Friday, March 10, 2017

LEAD

LEAD

US navy moves quickly to stem China’s monopoly over Hambantota port

The US navy’s move to quickly establish its presence in the controversy-ridden Chinese-built Hambantota port in South Sri Lanka, in collaboration with allies Japan and Australia, stems from the West’s anxiety over China’s current and potential moves in South Asia and... More

India visit: Time for Hasina to show her cards


For Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina it’s time to show her cards. Her close ally India is fast growing impatient. The confidence India had in her is gradually declining. New Delhi feels that it is slowly losing its grip on Bangladesh.... More

India changing attitude towards trans-continental connectivity!


India has invited six countries including Pakistan to create a trans-continental rail network amid its long opposition to China initiated One Belt One Road (OBOR) and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It is being hinted that the South Asian giant may take... More

India prepares new war plan for Bay of Bengal


India goes for new war plan to counter increasing threat in and around Indian Ocean including Bay of Bengal. India’s war doctrine, till now, hinged on a possible two-pronged adversarial scenario keeping Pakistan and China in mind. A move is underway... More

Tackling the Dragon


China and its growing influence in South Asia was the focus of India's top diplomat Subrahmanyam Jaishankar's  three-nation tour (Feb. 18-24). The Indian foreign secretary participated in India's first strategic dialogue with the Chinese government at Beijing, which Delhi welcomed as a... More

Jaishankar’s visit: Bringing BD back to the fold?


Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is on a short visit to Bangladesh. What messages is he bringing in for Bangladesh? Speculations abound. Indian sources say that his tour is mainly to formalize a date for the visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister... More

A glimpse into the saga of Sri Lanka’s constitutional reforms

The attempts by Sri Lanka’s National Unity government to draft a new constitution in order to seek a permanent solution to the long drawn Tamil ethnic question is afloat in the grey skies of ambiguity. Although six subcommittees on various subjects had... More

SAARC assailed by fresh debate


Fresh debate has arisen over the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation or SAARC. The SAARC summit scheduled to be held in Islamabad last November was postponed due to India and some other countries deciding not to join. This further strained... More

A lull in the NGO movement


The NGO movement in Bangladesh is steadily losing steam.  Land rights, health awareness, AIDS, local government, arsenic contamination and media freedom as well as other issues pertaining to public interest, are no longer in the limelight due to the inertia among... More

Much-talked US Seventh Fleet will get service in India


Much-talked US Seventh Fleet which was deployed into Bay of Bengal during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, led by the USS Enterprise nuclear powered aircraft carrier to threaten India to withdraw its offensive, is now to get service in... More

Is Beijing worried about Chinese investment and trade environment in India?


It seems China is becoming increasingly worried about the trade environment and existing Chinese investment in India. With tensions in the political and strategic relationship between these two countries as well as India’s new policy and various conservative initiatives to build... More

Speculations of military intervention keep Suu Kyi silent


Speculations of military intervention in the political process of Myanmar are growing hard to ignore. This buzz is growing louder with the military operation against Rohingyas following the October attack on a Rakhine border post and later the assassination of U... More

West Bengal objects to BD’s Ganges Barrage too


West Bengal has been a major obstacle to the Teesta water agreement between Bangladesh and India. They are now objecting to the Ganges Barrage Project proposed by Bangladesh. Recently in a letter to the Indian government, West Bengal Chief Secretary Basudev Bandyopadhyay... More

India, Pakistan, Bangladesh to be 2nd, 15th & 23rd largest economies...


IMF predicts that world economy will be centered on Asia by the year 2050, shifting from North America, Western Europe and Japan. And three large countries of South Asia- India, Pakistan and Bangladesh - are primed to lead this economic change. In... More
Afghanistan peace

Russia to host 6-nation conference on Afghan peace


Russia is set to host a six-nation conference this month to discuss the Afghanistan peace process. Arch rivals Pakistan and India have also been invited, along with China, Afghanistan and Iran. This initiative is being viewed as an unprecedented development for a... More

New CEC triggers old controversy


Speculations about the political and election scenario in Bangladesh are drawing to a close with the restructure of the Election Commission. President Abdul Hamid on Monday night formed the new Election Commission with former bureaucrat Nurul Huda as Chief Election Commissioner... More

Turmoil in India’s Northeast again as Nagaland erupts


Violent protests have forced the government in India’s Nagaland state to cancel elections to ten town councils in an unprecedented gesture to placate angry tribesmen upset with reservation of seats for women. The Nagaland government declared as null and void the results... More

Lanka re-negotiating Hambantota port deal with China

Welcome or not, it does look like the Chinese are here to stay, at least in Hambantota, Sri Lanka. In the port and the envisaged industrial zone, to be precise, it’s been about brickbats or bouquets. More accurately, there’s been quite a lot of brickbats these days, especially from the old chum... More

Strategic equations block solution to Rohingya crisis


The Rohingya crisis is one of the most widely discussed issues in the world right now. A population of more than three million Rohingyas, the majority of whom lived in Myanmar’s southern state Rakhine for generations spanning almost hundred years, are... More

Can BD’s economy base ensure sustainable development?


In recent years Bangladesh economy has been enjoying an upper-mid growth rate, but it is doubtful whether this development will be sustainable for a long term. The government has fixed a target of 7.2 percent growth rate in the ongoing fiscal... More

Trump administration for aggressive policy on Pakistan?


The Trump administration is showing glimpses of a possible hardline policy against Pakistan. After Trump hinted at his stern attitude about Pakistan in a recent interview with ABC news, the White House has officially stated that Pakistan might be added to... More

COLUMNS

(Exclusive): Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move to grant citizenship to Hindus from Bangladesh... More

(Exclusive): China and Thailand have long yearned to find faster and more efficient... More

The Central Statistics Organisation (CSO) is an honourable institution. Dr Pronab Sen, the... More

(Exclusive): Over the past few months, particularly in the post-sanctions era, Iran has... More

EDITOR'S CHOICE

AFTER the cataclysmic events of September 2001, a war was declared on ‘terrorism’.... More

This week’s gathering of the Indian Ocean leaders in Jakarta has drawn a... More

Afghans often proudly refer to their country as “the graveyard of empires”. Today,... More

While China’s growing alliance with Pakistan has raised alarm in relevant quarters in... More

MOST POPULAR

READERS' VIEWS

This week people in Myanmar were forced to confront the kind of country... More

Myanmar is currently in the throes of a massive humanitarian crisis. Thousands of... More