Deforestation in Pakistan is a pressing issue with serious implications for wildlife and ecological balance. Habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict, and ecosystem disruption are already evident, and the situation will worsen without decisive action. While initiatives like large-scale tree planting are a step in the right direction, they must be complemented by strong policies, effective enforcement, and community involvement.
South Asian states prioritise partners who can deliver immediately in times of economic and political uncertainty. Despite expanding economic ties with China, they continue to turn to India for vital supplies like diesel, LPG and crude oil. This is not only about proximity but rather reflects a level of trust built through repeated experience. China, in response to the crisis, chose to restrict exports of refined fuels such as gasoline and diesel to protect its domestic market.
COP30, Viksit Bharat, and SDG 13 cannot be separated into silos of policy. They have to be woven into one coherent climate-development narrative. At COP30, India can exercise credible ambition and obtain enabling mechanisms from international partners. At home, Viksit Bharat has to internalise climate—not as a compulsion, but as the basis for India’s success. SDG 13 is the yardstick by which India’s growth needs to be measured to determine if growth is both sustainable and future-proof.
Macroeconomic stability and fiscal sustainability in South Asia are deeply interconnected and increasingly fragile. While the region continues to grow rapidly, structural weaknesses and external vulnerabilities pose significant risks. Insights from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank highlight that sustaining stability will require improved revenue mobilisation, credible fiscal consolidation, structural economic reforms and reduced exposure to external shocks.
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.
India has many of the core ingredients necessary for AI leadership: A large and growing pool of STEM graduates (over one million annually). Pioneering digital public infrastructure, including Aadhaar, UPI, and CoWIN.Rich linguistic and cultural diversity to train context-sensitive, globally adaptable AI models.
In the light of his calculated avoidance of any media interaction in the last 11 years, it is unlikely that he would be asked what he meant by “personal price”. For a prime minister to say something that serious in such categorical terms requires attention. Conversely, it may just be in keeping with his penchant for political theater to keep his opponents and supporters guessing what he meant.
According to the World Inequality Lab, the top 1% own over 40% of India's total wealth. The starkness of this trend is apparent: a "rising India" for a few, but ongoing deprivation for the majority.
Which is why, the recent attacks on the ancestral homes of Tagore and Satyajit Ray, who are Indian but are also both global icons of Bengali culture, indicate considerable confusion in the thinking that is guiding Bangladesh policy since Hasina fled Dhaka. Has Islam and the Islamic identity subsumed the Bengali identity and culture of Bangladesh?
Bihar's 2025 electoral revision controversy is not only a national alarm bell but reveals how easily democratic process can be exclusionary under the guise of order; how silence can mask erasure. To preserve democracy, India must reimagine governance not as a gatekeeper of rights but as a facilitator of justice; it must transition from exclusionary governance to one rooted in dignity, justice, and participation, as voting is not just a right but recognition.
A hug, even an awkward or forced one, between Modi and any world leader, particularly Trump will have no bearing on his policy however much he continues to refer to both India and the prime minister as his friend. At best, it is a lip-deep expression that so many Indians, both here in America and in India, have treated as an article of faith. It is anything but that.
This client-state relationship is critical for the illusionary perseverance of Pakistani relevance. Pakistan becomes indispensable not because it is reliable, but because it's situationally useful. The US, China, and Gulf states don’t expect consistency, they expect deliverables. As long as Pakistan delivers (or threatens to disrupt), it retains leverage.
Trump’s renewed tariff war may upend the global trade landscape once again, but India is well-positioned to weather the storm. Its strong domestic economic fundamentals, relatively low dependence on merchandise exports for GDP growth, and diversified export base put it at a strategic advantage—particularly over export-heavy rivals like Vietnam and China.
The repressive nature of the Taliban government along with the absence of a credible international enforcement mechanism for human rights have left Afghan women in despair. Publicly rejecting the ICC ruling and lack of enforcement mechanism of such organizations might set an example to other ideologically resistant countries that global norms can be discarded without consequences.
India has extended a $1 billion credit line for Sri Lanka by one year. Given these realities, Sri Lanka’s path to stability must be built in close collaboration with India. This is more than an economic necessity; it is a strategic recalibration. Working with India also brings Sri Lanka closer to meeting U.S. expectations while balancing regional interests.
The recent India-Pakistan conflict, China’s support for the latter, and China’s growing footprints in South Asia – clearly aimed at undercutting India and keeping New Delhi tied down in its immediate neighbourhood -- cannot be overlooked. Recently, China has proposed an alternative to the defunct SAARC organisation Beijing is also trying to build up a China-Bangladesh-Pakistan trilateral.
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.
