Wolf World or a Multipolar World? How Major Powers Exercise Power Will Determine Emerging International Order
The growing role of middle powers adds another layer of complexity. Yet the term itself remains imprecise. Not every country outside the United States and China qualifies as a middle power, and many reject the label altogether. India, for example, increasingly sees itself as a leading power pursuing strategic autonomy rather than as a middle power seeking alignment with one bloc or another.
Is Northeast India's Permit System Inhibiting India-Japan Paradiplomacy? Colonial-Era System may be Stumbling Block to Subnational Exchanges
If India and Japan genuinely envision Northeast India as the gateway connecting South Asia with the Bay of Bengal and the Indo-Pacific, then the next chapter of the partnership cannot remain confined to New Delhi and Tokyo. It must also be written in Guwahati, Shillong, Aizawl, Imphal, Agartala, Kohima, Gangtok and Itanagar
Bangladesh's Strategic Balancing and India's Neighbourhood Challenge: China Will Consolidate Influence if New Delhi Fails to Deliver
In several neighbouring countries, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, China has demonstrated an ability to move from agreements to implementation far more rapidly than many competitors. India, despite enjoying unmatched geographic and cultural advantages, has often struggled with delays
Are the Echoes of 1971 Growing Louder in Balochistan? Voices that Pakistan Refuses to Hear
The echoes of 1971 are not proof that Balochistan will become another Bangladesh. They are proof that Pakistan has yet to learn what East Pakistan was trying to tell it in the first place: that a state cannot indefinitely draw wealth from a people it refuses to hear.
More on Geopolitics and Strategic Affairs
What is drawing Iran and Taliban closer?
The Taliban has never been happy about Iran’s cultural influence in Afghanistan. When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, they rejected any cultural links between Iran and Afghanistan and ignored Iran’s interests, writes Zahid Aria for South Asia Monitor
The profound symbolism of the Shaheen Bagh protests
The world must note the significance of the Shaheen Bagh phenomenon, as it highlights the power of Gandhian non-violent and secular protests in the face of the formidable State machinery, writes Brigadier Deepak Sethi (retd) for South Asia Monitor
Was India's controversial citizenship act modeled on US legislation?
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar missed an opportunity at the news conference with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the two other participants at last month’s 2+2 strategic dialogue to clearly explain India’s goals behind the CAA in the rare opportunity he got to make the case in public before the US media, writes Arul Louis for South Asia Monitor
Is India heading for a constitutional crisis over CAA?
Nearly all the non-BJP state governments have ruled out implementing the two measures, thereby preparing the battlefield for an unprecedented confrontation which will shake up the federal polity, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
Cracking down on student protests augurs ill for Indian democracy
The dissent by young India is being cast as a diabolical anti-national act, even while many of the leaders in the BJP led government cut their teeth in politics during their student days, writes C Uday Bhaskar for South Asia Monitor
On CAA, India has scored a self-goal with friendly neighbours
Can India challenge the sovereignty of other nations and think of living peacefully with them, asks Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
Soleimani’s killing and regional implications: Will the winners be China, Pakistan?
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo spoke to Pakistani army chief Qamar J Bajwa on January 3, immediately after Soleimani’s killing, seeking Pakistani support, writes Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
Assam: Betrayed by politicians, united strongly in anti-CAA protest
The issue of illegal immigrants, from Bangladesh to be precise, is, therefore, an old wound for the Assamese people. For someone familiar with the geography of the state, the changing demography is hard to miss, writes Azera Parveen Rahman for South Asia Monitor
Attack on Sikh shrine exposes Pakistan’s disdain for minorities
The 'deep state' and the Imran Khan government should care about the pitiable condition of minorities in their own country instead of worrying about Muslim and Sikh minorities in India, writes Jai Kumar Verma for South Asia Monitor
CAA has hurt India’s foreign policy and global image
The lack of homework by the Modi government on the adverse implications of the CAA is now clearly visible both domestically and internationally, writes Alakh Ranjan for South Asia Monitor
The Rajapaksas return in Sri Lanka: Should India be worried?
Sri Lanka is at the centre of the IOR and the country which will have greater stakes and leverage over this island nation will have an edge in the Indian Ocean, writes Alakh Ranjan for South Asia Monitor
Needed political will to solve Delhi's pollution crisis
There are enough existing solutions to alleviate air pollution which is a result of a waste-disposal problem. However, there is a need to have political and administrative will to implement them, writes Anil Rajvanshi for South Asia Monitor
India and Bhutan explore new areas of engagement
India understands the needs of Bhutan and is equally willing to diversify the relationship beyond hydropower. During his last visit, Modi showed India’s intent towards the diversification of bilateral relations, writes Alakh Ranjan for South Asia Monitor
Policy lessons from Mahatma Gandhi: Decentralised development and sustainable living
Gandhi was an engineer at heart. He improvised and built equipment like better snake-catching tools, small cotton-spinning wheel (takli) and chappals (sandals) from used tires. In 1929, he even instituted an INR one lakh prize (INR 20 crores in today’s value; 2.6 times bigger than the Nobel Prize) for the design of a modern charkha (spinning wheel), writes Anil K Rajvanshi for South Asia Monitor
