Violent clashes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)

PoK Polls Expose A Deeper Faultline: Widening Gap Between Official Narratives and Ground Realities

Any further instability in the region carries security implications for both countries. Escalating unrest along an already sensitive frontier can heighten tensions and reduce the already limited space for dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad.

Asymmetric Warfare via Migration: What India Can Learn from Spain’s Ceuta Crisis

Rightly, India is now treating mass irregular Rohingya migration as an engineered, hybrid national security threat that requires a coordinated border guarding, diplomatic, and legal response.

India's Pakistan Policy Needs Communication, Not Talks

Ultimately, sustainable peace between India and Pakistan cannot be built merely through meetings or declarations. It requires a fundamental transformation in Pakistan's approach towards terrorism, regional stability and bilateral relations. Until that happens, comprehensive dialogue is unlikely to produce meaningful outcomes. 

China’s Criminal Footprint in Sri Lanka has Regional Security Implications

When a Chinese company won the contract to establish hybrid wind and solar energy projects on three islands off the northern Jaffna peninsula—just 45 km from Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu—the security implications extended far beyond economics. Against this backdrop, India’s concerns are entirely justifiable. Sri Lanka faces a pressing question: how will the nation confront the infiltration of Chinese global criminal networks? Since Mahinda Rajapaksa’s tenure, Chinese presence in Colombo has steadily increased, with Sri Lanka positioned as a partner state in Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.

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India and Bangladesh transit agreement holds promise for both countries and the region

Bangladeshi products like clothing, cement, and food can be sold directly in Nepal and Bhutan via India. In the future, Bangladesh will also find it simpler to ship goods to Myanmar.

Taliban's war on women: International community must not remain a mute spectator

In a brazen on-camera interview, Sirajuddin Haqqani, Afghanistan’s acting interior minister, said in response to a question on how Afghan women feel unsafe to leave homes under the Taliban rule, “We keep naughty women at home.” 

China poses no threat to the multi-faceted India-Bangladesh partnership

The accompanying data and graphs indicate that random charges about Bangladesh tilting toward China are just hype and with no basis in facts. Unlike Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Bangladesh has conducted prudent macroeconomic management in order to avoid overdependence on China.

Helpless pawns in a bilateral dispute: No relief in sight for poor Indian and Pakistani fishermen

The current process shows the insensitivity of our systems and highlights how fishermen and others are of the lowest priority as they remain incarcerated without reason in the other country's prisons.

The Rohingya refugee dilemma: Does a sustainable solution lie in their integration into Bangladesh?

While the Rohingya issue remains complex and multi-faceted, the potential for the coming generations to integrate into Bangladesh seems natural and realistic. As we move into a seventh year since their major influx, it's evident that repatriation efforts have made limited headway. 

Six years later, Bangladesh's Rohingya refugee crisis sees no signs of resolution

Declining funds, deteriorating camp conditions, growing insecurity, and the adverse impact of the refugees on the host community have made Bangladesh a desperate host looking to reduce the burden. This crisis is also destabilizing regional security.

Rivers as network: Towards a pluriverse South Asia

The Indus, the Brahmaputra, and the Ganges, as well as the Kabul river basin, which is interconnected to South Asian nations, are perennial rivers that have shaped and influenced South Asia's history, politics, culture, economy, and civilizations for many millennia on a shared basis.

Will BRICS create a new balance in the global order?

If BRICS can truly identify issues of larger common interest and move forward on the basis of consensus, it can become the new leader of the post-Western world order where the NDB will be the primary competitor of the World Bank and IMF.

Why despite few returns India remains invested in Afghanistan

A few months back the members of the Taliban regime in Kabul attended a four-day ‘India immersion’ online course offered by the Ministry of External Affairs through IIM Kozhikode.  The course was part of the capacity-building assistance through the ITEC (Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation) programme to developing countries, including Afghanistan.

Can a Modi-Xi meeting at Johannesburg break the border standoff?

The Major General-level talks (initially described as confidence building) apparently aim for a conducive atmosphere when Modi comes face to face with Xi at Johannesburg for the BRICS summit August 22-24.

Will Bangladesh benefit by joining the RCEP? The pros outweigh the cons

If Bangladesh applies to join this year, it can be a member of RCEP from 2025 onward. Apart from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka are also reportedly eager to join the China-led trade bloc.

Hydropolitics of the Helmand River: Iran-Afghanistan water-sharing dispute could imperil regional security and ecology

The Helmand River water issue has the capacity to escalate into a protracted and intense conflict, drawing both countries into a state of violence.

Pakistan: Military rule by proxy continues and will continue

It is apparent the Pakistani military is the sole decision-maker for Pakistan and the arbiter of its destiny. The probability of a prolonged interim government under caretaker PM Kakar is a strong possibility during which time the Pakistani military will call the shots through its puppet figure. 

South Asia's overcrowded prisons: Lock-up culture needs to give way to reformation and empathy

Some South Asian countries have taken welcome steps toward the release of undertrial prisoners, including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. These measures need to be implemented and applied consistently. Biraj Patnaik, Amnesty International's South Asia Director,  says, “South Asia’s prisons are a blight on the region’s conscience...

Another round of India-China military talks : Obfuscating ground realities?

The latest round of military-to-military talks was orchestrated to time with Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the BRICS Summit in South Africa on August 22-24 and the G20 Summit in New Delhi on September 9-10, which Chinese President Xi Jinping is slated to attend.