The Aiyar-Tharoor exchange has at least offered something rare in contemporary Indian politics: disagreement expressed in elegant prose rather than television shouting, screaming and even fistfights. In an age dominated by hashtags, studio debates and instant outrage, two politicians exchanging carefully argued letters feels almost like a throwback to a more civilised era. If Indian politics produced more such literary duels, readers/viewers might even begin to look forward to disagreements.
Bangladesh stands at a decisive moment. The July Charter challenges the entrenched dominance that has defined its post-1991 political order. Whether it is implemented, diluted, or quietly sidelined will determine not only the balance of power among parties, but also the credibility of reformist politics in the country’s democratic future. If the BNP continues to delay or dilute implementation, and if tacit understandings emerge between the country’s two dominant parties, the reformist aspirations of the July movement may gradually lose momentum.
Social scientists argue that witch-hunting is a complex social phenomenon rooted not merely in superstition but in structural inequalities. Scholars studying rural India, including Surinder Jodhka, note that accusations of witchcraft often intersect with caste conflict, gender discrimination, and disputes over property or land. Elderly women, widows, and socially marginalized individuals frequently become easy targets because they lack protection within local power structures.
At the iftar gathering, attended by civil society members, ministers, bureaucrats and other distinguished guests, High Commissioner Verma emphasised the shared aspirations of Bangladesh and India. He stated that both nations stand at the threshold of a promising future as two vibrant and forward-looking societies. The event served as a platform to strengthen people-to-people connections and diplomatic goodwill between the two neighbours. By bringing together influential members of Bangladeshi society, the gathering reflected a clear intention to foster deeper engagement
The Pakistan incident against Chinese workers is all the more worrying as Chinese personnel and technicians are working on various projects not only in Pakistan, but in other South Asian countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, as well as many African nations, writes N S Venkataram for South Asia Monitor
Better connectivity in this region would facilitate the establishment of trade linkages with other regions through platforms such as the BIMSTEC, SAARC, and ASEAN, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor
For Sher Bahadur Deuba’s government, the acid test of preserving Nepal’s core interests and increasing its bargaining capacity vis-à-vis India and China will depend on how the Nepalese leadership responds to the emerging geopolitical and geoeconomic imperatives in the region, writes Zahoor Ahmad Dar for South Asia Monitor
Given Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean, China has developed huge stakes in the island nation, writes N. Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
Fifty years after its liberation from Pakistan, Bangladesh is the reverse image of the country it broke away from -- a moderate Muslim majority nation anchored in its liberal syncretic Bengali culture that guided its 1971 secession from Pakistan, writes Subir Bhaumik for South Asia Monitor
In stark contrast with Pakistan, which relied on hard power tools to pursue its foreign policy goals in Afghanistan, India opted for the soft power strategy --winning hearts and minds of Afghans by investing in common people through culture, building state capacities, and training and educating a new young professional Afghan class, writes Shraddha Nand Bhatnagar for South Asia Monitor
Collectively the peacebuilders, physicians and public-health activists from across South Asia noted that inequity is the key challenge and asked their governments to address it properly so that the lessons of the past year are not forgotten, writes Rida Anwar for South Asia Monitor
In Zoramthamga, a former rebel leader and now chief minister of India's northeastern state of Mizoram, India has a potential mediator who has close links with all stakeholders in Myanmar, including the Tatmadaw and Aung Saan Suu Kyi's NLD, writes Subir Bhaumik for South Asia Monitor
The upheaval in Nepalese politics over the past few months has occurred following a power tussle within the ruling Communist-led dispensation despite the best efforts of Hou Yanqi, China’s ambassador to Nepal since 2018 to resolve it, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (Retd) for South Asia Monitor
Unlike the US, vaccine hesitancy among large sections of the population is not an issue in India, but production is, writes Frank F. Islam for South Asia Monitor
Labor economists and various surveys have said the pandemic and consequent job and income losses have pushed tens of millions of Indians into poverty in the last few months, writes Vaibhavi Pingale for South Asia Monitor
I believe that as an Afghan and as a youth, after the full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, no pretext and justification will exist for the Taliban to continue the war - the jihad against a foreign power, writes Bator Arsalan for South Asia Monitor
The least India can do is to let the Tibetan community in India select a new Dalai Lama; if there are two Dalai Lamas (one selected in India and one in China), New Delhi should have nothing to do with the Beijing-backed Dalai Lama, writes M.R. Narayan Swamy for South Asia Monitor
Amid pervasive expansion of Chinese influence in Myanmar, New Delhi doesn’t want to give further space to Beijing and feels the best option is to remain silent on the Myanmar military’s actions, writes Pema Tseten Lachungpa for South Asia Monitor
Police brutality in India is a form of institutional violence as it is closely connected with law enforcement and torture is perceived as an expeditious method of policing, writes Rahul Machaiah for South Asia Monitor
