In the larger South Asia context, air pollution does not follow national boundaries and therefore the solutions for all the airsheds cannot come from any one city or a country. The countries in South Asia – India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan - that share a common airshed are impacted by the transboundary pollution. More than half of the air pollution across major cities in South Asia is not local but transboundary in nature.
Regional bodies like the SAARC, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, have the potential to foster cooperation on climate adaptation, disaster preparedness, and trans-border pollution control. However, geopolitical tensions, particularly between India and Pakistan, hinder progress.
In the years gone by, India was defined by its religious and cultural strengths, but it has now taken Prime Minister Modi, with a new initiative, to give a boost to India-Caribbean ties through a purely development agenda. It is hoped that CARICOM would set up the mechanisms to get this agenda going. Is it that India is now showing its readiness to take on American and Chinese frontiers aimed at becoming a leader of the Global South if not a world power?
While the South Asian states securitize, local politics has often scapegoated refugee populations, turning majority insecurities into electoral capital – a fear that refugees’ encroachment on physical and political spaces, jobs, land, corner welfare resources meted out by the state and place undue pressures on infrastructure; acase in point the rhetoric against Bangladeshi migrants in India.
The legislation enacted way back in 2008, known as The Unorganised Workers'Social Security Act (mentioned as the Act hereafter) which entered the statute book on December 31, 2008, if implemented seriously, could have come to the rescue of the unorganised workers, which stand to lose enormously both in terms of livelihood opportunities and social security at the present juncture due to the health pandemic, writes Partha Mitra for South Asia Monitor
It would not be surprising if American troops are also attacked after part withdrawal has taken place, with blame, apportioned to Islamic State, as was done in the case of the recent attack on Kabul gurdwara, while China and Pakistan laughed all the way home, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
The census data of 2011 reflects that the four states - Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh -account for 50 percent of India's total inter-state migrants, write Suresh Kumar Patel, Abhishek Kumar & Noorul Quamer for South Asia Monitor
Launch of China Virus/COVID-19 - which only India had guts to name biological weapon - had decades of preparation to deny/mitigate global response, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
The Rohingya refugees staying inside and outside camps in Bangladesh and India are worth mentioning in the South Asian context. Their already slum-like dwellings, lack of fresh water and sanitation, densely-crowded living conditions and hunger puts them in a more perilous situation, writes Sariful Islam for South Asia Monitor
In the Indian context, the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy have granted a permanent commission to women officers even as both have opened up some combat roles for women, write Subhranil Ghosh & Sayantan Bandyopadhyay for South Asia Monitor
While Trump and Bolsonaro are worried about the virus' impact on their nation's markets, economies and, by extension, their political future, Modi was open enough to admit that the pandemic would have economic costs, but saving lives was more important for him and his government, writes Tarun Basu for South Asia Monitor
The return of a Rajapaksa to the island’s highest office coincides with a potent form of majoritarianism in Sri Lanka, driven simultaneously by jingoism and fear among the electorate, writes Arman Sidhu for South Asia Monitor
After independence, this is perhaps the first time India is being put to such a test, with every part of the country affected. Not confined to India alone, but the entire neighbourhood of South Asia is being engulfed by this pandemic, writes Brig Anil Gupta (retd) for South Asia Monitor
Afghanistan has become an extremely dangerous country for its residents, especially religious minorities. After surviving there for hundreds of years, the Sikhs virtually don’t even have a right to exist anymore, writes Sanchita Bhattacharya for South Asia Monitor
The disruption of supply chains coupled with an unprecedented economic disaster waiting for the world due to the pandemic, the pertinent question is - has the time come for the world to have a rethink for globalization, asks Pranay Kumar Shome for South Asia Monitor
Despite Khaleda Zia’s suspended sentence and release from jail, no news except about the coronavirus is attracting the people’s attention in Bangladesh, writes Swadesh Roy for South Asia Monitor
If the habits of cooperation and mutual understanding developed while fighting together against COVID-19 allow the member countries to regain the lost pedestal of SAARC, it will augur well for peace and prosperity of the region, writes Monish Tourangbam for South Asia Monitor
In the South Asian region, only Maldives and Sri Lanka fare relatively better in global rankings of quality of healthcare system. Pakistan, which spends the least on health, has only 0.6 beds per 1000 people compared to 8.5 beds per 1000 people in Germany, writes Kavita Bajeli Datt for South Asia Monitor
For Kashmiris, who were hoping to come out of a long period of isolation after August 5, 2019 and subsequent government clampdown to ensure peace, the deadly virus has been a huge setback at a time when the thaw was beginning and restrictions easing, writes Brig Anil Gupta (retd) for South Asia Monitor
