The progression from Purab Aur Pachhim to Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge to Dangal is not a neat policy timeline. It is something subtler: a cultural echo of India’s journey from caution to engagement to assertion. The shift is not just in policy documents or diplomatic speeches; it is embedded in how stories are told, how characters behave, and how audiences respond.
Against this backdrop, in 2025, India, Sri Lanka, and the UAE signed a trilateral Memorandum of Understanding to jointly develop Trincomalee. The agreement, involving the Indian Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the UAE Ministry of Investment, and Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Energy, was designed to enhance Sri Lanka’s energy security and integrate the country into regional energy networks.
Pakistan’s attempt to position itself as a peace broker in the Middle East may generate headlines, but it does little to advance the cause of stability. If anything, it underscores a larger truth: in high-stakes geopolitics, perceived neutrality without proven credibility is not an asset—it is a liability.
India’s leadership in global forums such as BRICS and the G20 further enhances its ability to bring together diverse stakeholders. Simultaneously, its role as a prominent voice of the Global South enables it to advocate for peace without appearing aligned with any specific
COVID-19 has brought into focus supply chain issues and with it a fundamental change in the way food availability and access is viewed, one that goes beyond the conventional focus on weather, area, production, and yield (APY) paradigm of crops, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor
These are challenging times with rising majoritarianism and nationalism and, with a large Muslim population, India must watch events in Europe closely, and ensure its secular fabric remains intact, writes Lt Gen P R Kumar (retd) for South Asia Monitor
The number of ceasefire violations by Pakistan troops from January till November along the J & K border has broken all records of the past 17 years, writes Col Anil Bhat (retd) for South Asia Monitor
The police in Bangladesh have taken the role of judge, jury, and executioner, writes Aashish Kiphayet for South Asia Monitor
People in Umerkot live in communal harmony. While the Hindus arrange Iftari in the month of Ramazan and Niaz in the month of Muharram, the Muslims come forward to attend Hindu festivals, thus sending a message of love, peace, and harmony, writes Furqan Hyder Shaikh for South Asia Monitor
As the patron of the Taliban, Pakistan will wield more direct influence over Afghanistan as Washington winds down its involvement, writes Arul Louis for South Asia Monitor
India faces a grave challenge that has been accentuated by the pandemic. The crisis needs to be seen as a national imperative and addressed through a collective stakeholder approach with a sense of extreme urgency, writes Amit Dasgupta for South Asia Monitor
Conceding to the Islamist demand for stopping the installation of the Mujib statue at Dholaipar will be a huge political defeat for the Awami League, especially during the birth centenary of the founding father and a year before the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh's independence, writes Subir Bhaumik for South Asia Monitor
On the face of it, exiting RCEP definitely represents a setback to India’s economic ambitions of engaging with the Indo-Pacific, including attracting supply chains away from China, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
There is little doubt that the Congress will have to pay a heavy price for its blunder in Bihar, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
By not accusing China of intrusions and putting the onus for talks on the army, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who is the special representative for border talks, are shirking their responsibilities. This could be by design to blame the army for any territorial compromise forced by the government, writes Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
EU is now acknowledging what India, through its counter-terrorism dialogues with the West, had been warning for years, that Islamic fundamentalist networks and sleeper cells are active across the EU, writes Amb Bhaswati Mukherjee (retd) for South Asia Monitor
Today, there is nothing in Junagadh and its recent history to indicate the one-time, albeit brief, aspirations of its ambitious and misguided erstwhile Nawab to accede to Pakistan, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
Interestingly, the current focus on encouraging inland water transportation along the Ganges and Brahmaputra only reactivates defunct commercial arteries of yesteryear when inland waterways linked Nepal, Bhutan, India, and Bangladesh, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
Bangladesh has witnessed many instances of mass lynchings, which is a major cause for concern as it looks that respect for rule of law has vanished, writes Aashish Kiphayet for South Asia Monitor
