ISSUES

ISSUES

Chinese envoy repeats friendship offer to India


For the second time this year, Chinese ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui has come up with a concrete plan to break the jinx causing a sharp downslide in Sino-Indian relations and put it back... More

Modi comes calling again: But the icon of March 2015 is...


On his first visit to Sri Lanka in March 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a South Asian icon to be looked up to and emulated. His rise from being a humble tea... More

The Supreme Court jailed a Calcutta High Court judge


The Supreme Court on Tuesday sentenced sitting Calcutta High Court judge Justice C S Karnan to six months imprisonment. The apex court held Justice CS Karnan guilty of contempt of court for his utterances... More

India should reconsider B & R, says Chinese media


China's Ambassador to India as well as economic experts, have raised their voices once again about the lack of India’s participation in the Belt and Road initiative. China's influential newspaper Global Times quoted them... More

RSS Babies: ‘Genius’ baby engineering in India is ‘Straight out of...


India's largest Hindu far-right organisation said it is working with expectant couples in the country to produce "customised" babies, who, they hope, will be taller, fairer and smarter than other babies, according to a... More

Brainstorming sessions of Indian Diplomats posted worldwide


To enhance India's security in what is being seen as an increasingly difficult neighbourhood, the Indian government wants to use its foreign policy for a more intense involvement in line with global developments. The... More

Indian govt blocks Mamata’s China trip


The Indian government has put a damper on the plans of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to visit China this June at the invitation of the Chinese government. In view of heightened tensions... More

New defence doctrine: Indian armed forces to stretch security duty beyond...


With growing aspirations as a nation with a greater role in the new world order, India strives for more intense involvement with global developments. Itprepares to use its geographical location and multifaceted national power... More

India’s Assam under AFSPA for 26 years, Delhi declares move to...


The Indian government has declared the entire Assam as a “disturbed” area under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) for three more months, citing various violent activities by insurgent groups. The Union Home Ministry... More

The Kashmir war on virtual space


Young Kashmiris are at war with the Indian government, on the streets, and on the Internet. They are resisting India’s social media crackdown by using Internet proxy services. Last month, authorities in Indian-occupied Kashmir... More

Nepal SC stays impeachment motion : CJ Karki resumes office


Hours after the Supreme Court (SC)’s interim order, Nepal Chief Justice Sushila Karki has resumed the office from Friday evening. The SC Friday afternoon had directed the Legislature-Parliament to put on hold the impeachment motion... More

Hekmatyar Extends Brotherhood Hand to Taliban


Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan (HIA) leader Gulbadin Hekmatyar on Friday once again called on the Taliban to respond positively to people’s demand for peace so the Afghans were able to resolve their problems themselves. Referring to the... More

China can work on RCEP Deal without India, says private think...


According to the report of a Beijing-Based private think tank China can work with Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement without India. China’s Global Times referenced the report saying that although Japan is trying... More

China Says Will Not Be Mediator Between Pakistan, India, Over Kashmir


On Wednesday, China said that it has no plans to become a mediator between India and Pakistan in resolving the Kashmir dispute. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has... More

India should focus on regional strength, not be unnerved by China


Chinese media suggests that India should focus on regional strength and not on conspiracy theories.  The State backed Chinese newspaper “Global Times” in a report published on  (3rd May 2017) asked India to shed... More

Situation in Kashmir never scarier: RAW’s former chief


A former head of India’s external spy agency RAW believes that the situation in India-held Kashmir was never scarier, not even in the 1990s when armed resistance was at its peak, the Indian Express... More

Controversy centering a Kolkata judge


In its unprecedented legal battle revolving around the controversial Calcutta High Court judge, the Supreme Court said on Monday that Justice C S Karnan will be medically examined by government doctors. The medical examination of... More

Why does Modi want to meet Trump so soon?

Within six days of Donald Trump becoming US president, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi phoned him to say that India was America’s true friend. Later White House issued a statement inviting Modi to visit America... More

India’s space diplomacy and the South Asian satellite

Even since coming to power, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has placed importance on relations with the neighbours. In 2014 he called upon the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to take up a space... More

Joint Statement on Hasina’s India Visit: Bangladesh calls its own system discriminatory to...


Bangladesh has called one of its own systems discriminatory towards India in the joint the statement issued on 8 April by Bangladesh and India during prime minister’s state visit to India. However it was not... More

Shunned ex-Tamil Tiger militants begin to find acceptance in Tamil polity 


For 30 years, when war between Tamil militants and government forces was raging in the Tamil areas of North and East Sri Lanka, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were accepted by the... More

COLUMN

The lady and the generals are learning...

In the last few weeks there has been growing speculation that Myanmar’s military leaders are planning a possible coup if the country’s new democratic government, led by the charismatic democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, continues to falter. Many Myanmar analysts and commentators are finding fault with... More

Punish the real culprit(s)!

Facing the storm unleashed by the leaking of the Cyril Almeida story, “Act Against Militants or Face International Isolation, Civilians Tell Military,” the Nawaz Sharif government labelled it as being ‘fabricated and planted.” The PM Office’s initial statement about DawnLeaks that “evidence available so far points to... More

Economic migration: Why flee from an emerging...

Bangladesh has been a top performing economy in Asia, averaging a 6 % + growth rate largely driven by exports, particularly the garments sector, for almost a decade.  Problems do remain though and the World Economic Forum has suggested that better infrastructure, less bureaucratic hassle and less... More

Repeal AFSPA in India

The draconian Indian law, Armed Forces Special Powers Act or AFSPA, has wiped out the human face of counter-insurgency in the country’s many conflict zones. Just see the Bollywood film "Haider" and you know how AFSPA is misused in places like Kashmir. Often it leads to “use... More

Pakistan’s attempts to woo Afghanistan backfire

Last 2 weeks saw a lot of diplomatic activity taking place between Pakistan and Afghanistan on the question of ‘restroing trust’ between them. Apart from Pakistan’s ISI chief’s visit to Kabul, a parliamentary delegation did also visit Afghanistan to  reportedly bridge the ever widening gap between the... More

EDITOR'S CHOICE

No easy refuge from death row for Kulbhushan Jadhav

The movie version of this script, we’re all familiar with: “no, your honour”, shouts the lawyer, the mother tears up, the judge bangs his gavel in approval and the hero walks off death row.... More

Network is the key

Official India has turned its back on China’s celebration of President Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) this week in Beijing. Some in Beijing and Delhi have warned India against isolating itself amidst... More

Regional connectivity projects can support India’s ambitions

India's Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has called for an increased defense budget and insists the country should look for new allies to deal with its neighbors along the northern and western borders, according... More

Returning the award

My friends in Bangladesh are insisting that I explain why I am returning the award bestowed upon my father Professor Waris Mir in 2013 by Sheikh Hasina Wazed. There have been many comments about... More

MOST POPULAR

READER'S VIEW

Reaction to “Behind Hasina’s RAW tirade”

David Bergman, British investigative journalist based in Bangladesh, commented on a recently published column of South Asian Monitor titled "SOUTHERN EYE: Behind Hasina’s RAW tirade" in his facebook profile. "This is a fascinating and detailed article... More

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