News, policy, and perspectives from India and its neighbourhood — tracking the pulse of South Asia
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in New Delhi on Friday determined to show that neither Moscow nor the BRICS grouping is in the business of isolation. Hours after landing for the three-day 18th BRICS summit, he sat down with Prime…
Foreign funding for civil society organisations has always occupied a sensitive space in India. Such contributions support work in education, healthcare, humanitarian assistance, social development and community welfare. At the same time, the government has a legitimate responsibility to ensure…
China’s rivers have long been pressed into the service of the state. Today they are being conscripted on an unprecedented scale. By the end of 2025 the country’s installed hydropower capacity stood at roughly 450 gigawatts, more than 40% higher…
In the steep valleys of northern Nepal, the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers usually announce their moods with the monsoon. On the morning of 26th August they did not. At roughly 8.37am a mass of ice and rock sheared from…
After a month of student unrest forced an education minister from office, the country’s leaders have taken to Instagram with the zeal of mid-life converts to TikTok. In the sticky heat of a Delhi July, thousands of young Indians—many styling…
On a cloudy Saturday in July, a rocket named after the father of India’s space programme lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota and reached orbit on its first attempt. Vikram-1, developed by the Hyderabad-based startup Skyroot…
The alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram temple in Ayodhya has become more than a criminal investigation. It has evolved into a political and institutional test for the organisations that spent decades building the Ram Janmabhoomi movement into the…
In the shadow of the majestic Ram Mandir in Ayodhya where millions of devotees have poured their faith and savings into hundi boxes as offerings to Lord Ram, a betrayal unfolded that has shaken the very foundations of one of…
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Friday said that the alleged embezzlement of donation at Ram temple in Ayodhya had “deeply hurt” the sentiments of Ram devotees and all of the society, and called for stringent punishment for those guilty.…
For more than five centuries, the dusty town of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh has been a crucible of Hindu yearning and Muslim grievance. At its heart lies a plot of land claimed as the birthplace of Lord Ram, the ideal…
Killing of three Indian merchant sailors by US forces in the Gulf has triggered a widespread outarge across India and sharp criticism of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The incident, which occurred late on Friday, has escalated diplomatic tensions between…
On the evening of 3 May 2026, hours after 2.27 million students sat India’s National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG), a chemistry tutor in Rajasthan opened a PDF that was already circulating through coaching circles and WhatsApp groups. Labelled as “guess paper”,…
As the heads of India’s Border Security Force (BSF) and Bangladesh’s Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) prepare to convene in New Delhi from June 8th to 11th for their 57th Director General-level coordination conference, the meeting carries more than routine diplomatic…
In the rush to shield the young from the seductions and snares of social media, governments risk exposing everyone else to greater perils. Indonesia began barring under-16s from major platforms in late March, with Malaysia enforcing similar rules from June…
In the rugged Himalayas, where borders are as much a matter of history and perception as of maps and rivers, Nepal’s new prime minister has offered an unusually candid assessment of his country’s long-running territorial quarrel with India. Speaking in…
On a clear Sunday morning in May, Kami Rita Sherpa once again stood at 8,848.86 metres, where the sky feels close enough to touch. At 56, the Sherpa mountaineer had just completed his 32nd ascent of Mount Everest — a…
In a significant show of defiance, more than 25,000 landless squatters from 22 districts marched through the streets of Butwal in southern Nepal on Sunday, turning what was once a local grievance into a national political challenge for Prime Minister…
In the high passes of the Himalayas, geography has a way of dictating politics. Recently, Nepal lodged a formal objection to plans by India and China to route this summer’s Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage through Lipulekh, a strategic pass claimed by…
Nepal has objected to India and China routing this year’s Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through the Lipulekh Pass, claiming the strategic Himalayan route lies on its territory, a move India has firmly rejected as “untenable” and not based on historical facts.…
On May 1st, in the balmy southern Chinese city of Sanya, President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan watched officials from both countries sign a joint-venture agreement and two memorandums of understanding. The pacts cover construction machinery, animal vaccines and medical…
