Biden has shifted his priorities to the Indo-Pacific where a direct confrontation with China is building up and, in fact, he cited that as a rationale for pulling out of Afghanistan, writes Arul Louis for South Asia Monitor
The Indus and the Ganges are dying slowly, and with them disappear species that evolved over thousands of years within these waters. If current patterns continue, future generations may inherit rivers that exist geographically but are biologically empty. South Asia still has an opportunity to reverse this trajectory, but only if environmental protection becomes a shared regional priority rather than an afterthought.
Nearly 80% of Asia’s energy imports and a large portion of global container traffic move through the Indian Ocean. With conflicts in the Middle East, disruptions in the Red Sea, and increasing great-power competition, freight security has become a strategic economic issue. Sri Lanka is positioning itself not merely as a recipient of investment, but as a regional connector between South Asia, Southeast Asia, and island maritime states.
Military analyst Cooper argued that beyond battlefield outcomes, the operation exposed Pakistan’s inability to deter Indian strikes or mount a damaging counter‑response. He suggested the psychological impact of India’s operations triggered panic within Pakistan’s leadership, eventually driving Islamabad to seek international intervention.
Pakistan’s maritime domain offers multiple avenues for economic and strategic expansion. However, these remain underdeveloped. Coastal tourism has potential but lacks infrastructure and regulation. Offshore energy, including wind and tidal sources, remains largely unexplored. Marine biotechnology is another emerging sector with minimal investment. These gaps reflect a broader issue: the absence of long-term strategic planning
Biden has shifted his priorities to the Indo-Pacific where a direct confrontation with China is building up and, in fact, he cited that as a rationale for pulling out of Afghanistan, writes Arul Louis for South Asia Monitor
India and Australia have come strategically closer through forums such as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) and Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI), writes Rahul Nath Choudhury for South Asia Monitor
Enhanced bilateral ties between Bangladesh and Myanmar could contribute to the growth of trade and investment relations with ASEAN and BIMSTEC countries, writes MD Pathik Hasan for South Asia Monitor
The country expects the world communities to consider all relevant issues including the socio-economic conditions in Bangladesh before making any recommendations to resolve the protracted Rohingya refugee crisis, writes Kazi Mohammad Jamshed for South Asia Monitor
The ISI’s guardianship of terror groups led to the inevitable Talibanisation of Pakistan at the cost of the secular space in politics, writes M R Narayan Swamy for South Asia Monitor
Notwithstanding India not joining the RCEP, it is likely to become the potential gateway for accelerating China’s backdoor entry into India, writes S. Majumder for South Asia Monitor
But getting global recognition could be far from easy for the Taliban because the Western countries have a negative perception about them, with many people in these nations still considering them terrorists, writes MD Ishtiak Hossain for South Asia Monitor
A key facet of the water-energy-food nexus in Pakistan is the heavy dependence of agriculture on groundwater irrigation, write Haris Mushtaq and Taimoor Akhtar for South Asia Monitor
America’s expectations that Afghanistan would not become a haven for terrorists (which it already was) and that the US will remain sheltered from terrorism emanating from that soil, are both misplaced, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
Once the PTA comes into force, more people in Bangladesh will get access to good apples and oranges from Bhutan, while the fashion-conscious Bhutanese can choose from more varieties of quality apparel from Bangladesh, writes Md Pathik Hasan for South Asia Monitor
The sense of losing everything - after a quarter-century of modernization and social progress - seems to have broken the Afghan women's fear of confronting the Taliban, writes Shraddha Nand Bhatnagar for South Asia Monitor
The difficulty level the current Indian pacers had to overcome to achieve consistency and success in top-flight international cricket is substantially higher than what their counterparts from Pakistan had to surmount decades back, writes Sirshendu Panth for South Asia Monitor
So, what the future looks like for Afghanistan? In one word: hopeless, writes Anondeeta Chakraborty for South Asia Monitor
If India seeks greater market access, it must also allow the UK to sell more of its goods and services, writes N. Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
The existing Afghan population in Europe is already facing a compassion deficit in Europe due to the rise in anti-immigrant parties threatening to fracture the bloc further, write Dr. Manasi Sinha, Pratyush Bibhakar and Vishal Rajput for South Asia Monitor