The encampments in Cox's Bazar have metamorphosed into hotbeds of militant activities, underpinned by the infusion of funds from the Middle East, Pakistan, and other nations, which are cynically utilized to perpetrate a nexus of militancy within these precincts.
The revival of trade relations with old friend Russia is the turning point in India’s oil dependency on the Arab world. This has strengthened India’s resilience to oil shock to a considerable extent.
All in all, the issues on the agenda are very different from the issues that the BJP thought would be on the agenda. The finals could go down to the wire and there will be many lessons learned once the votes are counted and the results are declared.
India, which found itself quite behind the curve like the US in gauging the rapidly changing political dynamics, first shut down its consulates and then its embassy just as the Afghan Republic collapsed on August 15, 2021. But once it realised it would be foolhardy to expect the revival of the Republic, it tacitly started mending fences with the Taliban, sending what it called a "technical team" to Kabul, resumed humanitarian aid, and discontinued diplomatic support to the embassy in New Delhi that was in the hands of representatives of the ousted Ghani government
A mix of Indo-Pakistani enmity and a twisted, politically motivated interpretation of the subcontinent’s past, have helped the BJP to depict the Muslims as demons against whom the Hindus have to wage a relentless battle, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
Domestically and in the neighbourhood, too, India’s ban only creates fresh uncertainties despite the government’s assurance that government-to- government contracts will be honoured, writes N. Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
Bangladesh has a long experience in facing natural disasters and managing risks and has been utilizing the learning to cope with Covid-19 too, writes Dr Mohammad Rezaul Karim for South Asia Monitor
The path ahead in Sri Lanka will not be easy – for anyone. But the situation – widespread shortages of all essentials including medicines, food and fuel – have left many Sinhalese wondering if they were right in ignoring what tens of thousands of Tamils underwent for long years, writes M R Narayan Swamy for South Asia Monitor
Bangladesh continues to generously host the world’s largest and growing refugee settlement despite the huge burden on economy, food management, limited resources and other circumstances, writes John Rozario for South Asia Monitor
Today, in the 75th year of Independence, both India and Pakistan must honour their 2012 agreement and allow at least the elderly to meet relatives across the divide, writes Tridivesh Singh Maini for South Asia Monitor
Overall, the changes proposed in the country's education system are in tune with the concept of nationalism and culture that sectarian nationalists want to impose on the country, writes Dr Ram Puniyani for South Asia Monitor
Though Russia has agreed to accept spent fuel, it is unclear how safe the procedures for removing it from reactors and transporting it from Bangladesh will be, writes Aashish Kiphayet for South Asia Monitor
To expect that in a possible future armed conflict with a neighbor, India can rely on the Russian army is lunacy. The Russian army itself demonstrated in Ukraine what actually it represents, write Prof (Dr) Vesselin Popovski, Prof Abhinav Mehrotra and Surabhi Bhandari for South Asia Monitor
By using religion and nationalism in tandem, the BJP has taken giant strides forward in the electoral field so much so that its opponents – the so-called secular parties – are at their wit’s end, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
While the number of those who have benefitted from the Art of Living’s trauma relief is some 150,000, a total of 2,000 fighters are claimed to have laid down their weapons in various parts of the world including India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Kosovo, Colombia, Ivory Coast, Iraq and the Philippines after being inspired by the spiritual group, writes M.R. Narayan Swamy for South Asia Monitor
Bangladesh's leaders struggled to protect people's right to vote when they were out of power; in power, they continue their attempts to deprive them of the right to vote, writes Aashish Kiphayet for South Asia Monitor
If only the leaders in both India and Pakistan would listen for once to the voices of young people and the dreamers, and not be swayed by the fanatics, no time can be short enough to make a new beginning, not just for India and Pakistan, but for the two billion people of South Asia, writes Tarun Basu for South Asia Monitor
The reality is that Delhi had forfeited the tactical advantage that the Indian Army had acquired at considerable cost, to ostensibly facilitate the negotiations with China. However, despite multiple rounds of talks, the PLA has not moved back from all the areas that it had intruded into along the LAC, writes Cmde C Uday Bhaskar (retd) for South Asia Monitor
Bangladesh is a miracle story, while Sri Lanka and Pakistan are disaster tales, writes John Rozario for South Asia Monitor
