Bangladesh has a long experience in facing natural disasters and managing risks and has been utilizing the learning to cope with Covid-19 too, writes Dr Mohammad Rezaul Karim for South Asia Monitor
Even with a strong central government in India, West Bengal is likely to retain strategic importance for Bangladesh due to its geographic proximity, shared cultural identity, and direct influence over key bilateral issues such as river water sharing and border management. While Dhaka must formally prioritise engagement with New Delhi for any binding agreements, the practical success of many policies often depends on West Bengal’s political stance and cooperation.
Institutionalising mandatory constituency-level debates, organised by neutral academic or media institutions, can address this gap. These forums would require candidates to engage directly on employment, infrastructure, welfare delivery, governance performance, and manifesto vision.
By repeatedly threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz — the artery through which a significant portion of the world's energy supply flows — it has shown it is willing to inflict suffering on billions of people across India, China, and Africa simply to extract political leverage. A government willing to hold the world's energy supply hostage today will hold the world's existence hostage tomorrow if given the means to do so.
India stands at a historic crossroads. The older frameworks of left-wing politics and the secular-liberal consensus are gradually receding into history. The nation is moving forward on the pillars of development, identity, and global leadership. This is not a temporary wave but a structural transformation.
Bangladesh has a long experience in facing natural disasters and managing risks and has been utilizing the learning to cope with Covid-19 too, writes Dr Mohammad Rezaul Karim for South Asia Monitor
The path ahead in Sri Lanka will not be easy – for anyone. But the situation – widespread shortages of all essentials including medicines, food and fuel – have left many Sinhalese wondering if they were right in ignoring what tens of thousands of Tamils underwent for long years, writes M R Narayan Swamy for South Asia Monitor
Bangladesh continues to generously host the world’s largest and growing refugee settlement despite the huge burden on economy, food management, limited resources and other circumstances, writes John Rozario for South Asia Monitor
Today, in the 75th year of Independence, both India and Pakistan must honour their 2012 agreement and allow at least the elderly to meet relatives across the divide, writes Tridivesh Singh Maini for South Asia Monitor
Overall, the changes proposed in the country's education system are in tune with the concept of nationalism and culture that sectarian nationalists want to impose on the country, writes Dr Ram Puniyani for South Asia Monitor
Though Russia has agreed to accept spent fuel, it is unclear how safe the procedures for removing it from reactors and transporting it from Bangladesh will be, writes Aashish Kiphayet for South Asia Monitor
To expect that in a possible future armed conflict with a neighbor, India can rely on the Russian army is lunacy. The Russian army itself demonstrated in Ukraine what actually it represents, write Prof (Dr) Vesselin Popovski, Prof Abhinav Mehrotra and Surabhi Bhandari for South Asia Monitor
By using religion and nationalism in tandem, the BJP has taken giant strides forward in the electoral field so much so that its opponents – the so-called secular parties – are at their wit’s end, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
While the number of those who have benefitted from the Art of Living’s trauma relief is some 150,000, a total of 2,000 fighters are claimed to have laid down their weapons in various parts of the world including India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Kosovo, Colombia, Ivory Coast, Iraq and the Philippines after being inspired by the spiritual group, writes M.R. Narayan Swamy for South Asia Monitor
Bangladesh's leaders struggled to protect people's right to vote when they were out of power; in power, they continue their attempts to deprive them of the right to vote, writes Aashish Kiphayet for South Asia Monitor
If only the leaders in both India and Pakistan would listen for once to the voices of young people and the dreamers, and not be swayed by the fanatics, no time can be short enough to make a new beginning, not just for India and Pakistan, but for the two billion people of South Asia, writes Tarun Basu for South Asia Monitor
The reality is that Delhi had forfeited the tactical advantage that the Indian Army had acquired at considerable cost, to ostensibly facilitate the negotiations with China. However, despite multiple rounds of talks, the PLA has not moved back from all the areas that it had intruded into along the LAC, writes Cmde C Uday Bhaskar (retd) for South Asia Monitor
Bangladesh is a miracle story, while Sri Lanka and Pakistan are disaster tales, writes John Rozario for South Asia Monitor
Yameen’s ‘India Out’ campaign is centred on his firm belief that independent of change of governments and leaderships in New Delhi, India was against his becoming president, writes N. Sathiya Moorthy for South Asia Monitor
Even in these dark times, one can see bright rays of communal harmony. One only hopes these trends are encouraged and divisive loudmouths are punished, writes Dr Ram Puniyani for South Asia Monitor