The irony is that Manipur is where the Chinese and American interests coincide against India. But the need is to look at ourselves in the mirror. If we provide a readymade asymmetric battlefield to overt or covert inimical forces, why would they not exploit it?
The combative rise of China has challenged US hegemony in global relations. In such a world, the crafting of a foreign policy that ensures national security requires vigilance, patience, caution, economic and military clout, and more importantly, constant risk management that enables India to maintain its strategic autonomy.
Many fear that the Balochistan situation could lead to a 1971-like crisis that split the country due to centralised power, military operations against civilians, and foreign overreach. Why, then, have these lessons not been learned?
The ethnic cleansing under Biren Singh’s watch broke all records – Kuki-Zo women paraded naked and subjected to mass rape publicly, with some token FIRs. This is also viewed as the reason why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has avoided visiting violence-stricken Manipur in the past 16 months.
Why can’t India begin by addressing the Balochistan problem at international forums, especially the heavy-handed suppression and continuing human rights abuses the people of that province face?, writes Nilova Roy Chaudhury for South Asia Monitor
Pakistan's only real option is to provoke large scale communal conflict simultaneously in states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Kashmir, which can spread to other regions. That can be blamed on the ruling dispensation's 'anti-Muslim' policies, against which many voices have been raised in India, writes Subir Bhaumik for South Asia Monitor
Showing political will at the highest level is of little help unless it works at ground level. The government must take Kashmiri people, particularly the youth, into confidence to instill buoyancy into every faith-filled Kashmiri's heart, writes Debasish Bhattacharyya for South Asia Monitor
Hundreds of dengue-affected patients are receiving treatment in different public and private hospitals in Dhaka, but hospitals are full to the brim and facing challenges to handle the crisis due to lack of sufficient equipment and manpower, writes Akmal Hossain for South Asia Monitor
There is a clear sense that something is missing in the present relationship between the Indian and Nepali governments. Both should work to develop harmony and trust and mitigate the trust deficit, writes Gaurab Shumsher Thapa for South Asia Monitor
Pakistan will try to enhance terrorist activities not only in J&K but in all of India. Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence may activate and instruct its sleeper cells to carry out terrorist activities in communally sensitive places so that communal riots erupt in the country, writes J K Verma for South Asia Monitor
The Kashmir issue may have been handled deftly at the global politico-diplomatic level, but the abiding challenge for India remains domestic, writes C Uday Bhaskar for South Asia Monitor
PM Modi has made it clear that it cannot be business as usual. The UK would need to carefully consider whether its pre-1947 agenda of promoting an autonomous Muslim state at the intersection of South and Central Asia is a desirable objective for the West, wrties Ambassador Bhaswati Mukherjee (retd) for South Asia Monitor
Pakistan is unhappy that major players which could bail it out at the UN are all embroiled in their own affairs – the US trying to quit Afghanistan and China facing a trying time in Hong Kong, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
Boris Johnson has ended the British stance till now that Kashmir is a bilateral India-Pakistan issue, thereby delivering a lethal blow to India-Britain relations, writes Prakash Chand Katoch for South Asia Monitor
CDS by itself without its essential adjunct of integrated theater commands would be of little avail. It may turn out to be just one more four star-general, without any enhancement in Indian military’s war fighting capabilities, writes Lt-Gen Harwant Singh ( retd ) for South Asia Monitor
India has rudely shaken China, pushing back the bilateral Wuhan understanding with Beijing. It has hit not just China’s prime ally, but has moved close to Aksai Chin, the Kashmir territory Pakistan ceded to China, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
Religious leaders should promote interfaith dialogue. They should bring together followers of different persuasions for meaningful conversations. They should promote a dialogue of understanding and a shared sense of community with other faiths, writes Frank Islam for South Asia Monitor
The abolition of J&K’s special status will complete the ongoing process of annexation into the Indian Union, as it was a temporary provision, and will bring misguided and stone-pelting Kashmiri youth into mainstream politics, writes Sudhanshu Tripathi for South Asia Monitor
Experts are divided about the legality and constitutional propriety of the August 5 decisions in relation to Article 3 and the reorganization of states. What is at stake is the sanctity of constitutionalism and for PM Narendra Modi the way the Kashmir issue unfolds will define his political legacy, writes C Uday Bhaskar for South Asia Monitor
