South Asia remains one of the least integrated regions in the world despite geographical proximity and complementary economic structures. Greater regional trade, improved transport connectivity, cross-border electricity markets, digital payment systems and investment partnerships could substantially reduce external vulnerabilities.
Between 2004 and 2023, India produced roughly five million graduates every year, but graduate employment increased by only around 2.8 million annually. Even fewer obtained salaried employment. Millions are either unemployed or working below their qualifications or in the waiting room for the elusive government job.
Policy instability during the 2015-2024 likely pushed back Sri Lanka’s path towards becoming South Asia’s first High-Income Country. The 2022 financial crisis would never have happened as stable growth during the first half of 2015–2024 would have built enough buffer to weather impact of the Covid pandemic
China’s Belt and Road Initiative - which funded Sri Lanka’s Hambantota Port through loans resulting in a 99-year lease to Chinese State-owned enterprise in 2017 due to Colombo’s struggle to service said loans - follows the same expansionary script.
Oli’s anti-India posture was seen to be at the behest of Beijing as India converted the unmetalled road into a strategic road through which the Indian Army and guns can reach the Tibet plateau early, a strategic development not to China's liking, writes Jai Kumar Verma
The opposition Congress has asked the Modi government to take up, in various international fora, the issue of China building an artificial lake just upward of Arunachal Pradesh which can be a "potential water bomb" and have devastating effect on the Siang basin in the border state
The closer Pakistan slides to China, the further Balochistan inches away from Pakistan. Surging Baloch nationalism has found a new partner - a pro-freedom organisation in Sindh, which also plans to oppose the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) - a mammoth $62 billion infrastructure project
Work on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has picked up pace in the past few months. We have seen a series of groundbreaking ceremonies and inauguration of completed projects
The Government of China, expressing “heartfelt congratulations” to Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his party Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna for winning the Wednesday’s parliamentary election, has assured its support to elevate the bilateral relations with greater development
Talks between military representatives of India and China to discuss disengagement in the Depsang plains north of Galwan area started on Saturday morning near the Line of Actual Control, sources said
Prime Minister’s Advisor on Commerce and Industries Abdul Razak Dawood on Saturday said the Pak-China border crossing at Sust was temporarily re-opened to clear stranded trucks of Pakistani traders
With a considerable increase in the deployment of its warships in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), the Indian Navy is providing strategic support to its fellow services in the ongoing activities related to the border tensions with China
Bangladesh is the most suitable place for investment for global enterprises as it has a large population and huge market potential, said Xu Xiaochu, Chairman of Chinas Yabang Investment Holding Group Company Limited
As New Delhi and Beijing have made no headway in the stand-off along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, the Quadrilateral (Quad) coalition among the US, Australia, Japan and India is rapidly taking up shape as a response to Chinese expansionism
India's External Affairs Minister and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have discussed the aggressive actions of China in South Asia while reiterating their countries' commitment to advancing security in the Indo-Pacific region
De-escalation at the Line of Actual Control has stopped for now as disengagement talks between India and China have hit a roadblock
India on Thursday warned China against attempts to interfere in India's internal affairs after Beijing unsuccessfully initiated a discussion in the UN Security Council on Jammu and Kashmir
The present stand-off with China is likely to be prolonged, said Defence Ministry in a status report on border tension in Eastern Ladakh
Pakistan's top economic body on Wednesday approved its costliest project to date as part of the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) agreement, giving the go-ahead for a $6.8 billion project to upgrade its railway lines, the government said
