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Even short of nuclear war, it is open to debate if India, the preponderant South Asian military power, has the capacity to beat Pakistan at this juncture.

India must persist as future of South Asia is embedded in a firm Delhi-Dhaka engagement.

India and Bangladesh, acting together, can drive South Asia’s economic and social progress

With tensions between an aggressive China and an emerging India intensifying, there will be significant changes and challenges in the Indian Ocean and South Asian regions

The visit of Mr. S Jaishankar, India's Foreign Secretary, to Kabul this week came at the fag end of his trip to all the other South Asian neighbouring countries. During this brief visit, he met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and reaffirmed India's commitment to stay the course in Afghanistan.

Though there is a need for a neutral Afghanistan, the prevailing geopolitics of South Asia and the domestic politics of Afghanistan make the 'Congress of Vienna' model and a neutral Afghanistan too utopian a dream to be achieved anytime soon.

The 'Arab Spring' has given an opportunity to India to present itself as a model to other countries, feels Prof Gawdat Bhagat of the Near-East and South Asia Centre for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University, Washington DC.

This report explores strategies to strengthen the relationships among Global South countries, with a focus on enhancing regional synergy between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation BIMSTEC. The report provides an overview of BIMSTEC’s rising significance as a link between South Asia and Southeast Asia, provides insights into the growing need fo

As he packs his bags for the first foreign policy venture in the new year ¿ the annual summit of the South Asian nations in Dhaka ¿ Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has two options. The default one would be to let the foreign office bureaucracy work out an anodyne declaration of good intentions on future cooperation.

Recently security agencies arrested 12 activists of the banned militant organisation Harkatul Jihad in Bangladesh. These arrests revealed that the group was preparing merger with the South Asia chapter of the international militant organisation Al-Qaeda.

Bangladesh, once described as 'basket case' by veteran US strategist Henry Kissinger, has gathered new prominence in US' South Asia policy. The visit of US Secretary of State by Hillary Clinton in May this year that resulted in signing of a joint statement

As the Quad gains momentum, states in the Indo-Pacific and South Asia are more likely to resist Chinese largesse

It has been a few weeks since the ¿momentous¿ Islamabad declaration by Indian PM Vajpayee and Pakistani leader Gen.Musharraf. The full effects of the declaration may not be known for a few months at least, but there have been enough clues coming out of South Asia for prognosticators to decipher. But first one must look at the declaration itself.

Bhutan, the tiny South Asian country, is a power-house literally. Power constitutes the country's single largest export item. The Himalayan kingdom is located in one of the fastest growing regions of the world.

The little Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, owing to its strategic geographic location, is turning out to be the new hub for regional cooperation in South Asia. Bhutan's hydro-power prospects are no secret.

As the Bay of Bengal region continues to rise as an economic and strategic hub, there is increasing awareness of the role to be played by the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) in promoting growth, development and stability in the region. Having kept a low profile in its 20 years of existence, BIMSTEC is now being seen as a potential driver of integration between South Asia and Southeast As

This brief discusses the climate change challenges facing the member states of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and the initiatives taken by them to mitigate the effects. The South Asian countries within BIMSTEC are particularly vulnerable to global warming-induced weather variations that cause economic damage and loss of lives. At the same time, BIMSTEC economies have achieved impressiv

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) has gained more importance recently because of the many hurdles that have come in the way of the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) since 2016, mainly due to issues between India and Pakistan. This brief explores the possibilities of stronger trade and investment ties between the BIMSTEC nations by expediting the signing of a Free Trade Agreement (F

Bangladesh has not only become the second-fastest growing economy in South Asia, it has also made significant headway in reducing malnutrition. This success owes, in part, to nutrition-sensitive interventions, including provision of diversified foods, improved sanitation, and women’s empowerment. The country’s strategy of a multi-sector approach that scales up health and nutrition programmes for women, in particular, has shown consistent resu

This paper explores the various opportunities and challenges of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation or BIMSTEC, a unique inter-regional grouping composed of aspiring member countries from South Asia and Southeast Asia. While the grouping has massive potential to contribute to regional cooperation, this paper explores the capabilities of the organisation in terms of meeting the expectations of renewed

BRICS Summit this weekend in Goa with will invariably be coloured by the recent events in South Asia in the aftermath of the surgical strikes.

Pragmatism is redefining India-Sri Lanka relations

The Afghan-Pakistani region is in transition and the changing geo-political realities will have new implications, says Kamran Bokhari, Vice President of Middle Eastern and South Asian Affairs at Stratfor. He says old paradigms cannot be used to gauge new realities.

Chinese reports in the ‘Global Times’ have portrayed MILAN as an inflammatory tactic, aimed at ‘spreading tensions from the land to the sea’, a blatant Indian attempt to undermine Chinese influence in South Asia.

As the gap between its power and that of China grows, India needs the US to balance China in the South Asia-Indian Ocean Region. The Indian contribution, military or economic, towards a strong American Indo-Pacific strategy appears more nebulous. This is an asymmetry which cannot but have real-life consequences. India should not assume that antipathy to China alone will be the over-riding factor in the US global policy.

Recently China reiterated its interest in constructing a deep seaport in Bangladesh. The Chinese interest in the project reportedly arises because of two reasons. One, to further strengthen its presence in the South Asia region,

Territorial disputes between China and Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea and between Japan and South Korea over the Takeshima/Dokdo islands in the Sea of Japan have,particularly in the second half of 2012, given rise to concerns about peace and security in North East Asia. Territorial disputes between China and Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands in the East China Sea and between Japan and South Korea over the Takes

China's relation with Pakistan has become one of the most comprehensive one that Beijing has with any country. The strategic imperatives of developing Pakistan as a bulwark against India has been among Beijing's overriding objectives in influencing the balance of power in South Asia.

For Russia and even Central Asian countries, China can act as a catalyst to market their hydrocarbon resources to South Asia and beyond, opening an opportunity for gas exports too. Russia's $400 billion gas deal with China is a case in point.

As South Asia faces an increasingly complex and expanding disaster risk landscape, the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the systemic gaps in risk management. There is a need for a paradigm shift in disaster risk reduction—from a single-hazard, single-sector perspective to a multi-hazard, multi-sectoral, and systemic risk perspective supported by parallel risk financing measures. This brief examines the current gaps in the efficient operatio

India’s interest in cultivating the Colombo Security Conclave as a vital forum in the region is demonstrated by its need to look for avenues to enhance cooperation in the Indian Ocean

Recent grey-zone activity in maritime-Asia suggests an increase in hybrid warfare, even as the lines between military, economic, diplomatic, intelligence and criminal means of aggression become increasingly blurred. By replacing overt military aggression with soft provocations – kept well below the threshold of open warfare – aggressors attempt to leverage asymmetry, ambiguity and incrementalism for strategic effects. These tactics are highly

Development and production of tactical nuclear weapons (TNWs) by Pakistan has increased the level of tensions in South Asia, though it has, in an attempt to ease global concerns over its development of TNWs, has assured that its top leadership will continue to have complete control over its TNWs if deployed.

The relationship has its roots in history, but both States have ensured continuous engagement, crucial for contemporary South Asian relations

This paper assesses how a transformational technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be used by malicious actors to manipulate information and influence election results. It analyses the impact of such activities, and explores ways by which democratic polities can address this challenge. Reviewing cases from India and other countries in South Asia, and the United States, the paper also looks at the required regulatory landscape. It outline

SAARC remains the only viable vehicle for South Asian integration, a project vital for India because a viable South Asian economy is a necessary pre-condition for our ability to engage effectively with ASEAN and China. And when we look at SAARC, the key hurdle it must overcome is the India-Pakistan problem.

In this crowded region of South Asia, we must find sufficient space to swim together, or we are doomed to sink separately.

Indian Foreign Secretary Ms Nirupama Rao has suggested joint management of fisheries resources, alternative methods of fishing and examining alternative livelihood to resolve the fisheries disputes between countries in the South Asian region.

France has continued to remain one of India’s trusted strategic partners, with cooperation extending across many issues.

Despite sharing a close historical relationship based on the Soviet Union’s support during the 1971 Liberation War, Bangladesh had for long been out of the scope of Russia’s foreign policy priorities. This is best exemplified by the fact that no Soviet/Russian foreign minister had visited the country until September 2023. However, amid Western sanctions due to its war in Ukraine and tensions with the US, Russia is seeking to reinvigorate ties

India’s engagement with Southeast Asia entered a new phase following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third consecutive electoral victory in June 2024. With the ‘Act East’ policy too, marking its 10th anniversary in 2024, New Delhi has intensified its regional outreach through an unprecedented series of high-level diplomatic exchanges, security partnerships, and strategic dialogues. This brief examines how this surge in engagement is both a

The Indian proposal for a SAARC power-grid, revived by Union Minister Piyush Goyal, has the potential to increase power-generation in South Asia. It also has the potential to reverse the way the South Asia thinks about itself - and the world thinks about South Asia, besides cutting oil bills of countries like India.

Saying that South Asian countries need to work closely to share, and not divide, water, the author says the consequence of bringing water to a pedestal on India-Pakistan relations can have devastating effects on regional security and prosperity.

An international conference on South Asia's water future, organised by Observer Research Foundation in association with the PHD Chamber of Commerce, has underlined the need for proper management of this largely exploited and poorly utilized natural resource.

The normalisation of trade between India and Pakistan could lead to preferential trade arrangement under SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Agreement of 1996). This would increase regional trade and stability.

India and Nepal are fellow riparian nations in South Asia and thus could potentially use their shared water resources as avenues for collaborative effort. Using water to generate hydropower for maximum benefit comes from a place of mutual interest, allowing for optimum leverage for the socio-economic development of both countries. This brief outlines a history of the India-Nepal hydroelectric power scenario, and offers recommendations for growth.