Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has said China is a little upset that the procurement price of Sinopharm vaccine was made public in Bangladesh, The Daily Star reported
What Trade Patterns Reveal About South Asia’s Economic Future
One of the most striking features of South Asian trade is how little the region trades internally. Intra-regional trade within South Asia remains among the lowest in the world relative to geographic proximity. Political tensions — especially between India and Pakistan — have prevented the emergence of a deeply integrated regional production system comparable to ASEAN or the European Union. This is a major missed opportunity.
The West Asia Conflict: Challenging Times for Indian Economy
Scarcity of cooking fuel is pushing people, particularly across South Asia, toward hunger. Livelihoods have been lost among the large unorganised labour force while thousands of self-employed street vendors, smaller restaurants and eateries are being forced to close shop, facing a scary, insecure future. For middle class households across India, everyday snacks like the samosa or dosa have become scarce because of shortage and high prices of cooking gas cylinders.
New EU Medicines Law Could Impact FTA With India
India is one of the world’s largest suppliers of generic medicines and APIs to Europe. If the EU begins favouring “Made in EU” pharmaceutical production through procurement preferences, subsidies or state aid, Indian drug manufacturers could face reduced access to EU public procurement contracts and tougher supply-chain resilience requirements.
Caught in Geopolitical Quagmire, West Asia Crisis Looms Large Over Indian Supply and Demand Metrics
India’s pharma export market has been affected as India supplies medicines to more than 200 countries. Supply chain interruption not only hurts Indian producers but also creates medicine scarcity in the US, UK, and African markets that highly depend on Indian generics. From the logistics end, re-routing of cargo away from conflict-ridden corridors such as the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz has increased freight insurance premiums, distressing Indian exporters who function on lean cost structures.
More on Geoeconomics, Trade and Development
Pakistan to give minimum two-year visas to Chinese workers in only 48 hours
Chinese citizens working on various projects in Pakistan will now get new visas for a minimum duration of two years with the permits being handed over within only 48 hours from the time of application, a senior minister said in Islamabad
Colombo archbishop slams Sri Lankan government over China-funded Port City project
Launching a verbal assault on the Sri Lankan government apparently over the China-funded Colombo Port City project, Archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the Archbishop of Colombo, said the island nation was being dragged down a path of destruction by those who came to power claiming to protect the country
Afghanistan at ‘critical stage’, security situation remains ‘uncertain’: China
Afghanistan has reached a “critical stage” as foreign troops are departing and the country’s security situation remains “uncertain”, the Chinese foreign ministry said after holding the 4th trilateral conference involving Afghanistan, Pakistan, and China
China-funded railway project in Pakistan may be launched early
China on Wednesday hinted at an early launch of the Main Line-I project of Pakistan Railways – the biggest infrastructure project in the country’s history with an estimated cost of around USD 6.8 billion – that has been funded by Beijing as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
China stands with India in fighting second wave of COVID pandemic, says Foreign Minister Wang Yi
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has assured that all BRICS member nations will help India in combating the second and deadly wave of the COVID-19 pandemic
Not a dumping ground for Chinese 'garbage', says Sri Lanka
After facing heat from opposition leaders on vaccine procurement, the Sri Lankan government has said that the country was not a dumping ground for "Chinese garbage", a report in Daily Mirror says
Don't be soft on doing business with China, EICC tells EU
The Brussels-based Europe India Chamber of Commerce (EICC) has accused China of creating "discriminatory" trade barriers, resorting to "forced" technology transfer and intellectual property theft and asked the European Union to confront and counter Beijing’s "disinformation" campaign and expressed displeasure over some EU countries being “soft on doing business” with China
China-funded Gwadar Port, Free Zone in Pakistan to generate USD 10 billion annually
After becoming fully operational, the Gwadar Port and Gwadar Free Zone would generate economic activities of around USD 10 billion per annum, said China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority Chairman Lt-Gen (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa on Monday
Either you transform China or China will transform you, warns outgoing Tibetan president-in-exile
Outgoing Tibetan president-in-exile Lobsang Sangay has warned his people and the world against Chinese aggression in no uncertain terms
China is expanding influence in the UN system: Indian think tank
A leading Indina think tank has claimed that China has been steadily increasing its influence within the United Nations using a combination of increased funding, strategically placing its key officials and selecting the most influential agencies and bodies to lead
Controversy over price of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine in Sri Lanka
A controversy erupted in Sri Lanka over the alleged differential pricing of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines that the Sri Lankan government has been procuring from China, with authorities facing the allegation of signing the deal at a relatively higher price
China-backed Port City told to comply with Sri Lanka‘s language policy: Minister
Sri Lanka has officially told a state enterprise of China investing in the island nation’s language policy in the Colombo Port City following controversy over a name board, a minister said
Chinese national stabs two Bangladeshi men in Dhaka
A Chinese national hacked and injured two Bangladeshi youths working on the Dhaka-Mawa railway project in Keraniganj near capital Dhaka
China stacking border with India with advanced weapons?
There seems to be no end to the Sino-Indian border standoff as Beijing is trying to equip its Western high-altitude plateau regions with new weapons systems, said reports quoting Chinese Communist Party-run media
