South Asia has the potential to be a global digital leader. It has a young population and a booming tech industry. However, this potential will only be realized if the region is secure. We must treat cybersecurity as a pillar of national security, just like border defense. This requires better technology, smarter laws, and stronger regional ties. The digital threats of 2026 are fast and complex. To meet them, South Asia must be faster and more united. The time to build a collective digital shield is now, before the next major crisis occurs.
Yet the strategic costs are real. Reduced engagement in Bangladesh risks ceding influence at a moment when Dhaka is actively diversifying its partnerships. Hesitation over Chabahar weakens India’s leverage in Iran and Central Asia and underscores its vulnerability to US pressure even as it seeks a more multipolar foreign policy. The 2026–27 Budget does not signal a dramatic shift in Indian foreign policy. There is no abandonment of neighbours-first rhetoric or of connectivity-led diplomacy. What it reveals instead is a narrowing circle of feasible economic action.
The ideals of 1971 represent inclusivity, human dignity, and resistance to oppression. Baul and Sufi traditions reject radical views and promote humanism and coexistence. Islam in Bengal arrived largely through Sufis—from Persia, Arabia, and Central Asia—who emphasized spirituality, tolerance, and accommodation. These traditions resonated with local Hindu practices and gave rise to syncretic forms such as Baul philosophy. Rabindranath Tagore and Nazrul Islam embodied this civilizational synthesis.
Bangladesh is almost entirely surrounded by India, with Myanmar forming a smaller eastern frontier. India remains the dominant regional power and Bangladesh’s most consequential neighbor in economic, cultural, and security terms. Any American strategy in Bangladesh that ignores India is inherently flawed. Aligning regionally with Pakistan—a country with which Bangladesh shares a traumatic history—offers Washington no meaningful strategic advantage in Dhaka.
According to Amarnath Motumal, former vice chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), 20 or more Hindu girls are abducted and converted monthly in Pakistan. The number of documented cases of non-Muslim girls being compelled to marry Muslim men and convert to Islam as a result of forced marriage has increased noticeably. Girls are forbidden to contact their families after being forced to convert.
The UAE’s financial muscle and India’s AI talent base can together create an ethically grounded, globally competitive AI ecosystem. This collaboration can become a blueprint for cross-regional partnerships that strengthen innovation, digital sovereignty, and sustainable growth across the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
From a realistic perspective, the prospect of a Pakistan-Bangladesh axis does not herald a serious economic or strategic bloc. Instead, it signals the re-emergence of revisionist politics in South Asia. In seeking to rewrite history and align against India, both countries risk ignoring their own domestic crises.
Bangladesh now stands at a perilous crossroads. Either the nation allows this unelected regime to continue dismantling democratic institutions, silencing dissent, and rewriting history—or its citizens rise to reclaim their rights. Democracy cannot endure without inclusivity
Championing a rules-based maritime order in the Indian Ocean, which Sri Lanka has long called for since its 1971 ‘Indian Ocean Peace Zone’ (IOPZ) proposal and ensuring strict adherence to the provisions of the ‘UN Convention on the Law of the Sea’ (UNCLOS), will reinforce Sri Lanka’s credibility and also encourage cooperative stability in the Indian Ocean.
For Modi, the political cost of appearing to bow to American pressure may be almost as high as the economic cost of resisting it. In the end, the tariffs are not just about commerce. They are a test of whether India can still straddle the fault lines of great-power rivalry—whether the world’s most populous democracy is being forced into the uncomfortable role of choosing sides.
With the Ukraine war and the resulting sanctions making it difficult for Russia to trade with its allies, being barred from using SWIFT or the US dollar, it resulted in Russia resorting to local currencies to trade that resulted in the BRICS currency drawing adverse attention in Washington and gaining global imprtance.
In the end, Yunus may find that his greatest failure is not the scandals that have already emerged, but the corrosion of hope that followed him into office. A nation that once believed it had found a principled steward now sees another operator in the same tired political theater—just with better English and a Nobel medal.
The most probable outcome in Tianjin is what one Indian diplomat called a “tactical pause.” A cooling of tensions, a resumption of some economic and security dialogues, perhaps even a roadmap for regular high-level contact. That would be enough to stabilise the border and signal to Washington that India has options.
India is a responsible nuclear power, the world’s fastest-growing major economy, and a civilisation-state that does not live on borrowed credibility. It has the patience to navigate provocation and the capacity to respond decisively. If Pakistan’s military flirts with Armageddon, India will respond “BrahMostically” with unmatched precision and power.
Whether dominated by China's singular might, led by India's democratic coalition, or governed through shared stewardship, the path Asia takes by 2050 will profoundly influence the global balance of power, ethical governance, and economic prosperity. India's role, whether as counterweight or partner to China, will be critical.
A seminal 2020 study by Das and Talukdar outlines the socio-economic and political consequences of this migration. The authors note that the influx, particularly post-1971, has led to widespread fear among Assamese communities about becoming minorities in their own homeland. Migration has altered landholding patterns, changed linguistic profiles, and generated social unrest.
With the steady return of Chinese tourists as well as expanding trade, China’s growing commercial footprint in Nepal is forcing Kathmandu to search for balance and sustainability in its economic engagement with China. It will also perhaps move India to compete more selectively to secure its commercial presence in the face of a resurgent Chinese involvement.
India should reiterate its strategic autonomy publicly while making clear that it views strong ties with the US as vital. India insists its oil purchases from Russia are driven by economic necessity, not geopolitics, while questioning US-EU hypocrisy on Russia sanctions. Counter Trump's alignment with Pakistan and inflammatory rhetoric by highlighting India’s reliability as a global partner and democratic ally in the Indo‑Pacific.
The unintended winner in this drama may well be China. Not just because Modi plans to travel to Beijing. If the trade standoff continues, Indian exporters—particularly in labor-intensive sectors like textiles, pharmaceuticals, electronics, and jewelry—will lose market share to Chinese and Vietnamese rivals, not to speak of South Asian rivals like Bangladesh and Pakistan, at least on textiles.
