Over the past two months, a series of alleged push-in incidents along the Bangladesh-India border has reportedly left scores of people stranded in zero-line and no-man's-land areas under difficult conditions.
The central message at the Shangri-La Dialogue is that America is staying, but on new terms. It will remain the core military balancer in the Indo-Pacific, but it expects allies and partners to become serious contributors. The era of strategic free-riding is ending. The new Indo-Pacific order will increasingly be defined by those willing and able to share the burden of preserving it.
The CEPS conference shows Pakistan is shifting the Indus issue from technical water management to geopolitical norm contest. That’s the key transition. Once a river dispute enters Brussels policy networks, international arbitration, climate diplomacy, and security discourse it becomes much harder to keep it bilateral. And that is likely Pakistan’s main strategic objective.
The Islamabad Memorandum has bought time. But time is not neutral. It can be used to construct a more durable settlement, or by spoilers in Washington, Tehran and Tel Aviv to rebuild the case for war. The ceasefire will endure only if the difficult questions postponed in Islamabad are answered before those who opposed the truce succeed in answering them on the battlefield.
Perhaps India would be called upon to do the sub-contract for them under a deal that could be cooked up under the QUAD grouping that was set up in collaboration with India, Japan and Australia to contain China in what they call the Indo-Pacific. A geopolitical battle is certainly hotting up in the Indian Ocean, with IMF very much its centrepiece.
An exhibition based on actual incidents of sexual violence had clothing hanging from clotheslines, a poignant reminder of what rape survivors and victims were wearing when attacked. Approximately eleven women are raped every day in Pakistan.
If the Bangladesh-Myanmar-Thailand-India trilateral highway project and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) corridor were integrated, ASEAN members could access the markets of Bangladesh, northern India, and the Himalayan countries of Bhutan, and Nepal.
Higher education has emerged as an important linkage between both countries. As Australia seeks to reduce dependence on Chinese students, it would want to attract more Indian students.
This craze for migration is going to have a huge detrimental effect on Sri Lanka as it will be left with very few skilled workers to develop and contribute to the Sri Lankan economy.
Bhutan and Nepal would also benefit from the pipeline project. The two nations will have the chance to take part in the regional energy market and have access to a reliable energy source. The BBIN region’s economy will grow as the pipeline project fits in with the region’s overarching goal of enhancing integration and connectivity in South Asia.
Acting under international pressure, Myanmar has apparently made the decision to reintegrate persecuted Rohingya based on nationality verification - with the repatriated Rohingya being referred to as "Bengali foreigners" - under the active supervision of international organizations and China, the United States, and EU countries.
However, India, China, and other regional actors have yet to establish a firm position on the Rohingya repatriation process and peace talks to end the crisis in Myanmar. While the US is strongly supporting Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue, China and India’s geopolitical and geoeconomic interests in Myanmar have left Bangladesh to manage the Rohingya crisis alone.
Kolkata-based Bangladeshi environmental activist Natasha Ahmed spoke about her cross-border marriage and the challenges she faces living in India with her husband and children. Her sister is married to a man of Pakistani origin. They face many complications meeting each other’s families due to the visa restrictions between India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
The data for South Asia shows that Maldives is the most globally integrated country in the region followed by Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Pakistan in terms of the average percentage of exports that formed part of the global value chain during the period 2019-2021.
Women in Bangladesh often have limited access to financial services, which can make it difficult for them to cope with climate change impacts such as floods, droughts, or cyclones. Digital financial products such as mobile banking and digital savings accounts can help to overcome these barriers and increase financial inclusion among women.
This overbearing numbers-driven outlook has, so far, defined policy on international education. However, if India-Australia relations are to reflect a genuine partnership, the narrative needs to shift from transactional to transformational. This requires that the very purpose behind international education is dramatically rethought and altered.
Karachi was the first Pakistani city to benefit from nuclear energy after KANUPP was connected to the grid. The inauguration of K-2 and now K-3 is a milestone in Pakistan’s quest to increase the share of clean nuclear energy.
If US-Pakistan ties were to deteriorate further, Islamabad has limited options since Beijing in recent months has clearly shown that it will assist Pakistan in dealing with its economic problems only up to a point.
There has been an outpouring of support for ethnic minorities among protesters of the regime, particularly among the younger generation, who believe that a lasting peace in Myanmar can only be achieved if it includes all of Myanmar's citizens, regardless of class, ethnicity, or religious affiliation. This shift in empathy has also altered long-held perceptions of the Rohingya.
