For Pakistan's political elites, it has become a cycle of securing loans from allies to fund its ever-ballooning deficit and again approaching the IMF when funds dry up, writes Shraddha Nand Bhatnagar for South Asia Monitor
Constitutional Supremacy vs. Parliamentary Sovereignty Debate: Parliament is a Creature of the Constitution, not its Master
India’s constitutional design operates on the line of a fully functional parliamentary democracy anchored in constitutional supremacy rather than parliamentary sovereignty. In an era of evolving challenges, the supremacy of the Constitution continues to serve as the ultimate safeguard of Indian polity.
Born Together, Governed Apart: How India and Pakistan Became Two Different Political Civilizations
Eighty years after Partition, the overarching lesson of this comparative history of India and Pakistan is that national trajectories are not preordained by culture, talent, or geography. They are determined by the rules and values a state enshrines for itself in its formative years.
Re-engineering India's Grassroots Administration: A New Bottom-Up Development Model
It is time the Indian district administration’s focus shifts to economic development and prosperity-building through strategic planning, resource mobilisation, and effective resource allocation; productivity enhancement, competitiveness, skill-building, employment generation and ensuring the security of life and property.
Imran Khan, the Cricketing World and the Paradox Confronting Pakistan
The man who once led Pakistan to its only World Cup triumph has now become the subject of an international cricketing appeal for humane treatment. The more the authorities try to keep his story behind prison walls, the more the cricketing world appears determined to take it beyond them.
More on Governance, Public Policy and Law
With rising global food costs, first I2U2 projects to tackle food insecurity in South Asia and Middle East
The I2U2 will work in six areas – water, energy, transport, space, health, and food security – combining the expertise and the resources of the four nations, Modi said
Selfies in bedrooms, swimming in pool: Protestors in Sri Lanka explore besieged presidential palace
A short video, which went viral on social media, showed people searching for leftover food in the kitchen.
Perspective
Taliban summarily executed over a hundred suspected ISIS militants, says HRW; Taliban says ‘baseless’ as fears of internecine war intensify
The bodies recovered by the residents showed evidence of torture and brutal executions, including some with missing limbs and ropes around their necks. Others had their head beheaded or slit throats, according to the report
Nepal to form fresh citizenship rules after withdrawing controversial bill; could have damaged cross-border familial bonds
Nepal, which shares a long open border with India to its north, west and east, enjoys cultural, historical, and civilizational bonds with India for centuries. People across the border in both countries have been inter-marrying for ages, which led to the “Roti and Beti ka Rishta” (cultural and marital bond) tag to the relationship between the two neighbours.
Ukraine fallout in South Asia: Now Bangladesh seeks IMF support, prepares for 'harder days'
Other countries in the region, such as Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Nepal, are also struggling to arrest the depletion of their foreign exchange reserves as a result of high fuel prices. However, Bangladesh is still better placed and has enough time to work out a deal with the IMF.
Pakistan’s trade deficit at a historic high: Can Islamabad bite the bullet of structural reforms?
Experts have pointed out Pakistan’s need to undergo deep structural reforms to avoid recurring cycles of loans and knocking at the IMF's doors
Sri Lanka’s fuel crisis threatens its prized tea industry; 400,000 jobs at risk
For Sri Lanka, which is in dire need of foreign exchange reserves, tea is among a few commodities offering an assured income in dollars. The industry faced immense hardship during the last year’s ban on chemical fertilisers
India establishes a tentative diplomatic presence in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan
The move isn’t a recognition of the Taliban regime which remains internationally isolated. The emphasis on people-people and civilizational connections underscores New Delhi’s attempt to retain its soft power in the country
The clock is ticking for Pakistan to secure an IMF deal
From withdrawing the fuel subsidies, hiking electricity tariffs and reducing expenditure to increasing tax rates, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government has gone all out at the expense of its own political capital to get the IMF programme running
Nepal in a cleft stick: Another US programme stirs domestic politics with Beijing watching
Notwithstanding the Deuba’s government push to strengthen ties with the US, Nepal is still far from signing any security pact with it. Further, China, despite suffering a relative pushback in Nepal, is unlikely to take such a deal kindly
Amid ruling party infighting, a former Maldivian president waits in the wings
If Yameen returns to power in the Maldives, it would have repercussions on the present close strategic ties with India
The significance of India’s relations with Gulf and Muslim countries
India needs strong and friendly relations, be they diplomatic, economic, social or cultural, with the countries of GCC. And some of these arguments carry over for relations with members of the OIC too
Pakistan’s 5.9 % GDP growth comes with ‘landmines’, fears of ‘overheated’ economy and Imran Khan's 'biggest protest'
Challenges are compounded by the almost unaffordable prices of global commodities and fuel—factors beyond the government’s control. “I cannot control this but cannot leave people without food and fuel, either,” Ismail said.
No place in Hinduism for intolerance of other faiths
Denigration of another faith is not the act or practice of a true Hindu. Every Hindu must condemn such acts., writes Amb Sarvajit Chakravarty (retd) for South Asia Monitor
