The ambitious provisions of fundamental rights mentioned in Nepal’s Constitution would lose its charm if the state turns a deaf ear in giving effect to its provisions in a true and material sense, writes Jivesh Jha  for South Asia Monitor

Onions may just be a singular example but if unwritten undertakings are violated, the saga of bans exemplify a larger story of how a trust deficit ensures that trade within South Asia remains perhaps the lowest in the world, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor

The new defence agreement is a clear shift in the Maldives position towards the US after a period when the government in Male forged close economic and political ties with Beijing, writes Shubha Singh for South Asia Monitor

The progress of India’s air bubble agreements with neighbouring South Asian countries bears watching in the period ahead, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor

Though, the Pakistan government does not officially support discrimination against Shias, it is failing to efficiently counter the influence of extremists and bring an end to violence against the community, writes Sanchita Bhattacharya for South Asia Monitor

Had the Kra Canal come up, China would have taken control of it in all probability like the Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka giving it a tremendous strategic advantage, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor

With the setting up of world-class education at low cost India will begin to attract students from neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Maldives, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka for whom it is the first choice of destination when it comes to studying abroad, writes Dr. Sheenu Jain for South Asia Monitor

The Ambala media extravaganza ought to encourage an internal review by the Modi government about strategic communication and related signalling in matters military. Carry a big stick but talk softly is an adage that has not lost its relevance, writes C Uday Bhaskar for South Asia Monitor

Trade instruments like the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) and the Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade (ISFTA) agreements are some of the gainful tools with which the US can use to access South Asia’s consumer markets, write Srimal Fernando and Vedangshi Roy Choudhuri for South Asia Monitor 

It is high time that the child marriage rate - gone up during the pandemic - should be brought down drastically and for this, the Bangladesh government, NGOs, and society at large should work together to put an end to this menace, writes  Sarmin Akter for South Asia Monitor

Cross border marriage, i.e., matrimony between Nepali son/daughter and India’s son/daughter, is very common in bordering districts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. This is the reason why Nepal's Madheshis treat Indian soil as their relatives’ home, not a foreign land, write Jivesh Jha & Roshan Kumar Jha for South Asia Monitor

The Chinese had realised that not only were they outnumbered but totally outflanked, making their position untenable. Any armed clash hereafter would have been suicidal, writes Anil Bhat for South Asia Monitor 

India has tremendous goodwill and support from the international community which will influence Chinese future manoeuvres against India, writes Lt Gen PR Kumar (retd) for South Asia Monitor

Though the party crisis seems to have blown over, for the time being, the future of the Congress does not appear to be bright. And it has nothing to do with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), writes Vinod Aggarwal for South Asia Monitor

India-Bangladesh relations have grown deeper and wider in scope in the past decade. But irritants and hitches can develop between neighbours with even the best of ties, writes Shubha Singh for South Asia Monitor