ASEAN-Russia Summit in Kazan

Russia’s Bid for a Larger Asian Role; Will Be Closely Watched by Beijing

Russia wants to use the Far East to diversify away from the West, but it risks becoming excessively dependent on China. That is why Southeast Asia, India, Japan and other Asian partners matter to Moscow as they provide Russia with a wider Asian field and fallback and reduces the risk that Russia’s entire eastern pivot becomes a one-way dependence on Beijing.
 

The Architecture of Disruption: Structural Parallels Between Indira Gandhi and Donald Trump

For democracies under pressure, the lesson is sobering. Institutions do not only collapse when attacked from outside; they can also be hollowed out from within by leaders who master the language of mass appeal better than the language of internal restraint. 

Bangladesh's Bid to Clear a US-Wanted Terror Fugitive Raises Troubling Questions

Although the Yunus administration was replaced by an elected government in February 2026, the influence of Islamist groups, jihadist organizations, and religious extremists has reportedly remained largely unchanged. As a result, several prominent leaders of Islamist organizations and militant groups continue to gain strength.

81 Years After Hiroshima: Don't Normalize the Unthinkable

August 6 is not a day for ceremonies alone. It is a day to remember why restraint was carefully created in the first place  and to  prevent another Hiroshima - Nagasaki. A third devastation, deliberate or accidental will  take less than 43 seconds.

More on Geopolitics, Security and Strategic Affairs

Muslims in India: A minister indulges in smoke and mirrors

Irrespective of whether they succeed in convincing the foreigners, the reactions in India to the minister’s assertion will range from amusement to derision, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor

Policy priorities: rice for ethanol or hungry stomachs?

This abundant food-in-the-granary exigency will unfold even as a large number of Indians are grappling with hunger pangs and are  stuck in varying degrees of deprivation, writes C Uday Bhaskar for South Asia Monitor

A questionable agreement: Has Khalilzad betrayed Afghan people by caving into Taliban pressure?

The wider consequences of the agreement between the US and Taliban remain ambiguous, writes Iqbal Dawari for South Asia Monitor

A meaningful gesture to restore trust in frayed India-Bangladesh ties

The Indian government’s decision to pass and enact, in December 2019, the Citizenship Amendment Act, naming Bangladesh as a country where minorities are persecuted, had an extremely negative fallout in that country, writes  Nilova Roy Chaudhury for South Asia Monitor

The COVID-19 fight is the test of Modi’s leadership

India is poised for an all-out war and, like in any war, this is not the time for partisanship. It’s in this scenario that Modi will find himself at a fork in the road, writes E.D. Mathew for South Asia Monitor

Myanmar needs to recognise and accept 'Rohingya identity'; integration with Bangladesh is wishful thinking

Indeed, if anyone is serious about the plight of the Rohingyas and is looking for sustainable solutions to the crisis, then the person ought to put her gaze not on Bangladesh but on Myanmar, writes Imtiaz Ahmed for South Asia Monitor

Need for India to have a sound policy regime: Role of advisers is crucial

When the first COVID-19 case came to public notice in India in January this year, questions in concerned quarters have been raised as to why did it take almost two months to prepare for lockdown and that too with a notice of a few hours to leave many citizens unprepared and more so the migrant and the poor, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor

Post-COVID-19: RSS sees an ascendant India in changed world order

RSS remains quite optimistic about the way the new world order is going to pan out post-COVID-19. It feels that it is the beginning of a new golden era for India, writes Arun Anand for South Asia Monitor

India must relax lockdown in phases; economic activity must resume gradually

The consequence of continuing the lockdown, even under present conditions, could be grave, as the self-employed people like vendors, plumbers, auto drivers, small automobile workshops etc.  as well as  poor senior citizens, visually impaired/differently-abled people, who are millions in number all over the country, would be badly hit, writes N S Venkataraman for South Asia Monitor

Need for collective strategic action by SAARC to survive pandemic

The legitimacy of a regional organization like SAARC and others alike will be uncertain if strategic measures and procedures to control COVID-19 do not work in South Asia, writes   Maj. Gen Binoj Basnyat (retd)  for South Asia Monitor

Hindu-Muslim ties in the time of a pandemic

No one can predict what the trajectory of communal relations will be when it is clear that so much will change in the post-corona period not only with regard to Hindu-Muslim ties, but in every other field that the scene in India will be quite different from what it is today writes Amulya Ganguli for the South Asia Monitor

Right time to usher in reforms in India's Armed Forces

The armed forces, after decades of clamouring, have been accorded a historic opportunity to usher in change and reforms. It is imperative that this opening is utilized with sagacity and deliberate forethought writes  Admiral  Arun Prakash (retd) for the South Asia Monitor

US -Taliban peace deal: Peace for whom?

How much the talk of sharing power with the Taliban is realistic - that raises doubts, as it is impossible for the Taliban to be diverted from their ideology, writes Monira Nazmi Jahan for the South Asia Monitor

Nepal needs to show social solidarity in coronavirus lockdown

We, the people of Nepal should understand that if an unfortunate incident can befall one, it can befall others too. That’s why we all need to stand together, writes Jivesh Jha for the South Asia Monitor

India needs to brace for another lockdown

While the South Korean model of aggressive and maximum testing has proved successful; the world is also studying and appreciating the Indian model wherein a densely and an overpopulated nation with limited resources and a not very advanced health infrastructure has been able to control the exponential spread of the pandemic, writes Brig Anil Gupta for the South Asia Monitor