent
Pakistan's Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the year 2020-21 contains around Rs 21 billion allocation for projects under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) - once considered a game-changer for Pakistan
