The CEPA’s larger significance is that it serves as a template for an FTA with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) whose members include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain, writes N. Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
Xi Jinping’s Loosening Leverage Over North Korea Amid Shifting Indo Pacific Security Dynamics
China in recent times has elevated some of its key bilateral relations, Vietnam, Pakistan, North Korea, to the level where they are now considered by Beijing as consequential to regional and global peace and stability. China’s foreign and 'grand strategy' is aimed at realizing a shared destiny for mankind and nurturing a new type of great-power relations within a multipolar world. This requires a strategic alignment between China’s strategy and others.
Bangladesh's 'Red Telephone' Breach: More to it Than Meets the Eye?
More importantly, the alleged sabotage occurred during a period of political transition following the developments of August 2024. Institutional loyalties, political rivalries, and competing networks of influence continue to shape Bangladesh's political landscape. In such a context, any breach involving the Prime Minister's secure communications infrastructure deserves careful examination.
Between the Melody Moment and the Hard Work Ahead: Modi's Europe Tour Outcome Will Depend on Delivery in Coming Years
India's MSME sector, the backbone of its export economy, remains largely unequipped to navigate European standards and certification requirements. As ABC Live noted, the next stage will be tougher than negotiation: India must now prove that its exporters, MSMEs, regulators, ports, testing labs, and state governments can actually use the agreement. A framework signed in Gothenburg means nothing to a textile exporter in Tiruppur who cannot get a product certified to EU standards.
Why India and Pakistan Must Move From Rivalry to Responsibility: In Fragmenting Global Order, South Asia Cannot Afford Internal Paralysis
The central lesson is simple: unresolved India-Pakistan hostility weakens South Asia from within. It prevents trade, blocks institutions, raises nuclear risk, politicizes water, militarizes borders, and diverts attention from human development. Both countries will continue to disagree on major issues. But disagreement does not require permanent hostility. Strategic maturity means building rules to manage conflict before conflict manages the region.
More on Geopolitics and Strategic Affairs
ICJ should not give legitimacy to the Myanmarese junta in Rohingya genocide case
The junta will likely leverage the hearings to gain substantial de jure recognition as the legitimate government of Myanmar within other UN bodies and beyond, writes Parvej Siddique Bhuiyan for South Asia Monitor
Has quest for 'strategic depth' become Pakistan’s tactical disaster?
As of now, Pakistan’s much-sought ‘strategic depth’ with a friendly government in Afghanistan has proved elusive, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
Why Indian money rules world cricket
Millions of Indian cricket fans across the globe are the real foundation of the Indian cricket board's financial power, writes Qaiser Mohammad Ali for South Asia Monitor
In India's hijab row, Muslim girls' education trapped between extremists of both religions
The Hindu rightwing gets its due provocation from Muslim communalism and extremism. Is there any role of Muslim communalists in fueling the hijab row?, writes Ram Puniyani for South Asia Monitor
Nepal power: Caught between Chinese capital and Indian market
Nepal will be permitted to export power to Bangladesh via India at a later time in order to fulfill the expanding energy demands of that country, writes Benedict B. George for South Asia Monitor
After Beijing, its destination Moscow for Pakistan PM Imran Khan: Can Russia take Islamabad at its word?
Russia is well aware of how Pakistan has been facilitating the movement of ISIS cadres from Iraq-Syria into northern Afghanistan at the behest of the US, writes Lt Gen P.C. Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
An adrift Congress in India is a serious problem for democracy
It takes no great political intelligence to point out that a tumultuous democracy like India desperately needs a credible national counter to Modi’s BJP, writes Mayank Chhaya for South Asia Monitor
Growing presence of women in India’s armed forces: An issue that should not be politicized
One major reason the Indian Army has not allowed women officers in fighting arms and would not like to do so is that it does not want them captured by the enemy, writes Col Anil Bhat (retd) for South Asia Monitor
The interplay of caste and politics in India's most populous state
The recent trends in elections have shown undeniable evidence that women no longer remain passive voters, writes Shraddha Nand Bhatnagar for South Asia Monitor
Bangladesh has stake in peace and stability in India's Northeast
Connectivity and infrastructural development with Bangladesh will also open up new routes to India's Northeast, Bhutan and Nepal, writes Benedict B. George for South Asia Monitor
India’s intangible heritage: Its composite, living culture carries a multidimensional message in trying times
Such recognition by UNESCO, whether of Durga Puja or Srinagar as a Creative City, helps to underline that India’s culture is a living culture, writes Amb Bhaswati Mukherjee (retd) for South Asia Monitor
The Nightingale has fallen silent: Lata Mangeshkar's music had universal appeal
Numbers have defied easy recording, whether Lata sang 25,000 songs or 30,000, for an estimated 1,000 films, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
India must not politically or economically appease China
The fact remains that as long as India, Nepal and Bhutan do not protest Chinese aggressive moves because of political compulsions China will keep having its way, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (retd.) for South Asia Monitor
Sri Lanka will come out of its present crisis stronger
With heightened external geopolitical fissures in the region, balancing infrastructure diplomacy between China, India and the US is indeed a daunting challenge for Sri Lanka, writes Sugeeswara Senadhira for South Asia Monitor
