South Asian Digests
Afghan newspapers stop printing, go online
September 25, 2021
Sri Lanka arrests Tamil MP for commemorating...
September 25, 2021
Top UN official urges Myanmar action ‘before...
September 25, 2021
Time to challenge what we know: Radwan Mujib...
September 24, 2021
Ice-age children’s handprints found in India...
September 24, 2021
Ambassadors appointed by Oli government to be...
September 22, 2021
Putin phones Khan as Afghanistan brings Pak,...
September 16, 2021
Bhutan delivers 230,000 doses of Covid-19 vac...
August 7, 2021
Top News
India’s Afghan policy may impact its ties in Middle East
September 24, 2021
| By: Shafeeq Rahman
In the aftermath of the messy evacuation of US forces from Afghanistan and dethroning of an elected government by the Taliban, India has undergone a diplomatic row while its relations have been already soured with China and Pakistan.
New Delhi has invested heavily in Afghanistan to get the US and its allies’ support amid the disputes with neighboring countries specifically to combat the ambitions of China and its massive infrastructure investment in the region.
This...
SOUTH ASIAN BRIEF
How the Quad Surged Back From Irrelevance
Welcome to Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief.
The highlights this week: Washington hosts the first in-person Quad leaders’ summit, India announces it will resume COVID-19 vaccine exports, and the troubling plight of Sri Lankan refugees in India.
The group has seen significant momentum in the last year. The Quad navies held a military...
Reports
Indian photographer in video stomps on man shot...
September 25, 2021
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By: SAM Staff
A video of a photographer stomping and attacking the body of a man shot by the police in the northeastern state of Assam has gone viral in India, triggering uproar and protests.
In the video, which has not been independently verified by Al Jazeera, a...
Attacks on Myanmar military spike following call...
September 24, 2021
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By: SAM Staff
Clashes between the Myanmar military and a growing resistance movement called the People's Defense Force have intensified following calls for open uprisings by the parallel government formed by ousted politicians and activists.
The PDF consists of militias that have been formed throughout Myanmar since May...
Taliban ask to participate in UNGA, mominate Suh...
September 24, 2021
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By: SAM Staff
The Taliban have written to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres nominating their spokesman Suhail Shaheen as Afghanistan’s new ambassador to the UN and have asked to participate and speak in the high-level 76th session of the General Assembly currently underway here.
The nomination sets up a confrontation...
SAARC foreign ministers’ meet cancelled after Pa...
September 24, 2021
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By: SAM Staff
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) foreign ministers meet slated to be held on Saturday in New York has been cancelled.
It is learnt from reliable sources that Pakistan wanted the Taliban to represent Afghanistan in the SAARC meet. India along with some other...
SAM Special
Tough road ahead for Kashmir separatist movement after Geelani
September 24, 2021
| By: SAM Staff
Earlier this month, Indian-administered Kashmir lost its most powerful voice demanding freedom from New Delhi’s rule: Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
Geelani died on September 1 after a prolonged illness at his residence in the main city of Srinagar, where he had been under house arrest for years. He was 92.
For decades, Geelani headed the Kashmiri separatist group, All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), which campaigns for either the region’s merger with Muslim-majority Pakistan or the...
Issues
Pakistan enlists Afghan Taliban to rein in group...
September 24, 2021
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By: Tom Hussain
Afghanistan’s Taliban regime is playing a pivotal role in backchannel talks between Pakistan’s government and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan insurgents (TTP), top officials indicated, after Islamabad offered a conditional amnesty for surrendering militants.
While the prospects of a peace deal remain remote, officials said Pakistan hopes the Taliban’s involvement...
Why a shift in militants’ strategy could shine a...
September 24, 2021
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By: Dr. James Dorsey
A paradigm shift in jihadist thinking suggests that the US invasion of Afghanistan may prove to have achieved more than many counterterrorism experts would want policymakers and military strategists to believe.
The evolution of tensions and unfolding of differences in the world of Afghan militancy...
Assam govt evicts over 800 families from village...
September 24, 2021
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By: SAM Staff
The Assam government carried out a massive eviction drive in a village on a sandbar in the Darrang district on Monday, September 20, leaving at least 800 families homeless.
This was the second round of evictions carried out in the last three months at the...
Myanmar’s shadow government plans US$300 million...
September 24, 2021
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By: SAM Staff
With only six per cent of junta-ruled Myanmar’s 54 million people vaccinated, the country’s shadow government is planning to channel much of its revenue from global crowdfunding campaigns towards inoculating as many residents as possible.
The National Unity Government’s (NUG) finance minister Tin Tun Naing told This...
Opinion
AUKUS fallout misses the silent spearhead lurk...
September 18, 2021
| By: Alexander Neill
Defence
Defence ministry orders 118 Arjun Mark 1-A tan...
September 25, 2021
| By: Shehesh Alex Philip
Air Marshal VR Chaudhari appointed as next Chi...
September 22, 2021
| By: SAM Staff
Editor`s Choice
India’s Covid-19 tsunami
By: Shashi Tharoor
It is humbling when a columnist must retract his words soon after penning them. Just two months ago, after India rushed millions of doses of...
Quad lacks moral authority in South China Sea
By: Bhim Bhurtel
At the virtual summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue held on March 12, the Quad leaders reiterated their firm commitment that the rules-based international order...
Indonesia seeks to broker Taliban peace deal...
By: Randy Mulyanto
Former Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said he has traveled to Afghanistan and Qatar several times in recent months to help broker a peace deal...
Vista Of Views
AUKUS to bring ‘nuclear-powered submarine fever’ across globe
September 18, 2021
| By: SAM Staff
Focus
Nepal
Britain and India want Gurkha women to fight in their armies. Nepal’s not so sure
September 24, 2021
| By: Tom Hussain
The Gurkhas are known for being among the most feared fighting men in the British and Indian armies. And, if London and New Delhi have their way, they could soon be known for being the most fearsome fighting women too.
Both Britain and India had hoped that their long held ambitions to enlist Gurkha women in their militaries would finally bear fruit this year, but with little more than three months to go before the...
No other global leader that we have seen, took such an initiative to leverage his/her position to save the innocent. … He has been gracious with his time and never once questioned our motives.
U.S. conservative commentator Glenn Beck, praising Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for assisting in Beck’s efforts to evacuate Afghans from the city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
Audio
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Why Abdullah Abdullah visited Pakistan and India? November 4, 2020
China halts new coal-fired power plants abroa...
September 24, 2021
By erasing traces of the Massacre, the Jallia...
September 9, 2021
Trauma lingers in novel about Sri Lanka's civ...
September 6, 2021
Hunting for Nepal's stolen idols
September 4, 2021
Syed Ali Shah Geelani was symbol of Kashmir r...
September 3, 2021
The Maldives Knows Y.O.L.O.
August 13, 2021
Fighting Myanmar's regime with compassion and...
August 4, 2021
In Bangladesh, musicians sing songs of loss a...
August 4, 2021