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Why Dhaka and Delhi Must Find Common Ground - and Their Shared Space

If India says the security of its Northeast, border management, trade and connectivity matter, Bangladesh can equally say that water sharing, deaths at the border, market access, energy security, river management and sovereign equality matter to it. 

PLA’s Partial Pullbacks from Ladakh Frontier: More Tactical Than Operational Move by China

The Indian military views no disengagement in Arunachal Pradesh as part of a wider strategic recalibration, prompting India to match Chinese force rebalancing by shifting strike corps and resources equally across both northern and eastern fronts.

China-US: Rivalry, Restraint, a New Equilibrium - and an Emerging Geopolitical Order

BRICS is acquiring greater visibility, while countries of the Global South continue to seek a greater voice in the international system. The desire for a more multipolar world is becoming increasingly evident. Over the next decade, this could produce a geopolitical configuration rather different from the one we have known since the end of the Cold War.

Xi Jinping's China: A Scholarly Look at a Nation Driven by a Sense of Destiny

Kuhn says if the first half of this century is being defined by USA-China relations, the second half may well be defined by India-China relations and, in the New World Order, "India-China relations will likely become the most pivotal.....for the entire world".

More on Geopolitics, Security and Strategic Affairs

Time to review lockdown to stop economic shutdown

Lockdown cannot be an option to exercise indefinitely. We need to progressively lift it so that the economic costs will not overwhelm us, writes Mohan Guruswamy for the South Asia Monitor

55 years later, India returns favour to US, emerges as humanitarian force

It wasn't only a favour to the US, Brazil or Israel. India also decided to send HCQ  “to all our neighbouring countries who are dependent on our capabilities” and “some nations who have been particularly badly affected" by the pandemic, writes Arul Louis for South Asia Monitor

Is 'temporary' release of prisoners enough to halt spread of COVID-19?

In South Asia, India has, on the directives of its Supreme Court, constituted High Powered Committees in each state to define criteria for release of both sentenced and unsentenced prisoners, writes Madhurima Dhanuka for the South Asia Monitor

India could be staring at a human security catastrophe

India has about 450 million workers in the informal sector and about a third of them are in the migrant cluster. Even if it is estimated that half of this workforce is grappling with hunger, the numbers are mind-boggling, writes C Uday Bhaskar for South Asia Monitor

Pakistan's fate in FATF once again hangs in balance

In order to save itself from being put under a blacklist, Pakistan has to work at least on papers with respect to various terror organisations to address ‘strategic deficiencies', writes Dr. Sanchita Bhattacharya for South Asia Monitor

Kashmiri youth being misled: Myth about 'demographic changes'

Who will benefit from the new rule? It would be the wards of West Pakistan refugees, Balmikis, Gorkhas, Punjabis and migrant labour in the newly created union territory, writes Brig Anil Gupta (retd) for South Asia Monitor

South Asian countries cannot make the same choices as developed nations

The biggest challenge for governments in South Asia is to fight this pandemic like a first-world country but with the limited resources of a third-world country, writes Dr. Jitender Bhandari for the South Asia Monitor

Post-COVID 19: Needed a brave new world, not chasing shadows

The world community reacted tardily and instead of shoring up the defenses, it is now dousing the fires. The world in the future would warrant systems that are more alert to impending pandemics and crises, better prepared and strong leadership writes R Adm Vineet Bakhshi (retd) for South Asia Monitor

Unorganised workers in India: The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted their utter neglect

The legislation enacted way back in 2008, known as The Unorganised Workers'Social Security Act (mentioned as the Act hereafter) which entered the statute book on December 31, 2008, if implemented seriously, could have come to the rescue of the unorganised workers, which stand to lose enormously both in terms of livelihood opportunities and social security at the present juncture due to the health pandemic, writes Partha Mitra for South Asia Monitor

Leaving Afghanistan's fate to the Taliban

It would not be surprising if American troops are also attacked after part withdrawal has taken place, with blame, apportioned to Islamic State, as was done in the case of the recent attack on Kabul gurdwara, while China and Pakistan laughed all the way home, writes  Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor

India needs to be fair to its own migrants, the city builders and sustainers

The census data of 2011 reflects that the four states - Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh -account for 50 percent of India's total inter-state migrants, write Suresh Kumar Patel, Abhishek Kumar & Noorul Quamer for South Asia Monitor

The Wuhan virus and China's biological warfare: Warnings the world ignored

Launch of China Virus/COVID-19  - which only India had guts to name biological weapon - had decades of preparation to deny/mitigate global response, writes  Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor

COVID 19: South Asian nations must take care of refugees, or we all are vulnerable

The Rohingya refugees staying inside and outside camps in Bangladesh and India are worth mentioning in the South Asian context. Their already slum-like dwellings, lack of fresh water and sanitation, densely-crowded living conditions and hunger puts them in a more perilous situation, writes Sariful Islam for South Asia Monitor

The final frontier: Women in combat roles must become the new normal

In the Indian context, the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy have granted a permanent commission to women officers even as both have opened up some combat roles for women, write Subhranil Ghosh & Sayantan Bandyopadhyay for South Asia Monitor

Why Modi broke ranks from his nationalist 'friends' abroad

While Trump and Bolsonaro are worried about the virus' impact on their nation's markets, economies and, by extension, their political future, Modi was open enough to admit that the pandemic would have economic costs, but saving lives was more important for him and his government, writes Tarun Basu for South Asia Monitor