PM Modi at India-North Europe summit recently at Gothenburg

Between the Melody Moment and the Hard Work Ahead: Modi's Europe Tour Outcome Will Depend on Delivery in Coming Years

India's MSME sector, the backbone of its export economy, remains largely unequipped to navigate European standards and certification requirements. As ABC Live noted, the next stage will be tougher than negotiation: India must now prove that its exporters, MSMEs, regulators, ports, testing labs, and state governments can actually use the agreement. A framework signed in Gothenburg means nothing to a textile exporter in Tiruppur who cannot get a product certified to EU standards.

Why India and Pakistan Must Move From Rivalry to Responsibility: In Fragmenting Global Order, South Asia Cannot Afford Internal Paralysis

The central lesson is simple: unresolved India-Pakistan hostility weakens South Asia from within. It prevents trade, blocks institutions, raises nuclear risk, politicizes water, militarizes borders, and diverts attention from human development. Both countries will continue to disagree on major issues. But disagreement does not require permanent hostility. Strategic maturity means building rules to manage conflict before conflict manages the region.

The Race for Strategic Minerals: South Asia's Geopolitical Moment

The Quad's Critical Minerals Initiative provides an important platform for achieving these objectives. Through coordinated investments, technology sharing and supply-chain diversification, the initiative seeks to create resilient and transparent mineral supply networks. Australia contributes abundant mineral reserves, Japan offers advanced processing technologies, the United States brings investment and innovation capabilities, while India provides a rapidly expanding market and growing manufacturing base.

Ganga Water Treaty Renewal: A National Priority for Bangladesh, a Strategic Opportunity for India

Renewing the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty could also serve as an important confidence-building measure between Bangladesh and India. A renewed agreement would help restore mutual trust and strengthen regional cooperation over shared water resources. It would further reinforce the role of the Joint Rivers Commission (JRC), which remains a key institutional mechanism for addressing transboundary river issues.

More on Geopolitics and Strategic Affairs

‘Himalayasia’: Reimagining South Asia beyond Mistrust and Division

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.

Global Carbon Tax Lessons for South Asia’s Green Transition

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.

Bengaluru Cricket Stampede: A Mirror To Our Misplaced Priorities

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.

When Hate Overpowers Reason: Managing The Complex India-Pakistan Relationship

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

Unprecedented Global Tensions in 2025: Credibility Of Global Order At Stake

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.

The Kananaskis Declaration That the G7 Will Never Write: A Summit of Ironies Amidst Burning Forests

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.

Middle East On The Brink: What India Must Do to Shield Its Economy

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.

Op Sindoor: Were India's Strategic Objectives Fulfilled?

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.

50 years of G7: Multilateralism in need of renewal

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. 

A Month After Op Sindoor: More Questions Than Answers

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?

Drones Over the Subcontinent: India’s New Strategic Edge

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. 

Is Bangladesh slipping toward a praetorian state?

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.

Pakistan’s Dwindling Foothold In Afghanistan Market: Need To Restore Trust Between Islamabad And Kabul

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". 

Eco-Theater in South Asia: The Real Cost of Greenwashing

The climate crisis isn’t waiting. In South Asia, it’s already arrived — in the form of droughts, deadly heat waves, and flash floods. These are not future risks. They’re happening now. And for communities facing those impacts, a corporation’s sustainability page doesn’t count for much. This region deserves better than slogans. It deserves action that doesn’t just sound good but does good — for the air, for the water, and for the people whose lives are tied to both.

Cyber Violence Is Silencing Women in Bangladesh

One high-profile case involving a Bangladeshi actress made this painfully clear. When private videos of her were leaked by a former fiance, the fallout was swift—but not for the man who betrayed her. The scrutiny, the mockery, the moral judgment—it all landed squarely on her shoulders. The technology was modern; the public reaction was anything but.