US Secretary of Defense General Lloyd James Austin has said that the Afghan forces must slow the Taliban’s momentum. The question is how, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
Fifty-Six Years on, Bangladesh a Nation Still Negotiating What it Means to be Itself
Bangladesh has survived partition, the liberation war, famine, floods, military coups, and democratic collapse. It has always returned. But returning is not the same as resolving. Fifty-six years after independence, the founding paradox remains: a nation whose birth is still debated cannot fully inhabit its future. The gun salutes will be loud and unambiguous. The questions they echo, however, about what Bangladesh is, who founded it, and whose vision should guide it, remain, as they have always been
Colonialism by Another Name: Reconfiguration of Global Power With Trumpian Characteristics
For India, this raises complex challenges. Historically, India has positioned itself as a strong advocate of anti-colonialism and sovereignty. However, in the current context, its responses have often appeared measured and cautious, despite the direct implications for its interests—ranging from energy security and regional stability to strategic initiatives such as connectivity through Iran.
India, BRICS Fail the Iran Test: It Could Seek to Bridge Divides
For India, the failure is particularly significant as its presidency was an opportunity to translate “strategic autonomy”, the current buzzword in foreign policy circles, into multilateral leadership. True, its response is shaped by structural constraints. The country imports more than 85% of its crude oil, much of it from West Asia and Russia. Some nine million of its citizens live in the Gulf. The United States is its largest trading partner. Iran anchors the Chabahar port project and India’s access to Afghanistan and Central Asia. Each relationship is too consequential to risk.
Bhutan Under China’s Doklam Shadow: Delhi Needs to Move Away From Protector-Protected Dynamic With Thimpu
A key consideration for Delhi is Bhutan’s occasional denial or downplay of any Chinese encroachment on its territory, even when satellite data suggests otherwise. This is coupled with a growing perception within Bhutan that India is preventing it from completing its border negotiations with China. Although Thimphu remains closely aligned with Delhi, there is growing interest in expanding its engagement with China.
More on Spotlight
West Bengal can play a critical role in the success of India’s Act East policy
With the ever-growing presence of China in Southeast Asia, it would be injudicious to keep the economic and strategic prospects that West Bengal has to offer underutilized, and hostage to petty internal politics, writes Anondeeta Chakraborty for South Asia Monitor
India needs to become drone-conscious to counter aerial cross-border threats
Not only was the use of a weaponized drone on the Jammu IAF base an act of war but a violation of the ceasefire agreement concluded by DGs, military operations, of India and Pakistan, effective from midnight, 24-25 February 2021, writes Col. Anil Bhat (Retd) for South Asia Monitor
Will China learn a lesson from the 'terror attack' in Pakistan on its workers?
The Pakistan incident against Chinese workers is all the more worrying as Chinese personnel and technicians are working on various projects not only in Pakistan, but in other South Asian countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, as well as many African nations, writes N S Venkataram for South Asia Monitor
Improved transport connectivity in South Asia must for boosting intra-regional and inter-regional trade
Better connectivity in this region would facilitate the establishment of trade linkages with other regions through platforms such as the BIMSTEC, SAARC, and ASEAN, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor
Nepal’s new government needs to do a balancing act amidst India-China rivalry
For Sher Bahadur Deuba’s government, the acid test of preserving Nepal’s core interests and increasing its bargaining capacity vis-à-vis India and China will depend on how the Nepalese leadership responds to the emerging geopolitical and geoeconomic imperatives in the region, writes Zahoor Ahmad Dar for South Asia Monitor
Economic and public health crises pushing Sri Lanka more and more towards China
Given Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean, China has developed huge stakes in the island nation, writes N. Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
Like its remarkable economic turnaround, Bangladesh has fought back against Islamist extremism
Fifty years after its liberation from Pakistan, Bangladesh is the reverse image of the country it broke away from -- a moderate Muslim majority nation anchored in its liberal syncretic Bengali culture that guided its 1971 secession from Pakistan, writes Subir Bhaumik for South Asia Monitor
Afghan war, and its spillover effect, will singe entire region, including Pakistan and India
In stark contrast with Pakistan, which relied on hard power tools to pursue its foreign policy goals in Afghanistan, India opted for the soft power strategy --winning hearts and minds of Afghans by investing in common people through culture, building state capacities, and training and educating a new young professional Afghan class, writes Shraddha Nand Bhatnagar for South Asia Monitor
Pandemic-hit South Asia must evolve a coordinated strategy to improve public health systems
Collectively the peacebuilders, physicians and public-health activists from across South Asia noted that inequity is the key challenge and asked their governments to address it properly so that the lessons of the past year are not forgotten, writes Rida Anwar for South Asia Monitor
India should leverage its enormous goodwill to begin peace diplomacy in conflict-ridden Myanmar
In Zoramthamga, a former rebel leader and now chief minister of India's northeastern state of Mizoram, India has a potential mediator who has close links with all stakeholders in Myanmar, including the Tatmadaw and Aung Saan Suu Kyi's NLD, writes Subir Bhaumik for South Asia Monitor
Nepal's regime change: Prime Minister Deuba needs to watch out for Beijing's meddling
The upheaval in Nepalese politics over the past few months has occurred following a power tussle within the ruling Communist-led dispensation despite the best efforts of Hou Yanqi, China’s ambassador to Nepal since 2018 to resolve it, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (Retd) for South Asia Monitor
Covid-19 vaccination in India: Lessons it can draw from the US experience
Unlike the US, vaccine hesitancy among large sections of the population is not an issue in India, but production is, writes Frank F. Islam for South Asia Monitor
India needs comprehensive labor market revival measures to improve pandemic-hit economy
Labor economists and various surveys have said the pandemic and consequent job and income losses have pushed tens of millions of Indians into poverty in the last few months, writes Vaibhavi Pingale for South Asia Monitor
Taliban must end the senseless violence: A plea for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan
I believe that as an Afghan and as a youth, after the full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, no pretext and justification will exist for the Taliban to continue the war - the jihad against a foreign power, writes Bator Arsalan for South Asia Monitor
