Amid this regional uncertainty, a new dynamic is emerging. China and Pakistan are taking steps to form a new regional alliance that plans to include Bangladesh as a potential member. This reality may lead to various disagreements about the need for SAARC’s revival. However, establishing active regional cooperation in South Asia would help create geopolitical pressure and push crises like the Rohingya problem towards a coordinated solution.
None of this suggests that Pakistan’s rise is occurring at the expense of India’s decline. Despite its challenges, India remains far more capable than Pakistan in areas such as advanced technology, financial capacity, and strategic alliances. Nevertheless, the evolving global environment suggests that diplomatic flexibility is becoming increasingly important. In other words, the issue is less about visibility or size and more about the ability to operate effectively amid differences and maintain communication during difficult times.
China buys more than 80 percent of Iran’s shipped oil. In 2025, China purchased an average of 1.38 million barrels per day of Iranian oil, accounting for around 13.4 percent of China’s seaborne oil imports.China has therefore become the largest economic absorber of Iranian oil and Tehran’s principal economic lifeline. Without Chinese demand, Iran’s sanctions-hit economy would face far greater pressure.
Neither Bangladesh nor India — including West Bengal — is likely to fully concede its position. The future instead lies in pragmatic compromise, where domestic political constraints are balanced against the imperatives of regional cooperation. Ultimately, the trajectory of India–Bangladesh relations will depend less on identity politics and more on whether both sides can align economic necessity with political will.
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
Yameen’s ‘India Out’ campaign is centred on his firm belief that independent of change of governments and leaderships in New Delhi, India was against his becoming president, writes N. Sathiya Moorthy for South Asia Monitor
Even in these dark times, one can see bright rays of communal harmony. One only hopes these trends are encouraged and divisive loudmouths are punished, writes Dr Ram Puniyani for South Asia Monitor
Museums and art galleries are the preserves of the common heritage of South Asia, and it is a pity these are often destructively targeted during political conflicts, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
In another CSDS study of post-poll analysis after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it was found that between 2014 and 2019 support for the BJP among Dalits, Adivasis and Other Backward Class has more than doubled, writes Dr Ram Puniyani for South Asia Monitor
Unlike many other South Asian countries, Bangladesh's prudent and selective engagement with China's BRI has helped Dhaka avoid debt problems, writes Sheikh Abdur Rahman for South Asia Monitor
Bangladesh may not face the same situation as Sri Lanka in the near future but it has considerable weaknesses in its economy and good-governance processes, writes Aashish Kiphayet for South Asia Monitor
The allure of Russian oil for India, however, is more than the imperatives of energy security. It also has deep stakes with $16 billion of investments in various oil and gas projects in Russia, writes N. Chandra Mohan for South Asian Monitor
Given that Sri Lanka has a post-independence history of episodic JVP militancy in 1971 and 1987, there is concern about the direction the street protests may take, writes N. Sathiya Moorthy for South Asia Monitor
