Modi-Takaichi summit in New Delhi and Assam CM in Japan

Is Northeast India's Permit System Inhibiting India-Japan Paradiplomacy? Colonial-Era System may be Stumbling Block to Subnational Exchanges

If India and Japan genuinely envision Northeast India as the gateway connecting South Asia with the Bay of Bengal and the Indo-Pacific, then the next chapter of the partnership cannot remain confined to New Delhi and Tokyo. It must also be written in Guwahati, Shillong, Aizawl, Imphal, Agartala, Kohima, Gangtok and Itanagar 

Bangladesh's Strategic Balancing and India's Neighbourhood Challenge: China Will Consolidate Influence if New Delhi Fails to Deliver

In several neighbouring countries, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, China has demonstrated an ability to move from agreements to implementation far more rapidly than many competitors. India, despite enjoying unmatched geographic and cultural advantages, has often struggled with delays 

Are the Echoes of 1971 Growing Louder in Balochistan? Voices that Pakistan Refuses to Hear

The echoes of 1971 are not proof that Balochistan will become another Bangladesh. They are proof that Pakistan has yet to learn what East Pakistan was trying to tell it in the first place: that a state cannot indefinitely draw wealth from a people it refuses to hear. 

The Geopolitics of the Dalai Lama Institution and Tibetan Reincarnation: China’s Quest for Control

In Tibetan society, the process of identifying reincarnations is understood as one of the most sacred expressions of rebirth. Although this tradition may be unfamiliar outside the Tibetan Buddhist world, it is deeply rooted in Tibetan religious culture. Communist China remains fundamentally alien to this traditional reincarnation system.

More on Geopolitics and Strategic Affairs

Afghanistan should not be turned into a nest of terrorism again

Biden needs to go through all the wrong decisions made by Trump and come out with valuable and healthy steps to maintain democracy in Afghanistan and to respect the blood its soldiers had shed, and end the war, writes Majidullah Rasooli for South Asia Monitor

Gandhi’s 73rd death anniversary: Remembering the apostle of peace in today's context

Gandhiji had a presence. That is a mark of a great soul and a very much evolved spiritual being. To Gandhiji spirituality came first; other things like politics, public life, etc. were by-products of his spirituality, writes Anil K Rajvanshi for South Asia Monitor

Growing Indo-Saudi Arabia ties will amaze the world

The contributions made by the Indian community in the development of Saudi Arabia have always been appreciated by the Saudi government. Keeping in view the contribution of expat Indians, the Saudi government, irrespective of their religion, treats every expat Indian equally like its own citizen, writes Asif Rameez Daudi for South Asia Monitor

Billionaire raj: Can India address its growing wealth disparity?

The massive and growing concentration of incomes is not good news for India's fragile social fabric as it can trigger a political backlash, writes N. Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor

Digitalisation as a policy priority: How South Asia compares with Southeast Asia

In South Asia, while digitalisation is of a high priority intervention, the other more basic issues such as enabling access to livelihood, health and education would need to be addressed and given a much higher priority so that inequalities in per capita consumption expenditure that prevail among households are addressed immediately, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor

Health Diplomacy: India-made vaccine at centre stage of pandemic management

India has a longer track record of supplying medicines and vaccines to the rest of the world, than any other country, including China, writes Rajendra Shende for South Asia Monitor

US reviving military ties with Pakistan for Afghan peace amounts to chasing a chimera

The US under Biden is all set to revive military ties with Islamabad hoping that Pakistan will help bring peace in Afghanistan. America has obviously not learned any lessons over the decades, writes Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor

Pakistan's slow assimilation of Gilgit-Baltistan: A strategic challenge for India

Pakistan so far has given limited autonomy to the local population after having wrested G-B after the accession. But it now wants to declare it as a provisional province of the country, writes Pushp Saraf for South Asia Monitor

Bangladesh economy showed resilience during COVID; but prosperity should reach all

By 2025, Bangladesh is forecast to be the 34th largest economy in the world and will continue at second place in South Asia after India, writes Mohammad Rubel for South Asia Monitor

Producing a world-class helicopter: India needs to develop a strong indigenous industry

If India were to write out a defence industrial policy it may read as follows: 'to establish and foster a strong indigenous helicopter industry with the design and production capacity to cater to all in-country military requirements and bid for export military and civil markets'. writes Rear Admiral Sudhir Pillai (retd) for South Asia Monitor

With SAARC stalled, India must invest in alternative regional mechanisms

With SAARC stalled, India must prioritize regional and sub-regional alternatives to recalibrate its neighborhood strategy and its overall foreign policy, writes Don McLain Gill for South Asia Monitor 

Battle for Bengal: Can Mamata Banerjee survive the BJP onslaught?

The rapid growth of the BJP in West Bengal since the 2014 parliamentary elections can unquestionably be seen as a turning point in the state's turbulent politics, writes Asif Rameez Daudi for South Asia Monitor

India beefs up air force with indigenous fighter jets: Dawn of a new era in military self-reliance

The most crucial justification for acquiring home-grown and home-built hardware is the military’s expectation that overhaul and replacement of parts, as well as repair of battle damage will be undertaken by the domestic industry in a most expeditious manner, writes Admiral Arun Prakash (retd) for South Asia Monitor

Is India headed for economic autarky?

The upshot of an inward-looking regime is a diminishing extent of trade openness - a sharp contrast with the East Asian miracle economies that prospered with export-orientation, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor

Is Imran Khan proxy for Pakistan Army's 'minus two' gambit?

The most significant thing at the several ‘jalsas’ (protest rallies) that opposition have been organising across the country in Pakistan is to challenge the army’s role and, for the first time, the top brass is being named, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor