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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Is India heading for a constitutional crisis over CAA?

Nearly all the non-BJP state governments have ruled out implementing the two measures, thereby preparing the battlefield for an unprecedented confrontation which will shake up the federal polity, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor

Cracking down on student protests augurs ill for Indian democracy

The dissent by young India is being cast as a diabolical anti-national act, even while many of the leaders in the BJP led government cut their teeth in politics during their student days, writes C Uday Bhaskar for South Asia Monitor 

On CAA, India has scored a self-goal with friendly neighbours

Can India challenge the sovereignty of other nations and think of living peacefully with them, asks Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor  

Soleimani’s killing and regional implications: Will the winners be China, Pakistan?

US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo spoke to Pakistani army chief Qamar J Bajwa on January 3, immediately after Soleimani’s killing, seeking Pakistani support, writes Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor

Assam: Betrayed by politicians, united strongly in anti-CAA protest

The issue of illegal immigrants, from Bangladesh to be precise, is, therefore, an old wound for the Assamese people. For someone familiar with the geography of the state, the changing demography is hard to miss, writes Azera Parveen Rahman for South Asia Monitor

Attack on Sikh shrine exposes Pakistan’s disdain for minorities

The 'deep state' and the Imran Khan government should care about the pitiable condition of minorities in their own country instead of worrying about Muslim and Sikh minorities in India, writes Jai Kumar Verma for South Asia Monitor

CAA has hurt India’s foreign policy and global image

The lack of homework by the Modi government on the adverse implications of the CAA is now clearly visible both domestically and internationally, writes Alakh Ranjan for South Asia Monitor

The Rajapaksas return in Sri Lanka: Should India be worried?

Sri Lanka is at the centre of the IOR and the country which will have greater stakes and leverage over this island nation will have an edge in the Indian Ocean, writes Alakh Ranjan for South Asia Monitor

Needed political will to solve Delhi's pollution crisis

There are enough existing solutions to alleviate air pollution which is a result of a waste-disposal problem.  However, there is a need to have political and administrative will to implement them, writes Anil Rajvanshi for South Asia Monitor

India and Bhutan explore new areas of engagement

India understands the needs of Bhutan and is equally willing to diversify the relationship beyond hydropower. During his last visit, Modi showed India’s intent towards the diversification of bilateral relations, writes Alakh Ranjan for South Asia Monitor

Policy lessons from Mahatma Gandhi: Decentralised development and sustainable living

Gandhi was an engineer at heart. He improvised and built equipment like better snake-catching tools, small cotton-spinning wheel (takli) and chappals (sandals) from used tires. In 1929, he even instituted an INR one lakh prize (INR 20 crores in today’s value; 2.6 times bigger than the Nobel Prize) for the design of a modern charkha (spinning wheel), writes  Anil K Rajvanshi for South Asia Monitor

The Afghan deadlock: Was it a Trump subterfuge or a secret understanding?

Trump realized that the draft deal, if signed, would be labeled a surrender to the Taliban, which would be politically damaging for him. Another reason could be that he never really wanted to meet the Taliban, but wanted to showcase the peace efforts made, and place indirect pressure on them through the subterfuge writes Lt Gen PC Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor

Quietly, India crafts a new strategic partnership with Africa

With India's growing political and strategic interest in the continent, and inclination to leverage its diaspora as an instrument of soft power, it’s natural for New Delhi to establish a beachhead in Somalia, that straddles the Horn of Africa,  the source of the Nile and a gate to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, through which tens of thousands of vessels pass through Somali waters every year in what is one of the world’s busiest sea-trading lanes, writes Tarun Basu for South Asia Monitor

Trump cancelling Taliban pact brings relief to world capitals, including Delhi

Delhi has not yet made an official statement, but legitimizing the Taliban at a Camp David ceremony would  have had an adverse impact on India’s strategic interests in the region, writes C Uday Bhaskar for South Asia Monitor

Putting NRC in perspective: Assam is not communal, has never been

For an outsider, the NRC process has come to be perceived as anti-Muslim. This is drawing the line along religious identity—a factor to which the indigenous Assamese Muslim community does not agree, but whose voice has been largely ignored in this massive debate, writes Azera Parveen Rahman for South Asia Monitor