Defence sources said it was significant that the Dornier was handed over to Sri Lanka by India a day before the high-tech Chinese satellite tracking ship docked at Hambantota
Air Pollution Knows No Borders: Smog Over Kathmandu Is A Regional Failure
As the World Bank notes, isolated national actions are insufficient when pollution itself ignores borders. India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan share the same airshed. Without cooperation, each country keeps breathing its neighbour’s mistakes. “As the government representing the largest population affected by air pollution, India should lead this effort. Instead, the region has drifted away from cooperation, and the cost has been catastrophic,” Dr Subedee said.
When Cricket Stops Being ‘Just Cricket’: South Asian Sporting Diplomacy in Retreat
This is certainly not a call to romanticise sport or overstate its diplomatic capacity. Neither did cricket ever resolve South Asia’s conflicts. But it softened their edges. It reminded the public that despite borders and disputes there existed a cultural language. The erosion of that language should now concern the whole of South Asia. Because when even the simplest forms of cultural exchange become difficult, rebuilding trust happens to be infinitely harder.
Bangladesh’s February Referendum and the Future of Secularism
Bangladesh, though Muslim‑majority, has historically significant Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, and Indigenous minorities. Removing secularism would create a profound democratic dilemma as it is the safeguard against majoritarian dominance and structural exclusion. The South Asian experience shows the risks of privileging religion in constitutions.
With India-EU Trade Deal, It's Time To Recast India's Foreign Policy
What India next needs to consider is opening a dialogue with Beijing, while remaining mindful of its security concerns. Years of hostility and China’s anti-India posturing, coupled with its hegemonic aspirations, have understandably created an atmosphere of deep distrust. However, the atmospherics are now right for a rethink as to whether current distancing serves mutual interest. The middle path approach justifies seeking out areas of collaboration, especially through enhanced trade and thereby dilute the overdependence on the US market, both for China and for India.
More on Spotlight
Indian outreach to Latin America and Caribbean: Needed more frequent and diversified interactions
India should also project the values and aspirations of the Indo-Pacific into Atlantic waters to help global development. The SAGAR (Security And Growth for All in the Region) model can be extended to a much larger canvas of mutual cooperation and benefit
International education as a building block in growing India-Australia relations
If Australia is to emerge as the destination of choice for Indian students, its India strategy needs to be rethought. If this were to happen, international education and institutional collaboration would emerge as a critical building blocks in the bilateral space
Will Michelle Bachelet’s visit to Bangladesh expedite Rohingya repatriation?
The world must remember the refugees’ lives depend on how the international community responds to caring for them as Bangladesh alone cannot afford to support this huge Rohingya population
Pakistan@75 does some welcome introspection on minority persecution
The question being raised in Pakistan@75 should be welcomed, that how come Pakistan, carved out as a safe home for the Muslim minorities of the Indian subcontinent, has failed to provide safety to its own minorities? Only Pakistan has the answer
India's weak-kneed response to Beijing's bullying sets a bad example for neighbours
We need to learn a lot from China’s foreign policy; and when our own response to China is weak-kneed, how do we expect Sri Lanka to take up cudgels with Beijing?
Starvation, poverty and all-round despair: Afghanistan and its people face a bleak future
If the Taliban’s original purpose in taking over Kabul last year was to gradually gain some international recognition for what it calls the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, it now stands fully destroyed
India@75 : Much to be proud of, amid some worrisome trends
The ideological shift in politics towards prioritizing the majority religious denomination that has morphed into assertive political Hindutva goes against the fabric of the 'Idea of India' enshrined in the constitution
India@75: On right path, but some drags on growth
During the last eight years, Prime Minister Modi has elevated the quality of governance to a higher level and has introduced several imaginative schemes, keeping in view the requirement of the people at the lower economic level as well as the compulsive need to forge ahead in terms of technology and productivity
Make in India in defence manufacturing: Significant initiatives but still a long way to go
In recent years there has been a paradigm shift in the manner in which the government is bringing about significant policy measures to make India self-reliant and instituting mechanisms to overcome bureaucratic bottlenecks which had plagued the system for long
India-Maldives ties set for consolidation, but China remains elephant in the room
Although the Solih visit went off very well, concerns remained over domestic politics in the Maldives.
Bhutan, the 'world’s happiest country’, needs a peace and reconciliation process
To reconcile the people of Bhutan and bring peace, we need collaborative efforts. Community agencies, local organizations, religious leaders, politicians, the King of Bhutan and businesses, all can play essential roles in this process
The importance of fraternity in India’s social democracy
The challenges in the path of the fraternity project are many. But we must overcome them, as it is on the pillar of fraternal relations that a well-functioning and healthy democracy rests
Making learning fun: And why it is important to teach students ethics of work
Yet, with new technologies of 3D printing, reasonably priced materials and the Internet, one can teach students in such a way so that learning becomes enjoyable
Pakistanis asked to renew national pride through new national anthem
The entire exercise can be seen as a striving to raise national morale among the people buffeted by economic stress and political turbulence
