In the larger South Asia context, air pollution does not follow national boundaries and therefore the solutions for all the airsheds cannot come from any one city or a country. The countries in South Asia – India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan - that share a common airshed are impacted by the transboundary pollution. More than half of the air pollution across major cities in South Asia is not local but transboundary in nature.
Regional bodies like the SAARC, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, have the potential to foster cooperation on climate adaptation, disaster preparedness, and trans-border pollution control. However, geopolitical tensions, particularly between India and Pakistan, hinder progress.
In the years gone by, India was defined by its religious and cultural strengths, but it has now taken Prime Minister Modi, with a new initiative, to give a boost to India-Caribbean ties through a purely development agenda. It is hoped that CARICOM would set up the mechanisms to get this agenda going. Is it that India is now showing its readiness to take on American and Chinese frontiers aimed at becoming a leader of the Global South if not a world power?
While the South Asian states securitize, local politics has often scapegoated refugee populations, turning majority insecurities into electoral capital – a fear that refugees’ encroachment on physical and political spaces, jobs, land, corner welfare resources meted out by the state and place undue pressures on infrastructure; acase in point the rhetoric against Bangladeshi migrants in India.
However, religion, domestic compulsions and failure to improve political conditions, with or without national elections, have embroiled Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, all compounded by economic woes, in issues that impinge on their national identity.
In a way, Sri Lanka's economic crisis has served as a blessing in disguise, bringing India and Sri Lanka closer as South Asian neighbors. However, India remains concerned about security in the Indian Ocean, where China has been actively expanding its influence.
For Afghans to find their own solutions they need an engaged international community inside Afghanistan. The more isolated they become the more possible it is for the most regressive among the Taliban – which it must be said is not a monolith – to impose tighter and tighter controls, which is what is currently happening.
Then there is the thorny issue of "Lar o Bar," a nationalist idea that has long existed on the fringes of Pashtun politics. The phrase, literally meaning "here and there," reflects the dream of uniting Pashtuns on both sides of the Durand Line, the border drawn between Pakistan and Afghanistan during British rule. While the notion might resonate with cultural pride, it’s a direct threat to Pakistan’s territorial integrity.
India has made strides in creating a legal framework that supports the rights of individuals with disabilities, but their full inclusion is still a distant goal. The integration of sensory and speech-impaired individuals into the workforce requires a multi-faceted approach beyond vocational training that includes accessible infrastructure, employer sensitization, and use of assistive technologies.
The hope for a better and more sustainable future now lies, first with the youth in the ages of 18-25, studying in the universities and higher education institutes. These youth would be the young decision-makers by 2030. That year would see the end of SDGs and expected to halve the GHGs emissions. By 2050, the youth of today would be at the helm of the affairs in business and government.
The region and the world should reconsider their policies toward Afghanistan and the Taliban. They must assist the Afghanistan people in forming a legitimate government and establish professional security forces. The Taliban are not a trustworthy partner in the fight against terrorism.
In the bustling city of Karachi, solar panels are becoming a common sight. Pakistan is investing heavily in renewable energy, aiming to generate 30% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030
It is a fact that Pakistan's obsession with military power without attending to the roots of political exclusion and economic disparity has left its vulnerable masses base to the extremes.
Most analysts agree that there is no clear-cut winner and the race to the presidency is a multiple-horse race
What sets these protests apart was their apolitical nature, illustrating that regardless of how firmly a government may seem entrenched in power, movements grounded in just causes can expose the vulnerability of even the most resilient regimes, as recent events have clearly shown.
Cross-border arms and drug trafficking has always been there in the region, with recent reports suggesting large quantities of guns being shipped to Manipur from an illicit market located close to the border between China and Myanmar. Drugs are being used by the insurgent group to finance their procurement of arms and fund other illicit activities.
The Brussels-based think tank Egmont Institute, in a policy brief in April, said individual EU member States attach a lot of importance to their bilateral relationship with New Delhi and are interacting with the Indian government at the highest level. “However, visits of the leaders of the EU institutions to India are rare. One fails to see a real political interest in India from the Commission President and from the President of the European Council.”
China, Pakistan and Russia have clearly and unequivocally declared that they will exercise ‘FIRST USE OF NUKES’ option under certain circumstances. For China and Pakistan, India is the target. Yet our Chief of Defence Staff and premier think tank viz Centre for Air Power Studies, IDSA, USI and many others continue to ‘sing’ the outdated NFU policy.
The recurrent border killings have been a source of tension between India and Bangladesh. The government of Bangladesh has consistently urged India to implement non-lethal measures and exercise restraint in border management. In response, India has underscored the challenge of securing a frontier that is both expansive and permeable while also committing to reducing the use of lethal force.
