All of this would be consequential even under a fully elected government with a clear popular mandate. It becomes more troubling when done by an interim administration. Trade and security alignments of this magnitude shape a nation’s geopolitical posture for decades. They influence relations with China, Russia, India, the European Union, and ASEAN. They affect bargaining positions in multilateral forums. They alter perceptions among investors and strategic planners. After the national election on February 12, the elected government will inherit this architecture. They will face a choice: comply and accept narrowed autonomy, or attempt renegotiation and risk economic retaliation.
The Constitution of India enshrines fraternity as a foundational value alongside liberty, equality, and justice. Yet fraternity cannot survive on parchment alone; it requires everyday acts of courage. Deepak Kumar’s gesture — simple, instinctive, humane — stands in contrast to the flood of rhetoric that seeks to divide citizens along religious lines. It reminds us that the long history of Hindu-Muslim interaction in food, literature, architecture, festivals, and everyday life cannot be erased by slogans.
If Jamaat comes to power it will likely begin with populist moves such as anti-corruption drives, predicts Ahmedur Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi writer and editor who has been living in Norway since surviving a 2015 attack. He says he fears mobilisation of religious groups to push for declaring Bangladesh an Islamic republic and enforce Sharia law. The result would be shrinking freedoms for women, curbs on cultural life, and serious threats to freedom of expression, religious minorities, and secular political and cultural spaces.
The threat from ISIS-K is real and growing. A resurgence in Pakistan would have serious implications for the broader region, including India. The danger is compounded if Pakistan once again attempts to clandestinely redirect ISIS-K towards Kashmir. What may appear as an isolated terror incident is, in fact, part of a wider pattern that demands sustained vigilance. Pakistan’s internal security instability risks creating openings for cross-border terror movements, potentially hardening new militant modules aimed at India and beyond.
The Narerri Lagoon along the coast of the Arabian Sea, in the extreme south of district Badin in Sindh province, has been one of the few famous natural lakes of the province which is a recognized Ramsar wetland site since 2001, writes Muhammad Abbas Khaskheli for South Asia Monitor
Hasina's government has also been very distressed with provisions in the Indian Citizenship Amendment Act, which singles out Bangladesh, along with Pakistan and Afghanistan, as nations which persecute their minorities, writes Nilova Roy Chaudhury for South Asia Monitor
Hasina has some of the finest diplomats and public faces to handle the initial take-off of a South Asian peace process, if she were to push it, though much depends on how India and Pakistan respond, writes Subir Bhaumik for South Asia Monitor
While countries of the South Asian region are taking individual steps to battle COVID-19, currency swaps have emerged as an important tool of economic cooperation in the region, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor
The media and newspaper industry in Bangladesh face two major challenges: First, economical challenges, and second, the repression by the government that has stifled the freedom of expression and has made various attempts to silence critical coverage, writes Aashish Kiphayet for South Asia Monitor
The colonial legacy of the Indian police highlights how the use of force is endemic to policing in India, manifest in the organizational structure and the professional culture which often tolerates and even promotes abuse, write Subhranil Ghosh and Sreemoyee Majumder for South Asia Monitor
Deterrence requires a national strategy that integrates diplomatic, informational, military, and economic powers. India must develop strategies, plans, and operations that are tailored to the perceptions, values, and interests of specific adversaries, writes Lt Gen P R Kumar (retd) for South Asia Monitor
In the event of any hostility with China, India will have to fight two-front war because Pakistan also has assembled a sizeable number of troops and military assets in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, writes Susmit Kumar for South Asia Monitor
India under PM Modi is charting new territory in a clear break from the past. Indian foreign policy has shifted its goalposts, both in style and substance, writes Amb Bhaswati Mukherjee (retd) for South Asia Monitor
Bangladesh is strategically important to China for dominating the Bay of Bengal in conjunction with Myanmar, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (Retd) for South Asia Monitor
The Pakistan government claims that the Diamer-Bhasha dam project will generate 4,500 megawatts of electricity which will be much cheaper in cost. But the reality is that the world has much better, environmental-friendly, cheaper, and sustainable solutions to generate electricity, writes Muhammad Abbas Khaskheli for South Asia Monitor
Despite the US raising the ante with China over South China Sea and prioritizing freedom of the oceans, New Delhi remains wary of entering into a formal alliance with Washington, writes C Uday Bhaskar for South Asia Monitor
Ershad may have gone, but his shadow can still be seen in the political theatre of Bangladesh, writes Aashish Kiphayet for South Asia Monitor
It is to Rao's credit that within a short period of time he not only arrested the decline of his party but was able to unite the country on the most productive political platforms since the freedom movement - the pursuit of prosperity, writes Tarun Basu for South Asia Monitor
The southwest monsoon’s impact is felt throughout South Asia. Above-normal rainfall is likely over Pakistan, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka, while it could be less than normal in Bangladesh, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
