While Washington and New Delhi seek to strengthen bilateral ties with Colombo, Beijing has strategically engaged with the political forces that control the government. By engaging directly with actors at the core of Sri Lanka’s governance, Beijing appears to be signalling its strategic intent—projecting influence and reinforcing ideological ties.
Some analysts accuse the EU of double-standards arguing that the EU has been condemning Taliban policies since they assumed power, but were now holding direct discussions with them. Such meetings undermine the EU's credibility as a defender of human rights and democratic values.
Despite the narrative of the Pakistani state, Mahrang Baloch’s international recognition grew through 2024. Time magazine included her in its TIME100 Next list of emerging influential figures, citing her advocacy against enforced disappearances while the BBC named her to its 100 Women list.
Great powers realise the strategic value of small island states - refuelling facilities, logistics hubs, electronic listening posts, maritime surveillance nodes, diplomatic partnerships and access to vast EEZs. Their influence derives more from geographic position and political choice than from demographic size. Seychelles exemplifies this reality.
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
On April 23, 2020, in a virtual conference ‘Enhancing regional cooperation in South Asia to combat COVID-19 related impact on its economics’ organized by the World Economic Forum, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina placed five-point proposals to combat this global crisis with collective responsibility and partnership from every society, writes Dr. Mohammad Tarikul Islam for South Asia Monitor
The Kalapani issue first came into prominence in 1997 when the Indian and Chinese governments came to an agreement to open a route for the annual Kailash-Mansarovar yatra through Lipulekh pass. Nepal objected to the use of Lipulekh, writes Shubha Singh for South Asia Monitor
Bihar is the poorest state of the country in per capita terms. Can it find the enormous resources required to fight the virus and its impact on the economy? writes Gulrez Hoda for South Asia Monitor
The row between the two nations heated up when Nepal’s Communist Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli on May 20 vowed before the country’s Parliament to reclaim the three “disputed areas” from New Delhi., writes Kavita Bajeli-Datt for South Asia Monitor
South Asia is home to over 1.8 billion people and houses half of the world’s impoverished communities, writes Aashish Kiphayet for South Asia Monitor
Honour killing has been part of social traditions in Pakistan’s deeply conservative tribal society, but not confined to it. Killings have been reported in Lahore, Karachi and other places as well, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
There is a need for a radical attitudinal change in governance and also among Malayalees. Skilling graduates, who are mostly unemployable, should be top priority, writes K S Nayar for South Asia Monitor
The shift in the approach towards terrorism is mildly indicative of India's assertive and uncompromising stance in dealing with terrorism, writes Jay Maniyar for South Asia Monitor
India’s political establishment seems to have utterly failed to appreciate the need for self-sufficiency in military hardware. Consequently, no roadmap or grand strategy has ever been drawn up, for attaining autonomy in defence-production, writes Admiral Arun Prakash (retd) for South Asia Monitor
