With shared concerns over Chinese hegemony, the time is right for a closer engagement between New Delhi and Canberra, writes Amit Dasgupta for South Asia Monitor
Neither Bangladesh nor India — including West Bengal — is likely to fully concede its position. The future instead lies in pragmatic compromise, where domestic political constraints are balanced against the imperatives of regional cooperation. Ultimately, the trajectory of India–Bangladesh relations will depend less on identity politics and more on whether both sides can align economic necessity with political will.
The broader reality is that even if a political understanding emerges, restoring confidence in the Strait may take far longer than restoring a ceasefire. Shipping markets operate as much on perception of risk as on military realities. Tanker operators, insurers, charterers, and energy traders require predictability — and that predictability is currently absent.
The days of “benign neglect” of our exchange rate policy are over. Nepal’s macroeconomic fundamentals — record reserves, stable remittance inflows, a gradually diversifying trade base — have quietly put in place the foundation for reform. What is missing is the political will to act on it.
The major bilateral issue is border security and management. While India claims that millions of Bangladeshis enter India illegally, reside and work here, Bangladesh dismisses that contention outright, saying that as their per capita income was higher than India’s, there was no reason for economic migration from Bangladesh to India.
With shared concerns over Chinese hegemony, the time is right for a closer engagement between New Delhi and Canberra, writes Amit Dasgupta for South Asia Monitor
What racism is in the world’s oldest democracy, communalism unfortunately is in its largest version in India. It is no secret that sizeable sections of India’s largest community, the Hindus, are communal, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
After the pandemic, migrant workers, including the semi-skilled and skilled labour and small-scale business people, and private job holders, who are returning from abroad, will form the neo-lower class - a new working class - that will constitute a significant population in Nepal, writes Roshan Chirag for South Asia Monitor
South Asian countries can use ICDS as a blueprint and further formulate their respective policies following a tailored and local approach depending on the domestic factors pertaining to their region, writes Vishwajeet Singh Raghav for South Asia Monitor
It is advisable for the governments - of both Nepal and possibly India - to take a leaf from the UK Coronavirus Act, 2020 which was enacted for defeating COVID-19, writes Jivesh Jha for South Asia Monitor
On this Environment Day, let us commit ourselves to protect the biodiversity, for our own existence, writes Pradeep S. Mehta, George Cheriyan & Simi T. B.for South Asia Monitor
State of the environment today is certainly in a state of emergency. Many would call June 5, 2020, as World Emergency Day. In reality, today environment and emergency have indeed become synonyms, writes Rajendra Shende for South Asia Monitor
This outbreak and the requirements of precautionary measures have emerged as an extra health threat to migrants who work abroad to keep their families well and also to asylum seekers. These people play a crucial role both in the economy of the countries they live in and in their countries of origin too, writes Abdul Alim for South Asia Monitor
There seems to be a strong argument that the singular focus of the stimulus package should have been a fiscal stimulus, which would have increased public spending in physical or human capital, raised money in the hands of residents by direct cash transfers and subsidies and provided safety nets like job guarantee and unemployment benefits, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor
Leaders of the BNP and Jamat-E-Islami are thinking that the corona pandemic will totally change the political situation in the country and will help them seize power once again, writes Swadesh Roy for South Asia Monitor
With India–China military tensions already high in parts of eastern Ladakh, the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha dam will add to new security challenges for India, writes Nilova Roy Chaudhury for South Asia Monitor
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