However, a balanced assessment suggests that India’s superpower trajectory could also generate opportunities for Bangladesh. Enhanced regional connectivity, expanded market access, greater investment flows, and improved regional stability could benefit Dhaka—provided cooperation and mutual respect remain central to bilateral engagement. Ultimately, the impact on Bangladesh will depend not only on India’s power trajectory but also on how both countries manage diplomacy, trust-building, and regional cooperation in an evolving geopolitical landscape.
Today, in 2026, India stands at a historic moment in its healthcare and technological evolution. The convergence of biotechnology, artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, and entrepreneurship has created unprecedented opportunities. India’s strengths in scientific talent, digital infrastructure, and cost-efficient innovation position it to become one of the world’s most important centres for healthcare innovation. However, sustained leadership will require continued investment, regulatory reform, and strategic vision.
Yunus paved the way for this election with his credibility as interim administrator intact, but his economic legacy will now be under scrutiny. The man who brought microcredit to the world’s poor — a model replicated across dozens of countries — has struggled to arrest the decline of Bangladesh’s industrial base. Between August 2024 and July 2025, nearly 245 factories closed, displacing approximately 100,000 workers.
Bangladesh’s centrality to South Asia is grounded as much in material realities as in symbolic politics. As one of the region’s fastest-growing economies and a strategic gateway to the Bay of Bengal, Dhaka plays a pivotal role in initiatives such as BBIN and BIMSTEC. Its ports and transport corridors provide critical access for landlocked neighbors, while its manufacturing sector integrates regional supply chains. Cross‑border electricity trade with India and Nepal, along with prospective hydropower cooperation with Bhutan, highlights Bangladesh’s emerging role as an energy and connectivity hub.
If Nepal’s political parties cannot provide a functioning and trustworthy alternative, the longing for the past—however problematic—will continue to grow. For democracy to survive and thrive in Nepal, it must deliver not just procedures and elections, but stability, accountability, and a renewed social contract with the people.
A nation's power today is judged not just by its military or economy but also by the credibility, speed, and resonance of its narrative. As adversaries evolve their hybrid warfare strategies to target public opinion, social trust, and international perception, India must develop a narrative response architecture that is anticipatory rather than reactive
Flashforward from 1971 to 2025 to a Pakistan facing almost the same kind of problems that it was facing in 1971: same intrusions of military in public affairs, same hopelessness, same corruption, same or more inflation and, most importantly, the same threat of rebellion.
The warm reception given to Pakistan's Army Chief in Washington is more than symbolic. It indicates Washington's strategic calculation—that India, despite its rhetoric, is becoming a more problematic partner. Washington, while not forsaking India, is hedging its bets. Its embrace of Pakistan is a backup plan.
India’s states play an outsized role in public spending accounting for nearly +/- 60% of total government expenditure. However, their fiscal health varies greatly across pan India. As someone closely observing both macroeconomic trends and grassroots governance models, I notice a growing divide between states that follow prudent fiscal practices and those still trapped in populist spending cycles.
When democracies embrace the traits of war economies and view peace as a sign of weakness, we need to question not about those who benefit from war, but rather about those who continue to engage in it. Not only does it include safety, but it also includes power, contracts, careers, and control.
The age of overt, high-visibility strikes is diminishing in returns. Covert operations, cyber infiltration, and disrupting terror logistics silently deliver greater impact at a lower political cost. India needs to establish a dedicated Psychological and Information Warfare Command, rather than relying solely on MEA press briefings or tweets from leaders.
BRICS has the potential—and perhaps the will. Ahead of COP30, it should convene a high-level “Redefining Climate Summit” with other like-minded nations invited to the BRICS table. Let the world know: BRICS can indeed build the force to break the climate blockade. The clock is not ticking anymore. It’s screaming.
BRICS represents more than just an economic grouping; it symbolizes the emergence of agency in the Global South. For too long, the contours of the world order were drawn in the boardrooms of Washington, London, and Brussels. That era is drawing to a close.
A sharp 60% drop in Chinese rare earth exports this April disrupted Indian electric vehicle manufacturing—highlighting just how brittle alternative supply routes still are. Despite diplomatic friction, India lacks the industrial depth to delink quickly from China
It may be a little too early to declare economic recovery, but certainly the growing forex reserve, remittance inflow, and surging exports are symptoms of the recovery that Bangladesh is aiming for. Bangladesh appears on the right track, though many other challenges remain.
Modi’s tour is, therefore, more than a series of diplomatic engagements; it is a declaration of India’s readiness to lead, collaborate, and contribute to shaping a just and inclusive global order. By leveraging historical ties, cultural affinity, technological strengths, and political goodwill, India is expanding its diplomatic footprint across the Global South.
The future of the South Asian region depends on building economies that are not just fast-growing, but fair. Ethical entrepreneurship and public oversight must go hand-in-hand. If the billionaires of today wish to be remembered not merely as tycoons, but as visionaries, their empires must rest on more than wealth. They must rest on justice.
With Pakistan's legal challenge still underway and India building hydro-assets and fortifying its strategic position, a dangerous legal and diplomatic standoff is brewing. Simultaneously, China's upstream ambitions introduce a parallel set of water-power dynamics that could dictate the future of Himalayan water governance.
Sultana Siddiqui has always strongly favoured the inclusion of cross-border talent in Pakistani and Indian cultural productions. She has participated in various bilateral conferences and meetings, including those organised by Aman Ki Asha (Hope for Peace), a joint platform initiated in 2010 by the two biggest media groups of India and Pakistan respectively.
