Representational Photo

Transnational Jihadist Chains And The Pakistani-Turkish Links: Red Flags For South Asian And Regional Security

Investigations by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Delhi Police in the recent Delhi bombing have indicated the plausibility of a transnational chain of coordination, linking operatives in India with handlers abroad, including individuals based in Turkey. NIA investigations identified a handler, codenamed 'Ukasa', reportedly located in Ankara, Turkey. Travel records confirmed several accused in the case of having visited Turkey between August and September 2022, where they reportedly met Syrian operatives while communicating with Pakistan-linked handlers.

Saffron Shades in Olive Green: The Risks of Politicizing India’s Armed Forces

This is not an argument against the personal faith of soldiers, nor a denial of the cultural identity of the majority. It is an argument for institutional restraint, for secular professionalism, and for recognizing that the military must represent all Indians, not only the largest community or the ruling party’s ideological core.

The Dawn of AI Deepfakes in 5th Generation Warfare: Need For Regional Framework To Counter Sinister Threat

On the evening of 10th November, a car exploded near Delhi’s Red Fort which took the lives of 13 people. Within the next six hours of the explosion, a confessional video in perfect Hindi language from Jaish-e-Muhammad starts circulating on WhatsApp and national television in India. In the next 12 hours the video had been seen by 40 million people. But what made it  intriguing was that within 24 hours many of the AI detection tools marked the video 99.9% synthetic

Transnational Jihadist Collaboration: ISI–LeT Nexus Threatening India, Reconfiguring Terror Landscape Across South Asia

The ISI–LeT nexus remains the most destabilizing factor in South Asia’s security architecture. With Pakistan actively leveraging its ideological networks in Bangladesh, the region faces the prospect of a renewed wave of cross-border terrorism. The alignment of extremist elements across Pakistan and Bangladesh not only threatens India’s national security but also endangers the stability of the entire subcontinent.

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With laws, more social awareness needed to curb child pornography in South Asia

We have strict laws but it is quite difficult to control child pornography based on only laws. We must create social awareness to stop this horrific crime, writes Monira Nazmi Jahan for South Asia Monitor

India’s challenged foreign policy: Diplomatic missteps and domestic mismanagement

The domestic turmoil at the moment is not only reshaping the country’s foreign policy but also causing an inordinate impact on the trajectory of India’s international affairs, write Muhsin & Mufsin Puthan Purayil for South Asia Monitor

India, US need to realign tech relationship to meet rapidly changing global order

Now with the world increasingly getting caught in a spreading viral infection, and the US political theatre getting embroiled in approaching elections, the India-US agreement on trade doesn’t seem likely to happen before 2021, writes Kumardeep Banerjee for South Asia Monitor

Whither police reforms? Law enforcement may be failing Indian democracy

The current pattern of law enforcement in India dilutes the claim to be a  robust and equitable democracy and  the hapless citizen pays a heavy price, writes C Uday Bhaskar for South Asia Monitor

Modi's cancelled visit: Coronavirus saves the blushes for Delhi, Dhaka

The moment of relief for both sides, as it were, stems from the unstated, but nevertheless evident situation whereby Modi could have faced hostile protests in Dhaka that the Hasina regime was preparing meticulously to avoid, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor

Covid-19 turning point for globalisation, a challenge for India

While China may re-emerge from the crisis slightly weakened, the consequences can be devastating for countries like India, which missed out on most of the benefits of rapid globalisation and do not have the capital accumulation, unless they can reinvent themselves, writes Arul Louis for South Asia Monitor

Coronavirus helping save Modi government foreign policy blushes?

In the face of such sustained criticism, to which its foreign office is very unaccustomed, it is clear that India’s domestic politics are now placing India’s global ambitions at grave risk, writes Nilova Roy Chaudhury for South Asia Monitor

US, Taliban and the Doha Agreement: Afghan government short-shrifted

It is the agenda going forward that effectively puts a stamp over what the US assumes would be a Taliban-led, if not outright, Taliban government in Afghanistan, writes Shakti Sinha for South Asia Monitor

South Asia needs to reclaim its cultural ethos, revive SAARC

Although BIMSTEC has been gaining momentum in the recent past, it cannot be an alternative to SAARC, as it involves all the players in the region, including Pakistan, writes Samudrala VK for South Asia Monitor

Russia, India, China should cooperate to lead the Asian century

RIC, a troika of the three Eurasian powers, can work extensively on issues like counter-terrorism, transnational organised crime, illicit drug trafficking and climate change, writes Samudrala VK for South Asia Monitor

The Taliban, and Pakistan, have caught Trump in a duplicitous bind

What constituency Pakistan has in Capitol Hill is not known, but in putting up this deal, Pakistan has played its double game to the hilt, capitalizing on Trump’s pre-election promise of ‘bringing the boys home’, writes Lt Gen P C Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor

US-Taliban deal will only boost Trump’s electoral prospects and Pakistani influence

The requirement of a seven-day ‘reduction in violence’ for signing the deal was a joke that demonstrated abject surrender to the Taliban, writes Lt Gen PC Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor

For Trump facing re-election India was the 51st US state!

If the adulation of Trump and the rally made it seem like India was the 51st state in Trump's re-election campaign, it may be because Modi bets on the re-election of a tough, right-wing hardliner with whom he shares some characteristics, writes Arul Louis for South Asia Monitor

To ‘Act East’ effectively requires India to ‘Learn East’

In order to effectively “Act East” we must first try to “Learn East” once again to rediscover the opportunities for prosperity that lie therein, writes By Amb Sarva Chakravarti (retd) for South Asia Monitor

A Bollywood film that got Trump's attention and sends out a social message

The LGBT issue is far from gaining social acceptability in a diverse and conservative society that India and much of South Asia is. But things are changing, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor