This inland waterway route looks all set to ensure efficient and effective cargo movement between the two neighbours and herald a new chapter in bilateral cooperation in South Asia, writes Sreeradha Datta for south Asia Monitor

India has a pool of talented diplomats but their skills will be expended on putting lipstick on a pig if the government at home promotes narrow, sectarian ideologies that are at variance with accepted international norms, writes  E. D. Mathew for South Asia Monitor

Modi may not be getting the kind of feedback and reality check that is vital for effective and empathetic governance and this is where, apart from Chanakya, the Canute principle acquires relevance, writes C Uday Bhaskar for South Asia Monitor

From the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, India is emerging as one of the top alternative manufacturing destinations, writes Dr. Mohammad Rezaul Karim for South Asia Monitor

China is sure that India would initiate back-room talks and negotiate some face-saving device to disengage. But, there lies the danger, writes Brigadier Deepak Sethi (retd) for South Asia Monitor

Pakistan has used its Centres of Excellence to promote and share best practices in nuclear security through three affiliated institutes: the Pakistan Centre of Excellence for Nuclear Security (PCENS), the National Institute of Safety and Security (NISAS), and the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), writes Rabia Javed for South Asia Monitor

Thirty prominent human rights advocates and peace activists, who disagree with a lot that is happening in Pakistan. Either living at home, but most of them exiled abroad, participated in the conference titled Enforced Disappearances, State-sanctioned killings, & Diminishing Democracy in Pakistan, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor 

The BJP found itself on the back foot was when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was pictured sitting on a pavement, talking to a group of migrants. It was a Haroun al-Rashid moment of a privileged person closely interacting with the unwashed masses, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor

With the support of the United Arab Emirates, the Maldives not only prevented Pakistan from targeting India as Islamophobic during the OIC meeting, but also defended India’s record as a democratic, multicultural society, writes Shubha Singh for South Asia Monitor

This is a time when India should fashion itself as a new global health hub and provide global leadership in health. Pushing a new agenda for the WHO’s relocation from Geneva to India would make immense sense, writes Ram Krishna Sinha for South Asia Monitor

From Bangladesh to India and to Sri Lanka, the natural rubbers producers are getting squeezed under lockdowns and social distancing. It is sounding the death knell of the region’s rubber economy,  writes K S Nayar for South Asia Monitor

Banks are generally very traditional in nature even though all the banks and financial institutions are going digital. Traditional nature change is again a challenge. The lockdown has come as a blessing in disguise as the changeover to digital systems can now pick pace, as it  becomes the need of the day, writes Ashim Kumar Goswami for South Asia Monitor 

Indian policy towards Nepal has been lackadaisical. Belief of mutual Hindu traditions should be viewed in the context of power in Nepal lying with the communists for whom religion is anathema, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor

The question that arises uppermost is that are we learning the right lessons from these recurring weather episodes or just concentrating  on immediate short-term disaster relief without taking any steps to make the regions ecologically sustainable and disaster resistant, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor

The coronavirus outbreak has hit the Maldivian economy hard, as travel restrictions and other preventive measures affected the country’s lucrative tourism industry, which contributes to the bulk of the island nation’s state revenue and foreign reserves, writes Kavita Bajeli-Datt for South Asia Monitor