The judiciary, media, human rights activists and Baloch nationalist parties have almost exhausted their efforts in trying to persuade international institutions to intervene and end the sustained atrocities against the people of Balochistan.
Climate Refugees Are Rising: Is South Asia Prepared for a Looming Climate Disaster?
South Asia is therefore not facing one climate migration crisis. It is facing many at once. Coastal displacement in Bangladesh and the Maldives is different from mountain displacement in Nepal and Bhutan. Flood displacement in Pakistan is different from drought-linked distress in Afghanistan. India contains almost every version of the crisis within one country. Sri Lanka shows how island and hill communities can be hit together. Yet the policy response remains fragmented.
A Mediator That Bleeds: Pakistan's Peacemaking Role is Riven by Contradictions
Pakistan is invited to the world's negotiating table. But a mediator's power is not spoken; it is demonstrated. A nation for whose people fuel is unaffordable, whose businesses are collapsing and whose independence is limited by 75 IMF conditions is not resilient. Until cheap energy is a strategic priority, until industrial decline is halted, until economic independence is restored, Pakistan's peacemaking pretensions will be hollow.
Will West Bengal State Elections Test India-Bangladesh Ties?
Economic ties are significant for both West Bengal and Bangladesh due to cultural linkages and geographic proximity. West Bengal acts as a gateway for Bangladeshis seeking access to medical facilities, education, and business opportunities. Significant trade also takes place through land ports. Hence, the first response of the BNP-led government would likely be to minimize any chances of a downturn in ties. New Delhi, too, will continue to prioritize Bangladesh, especially at a time when Dhaka has outlined defense modernization plans with likely Chinese help.
How Sri Lanka Balanced India and China Ties to Maximise Developmental Gains
The architecture of financial and infrastructural assistance deployed by India and China in Sri Lanka differs significantly. Their infrastructure profiles, however, are not fundamentally competitive and instead represent distinct advantages that Sri Lanka has leveraged for its development. India and China are essential pillars of Sri Lanka's development future and economic ambitions.
More on Spotlight
The worsening water crisis: Need to adopt innovative water technologies
India’s mainland is endowed with a long coastline of over 5500 km. All the areas situated near this coastline can get clean drinking water through dew condensation.
Terrorism is a tactic of war; yet it defies a uniform definition
State-sponsored terrorism is often employed by smaller or weaker states to weaken bigger or stronger nations as it is more cost effective than traditional war. One of the most prominent examples of this could be the Kashmir issue between India and Pakistan
With non-state actors altering geostrategic realities, Underwater Domain Awareness is a strategic imperative for region
The drone attacks in the Arabian Sea recently are an indication of the high-tech means available to the non-state actors and it won’t take much time for them to acquire deadly underwater drones with explosives to carry out unimaginable attacks in a politically volatile IOR
What South Asia can learn from the ASEAN integration experience on labour mobility
The South Asian region has much to learn from the ASEAN experience in integrating investment, trade and movement of labour which includes a skilled workforce
Sand to sustainability: Dubai’s historic COP28
The word ‘just transition’ is not just about the historic climate injustice done to developing countries, but it also secures the rights and livelihood of workers working on old energy systems that would change to new systems
Why climate financing for green-energy transition imperative for Bangladesh, developing nations
Bangladesh and other low-income industrialised nations shouldn't be forced to transition to a non-carbon (net zero) economy on the same timelines. The international community should give Bangladesh, the country most affected by climate change, a high priority in receiving financial resources for both adaptation and mitigation.
The untold story of electric rickshaws in India
Even today the situation is no different. Most of the manufacturers make the rickshaw bodies here and fit them with imported motors, etc. from China. This is how e-rickshaw manufacturing has proliferated in India.
The inverted world of global espionage– where no one talks the walk
There is an interesting development of note in the US, which casts a shadow on free speech and political asylum in the Western world, with a direct bearing on the alleged covert intelligence operations by India in the North American continent.
Bangladesh's elections will impact regional security and connectivity
The upcoming election will also define Bangladesh’s relations with great powers, namely the USA, India, and China
Water security in South Asia: Need for ratification of UN water convention
No other country in the world comes close to the hydro-hegemony that China has established. From Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to Myanmar’s troubled Kachin and Shan states, China has widened its dam building to disputed or insurgency-torn areas despite local opposition.
Nuclear power is the future for Pakistan
Germany's experience with nuclear energy serves as a valuable lesson, prompting Pakistan to intensify its pursuit of nuclear energy as a practical avenue for its energy needs
Chronic water scarcity in South Asia increasing children’s vulnerability
In 2022, an overwhelming 45 million children lacked access to basic drinking water services in South Asia, according to UNICEF
The pre-emptive Hamas assault on Israel has a bitter lesson for India
With the LoC and now even LAC active around the year conventional artillery might be supplemented with Hamas-type rockets, both by China and Pakistan, Pakistan in particular. India's vital military establishments and civilian targets are right across the LoC and vulnerable to such strikes. A few jihadis from Pakistan have already threatened India with a similar strike.
War and environment: Cutting carbon footprints of militaries to save ailing climate
In Afghanistan, in addition to emitting millions of tons of carbon dioxide during the conflict, the US military footprint contributed more directly to the immediate destruction of the Afghan environment.
