India’s economic self-reliance is not about shutting the doors to the world. It is about standing firm during crises, reducing vulnerabilities, and becoming globally competitive. The philosophy of Atmanirbhar Bharat represents a pragmatic approach: be self-reliant in areas where dependence is dangerous, and globally integrated in sectors where India can lead.
The Indian software and IT services giants have for long been accused of running body shops, a business fashioned out of what essentially is labour arbitrage turned into a fine art. The sector has consistently denied this, arguing that they have moved up the value chain and that they compete on quality, not price.
When I think back to Wagah, what stays with me is not the barbed wire, but the wind -- the same wind moving across the border without asking permission. I think of rivers that carry stories of children whose laughter sounds the same in Lahore, Delhi, Dhaka, and Kathmandu.
On the face of it, the misplaced hysteria surrounding the visit made by Sri Lankan journalists to Israel is fuelled by shadowy factors intending to promote a one-sided narrative in which the State of Israel stands as the perennial villain. The beguiling picture planted in Sri Lankan society is portrayed through the moral binaries: good vs evil, victim vs oppressor, and Palestine Vs Israel.
A tweet by a university professor in the Maldives, detailing the benefits (sic) of female genital mutilation (FGM) - a regressive socio-religious practice where the clitoris of a female is removed physically for non-medical reasons-- has sparked controversy in the Indian Ocean archipelago, with many calling for banning the professor from using social media platform
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, once known as a "ladies' man", continues to draw flak over comments perceived as sexist, but party’s women leaders have sprung to his defense calling him a "symbol of women's empowerment"
Pakistan hosts around 2.8 million Afghan refugees, the second biggest refugee population after Syrians in Turkey
There was a time when multinational companies and big brands used to only employ foreign nationals to lead the organization in Bangladesh
The Nepali Army’s foray into the education sector for running a course in agriculture for the public has drawn criticism with observers saying there has to be a line drawn on what the defense forces should and should not do
Even as the Covid pandemic numbers are declining in India, there is growing concern that new mutations of the virus – particularly the Delta variant, with its super-spreader qualities, could soon pose a global challenge later in the year
Pakistan’s Christian community leaders have voiced their doubt about the results of the sixth population and housing census-2017 about the population of minorities in the country
The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of humans in unprecedented ways
The slow sinking of the fire-stricken Singapore-registered container ship X-Press Pearl off Colombo port, almost on the eve of World Environment Day June 5, has the potential to turn into a major environmental disaster for Sri Lanka and neighbouring India
Having spent eight years in prison for a crime they never committed, for this Pakistani Christian couple justice has finally was served, but after a long, grueling wait, and at a heavy cost
