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.
The time has come to reject the mythology of civilizational war. It is time to reclaim the principles of sovereignty, multilateralism, and international cooperation. And it is time to imagine and construct a new security architecture for the Muslim world
Had these events occurred during Sheikh Hasina’s tenure, Dhaka would likely have expressed solidarity with India and endorsed its right to self-defense. The current posture highlights a broader strategic shift under the interim leadership, raising questions about the future trajectory of India-Bangladesh security cooperation.
The very name ‘Himalaya’ comes from two Sanskrit words Hima (snow) and Alaya (abode), a classical language of South Asia. The term 'Himalayasia'—comprising two names Himalaya and South Asia—does not privilege any one nation and is free from colonial discourse; it centers on a natural feature that has shaped the region’s ecology, mythology, and philosophy for millennia.
While carbon taxes are a key instrument in the climate policy toolkit, their limitations in the face of inelastic demand and global regulatory fragmentation suggest that complementary measures are essential. Subsidies for clean energy and research offer substantial emissions reductions while encouraging innovation and preserving economic competitiveness.
Cricket—especially the IPL—is a multi-billion-rupee industry. In 2023 alone, IPL revenue touched Rs.11,770 crores, with the BCCI posting a surplus of Rs.5,120 crores. Over three years, its cumulative profits crossed ₹15,000 crores. And yet, the world’s richest sports body pays no tax—shielded by a “charitable” status. In stark contrast, research labs and educational institutions are taxed.
India’s Pakistan Conundrum is a comprehensive and somewhat concrete account of the dynamics of the power and politics in Pakistan. Though one can differ with various minor details, one must remember that the author is a diplomat, a civil servant from India, so the burden of resolving theoretical riddles is not his to carry. However, what he must be applauded for is acknowledging Pakistan's problems
The twin crises of South Asia and the Middle East in 2025 reflect a dangerous transformation of global order from a managed, rules-based system to an increasingly fragmented and militarized world. The absence of consistent international norms, selective diplomacy, and double standards by great powers are undermining peace efforts and pushing humanity closer to irreversible confrontation.
But this declaration will never be signed. The actual G7 communiqué will likely promise "managed decline" disguised as "leadership"—words drafted in servitude to the oil beneath Alberta’s soil, not in the spirit of its majestic mountains.
The Middle East’s volatility is not an outlier—it’s a feature of the emerging global order. India’s challenge is to anticipate these tectonic shifts and act with strategic foresight, not just tactical response. Energy security, export competitiveness, and supply chain resilience must now be treated as interlinked pillars of national power. Failing to adapt could make India a casualty of distant wars.
The absence of any form of engagement with Pakistan other than military has narrowed India’s options substantially. As a sovereign state, Pakistan cannot be seen to nor will it bow to coercive tactics. The current Indian establishment’s perennially punitive approach to Pakistan and efforts to humiliate it as an object of domestic ridicule has not yielded any dividends.
For India, this summit offers a dual opportunity. First, to shape a more inclusive multilateralism; one that amplifies the Global South’s priorities on energy, security, and digital equity. Second, to rebuild strained ties with Canada, a relationship marred by recent tensions but too strategically important to neglect.
So if another terror attack happens, will India launch another deep-strike operation with all the attendant risks of escalation? And how long can the tit-for-tat actions continue with the loss of soldiers and civilian lives and homes and attendant costs of military armoury and infrastructure destruction at a time when economic growth and dwindling jobs need all the attention?
The broader picture is clear: drones have dramatically shifted the cost calculus of modern warfare. As analysts have noted, $10,000 drones are now routinely met with $2 million missiles. Only a country capable of producing its own unmanned systems, and adjusting its tactics in real time, can maintain strategic credibility under such conditions.
Bangladesh’s 2024 crisis has significantly strained civil-military relations. The military’s instrumental role in ousting Hasina and installing the interim government has amplified concerns of a deepening praetorian drift. As Yunus’s control weakens amid economic turmoil, law-and-order issues, and geopolitical friction, the military appears increasingly assertive—opposing civilian initiatives and resisting reforms.
The recent clash between Pakistan and India after the Pahalgam attack on April 22 has created concerns in Kabul over Afghanistan’s trade flow. Abdul Latif Nazari, a Taliban deputy minister of economy, emphasized, “Tensions in India-Pakistan relations negatively impact Afghanistan’s economic situation".
