https://www.scmp.com/rss/264900/feed Chietigj Bajpaee is a senior fellow for South Asia at Chatham House, a London-based public policy think-tank. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Chietigj Bajpaee Chietigj Bajpaee When the late Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe gave his landmark speech in the Indian parliament in August 2007 referring to the “confluence of the two seas”, he gave birth to the concept of the Indo-Pacific as a strategic space connecting East and South Asia. But the latest conflict in the Middle East illustrates how South Asia’s interconnectedness increasingly lies to its west. Some of these connections are deeply rooted in history: South Asia is home to the world’s largest Muslim population... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3346933/why-middle-east-volatility-presents-enhanced-risk-south-asia?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3346933/why-middle-east-volatility-presents-enhanced-risk-south-asia?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Mar 2026 21:30:07 +0000 Within a span of six months, South Asia’s geopolitical landscape has undergone profound changes. Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s removal from power in August was followed by the conclusion of a border agreement between China and India in October and the Indian foreign secretary meeting the Afghan foreign minister in Dubai last month. Each of these developments signal shifting geopolitical alignments across the region. In Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina had been a key regional partner for... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3297068/south-asias-geopolitical-landscape-shifting-creating-new-alliances?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3297068/south-asias-geopolitical-landscape-shifting-creating-new-alliances?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Feb 2025 08:30:08 +0000 It is difficult to put a positive spin on 2024. Two localised conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have become broader regional and potentially global wars. Meanwhile, flashpoints in the South China Sea, Taiwan Strait and the Korean peninsula are on the brink of escalation. Underlying all of this is the impending uncertainty of a second Trump presidency. In this context, it is easy to forget that South Asia was once regarded as home to the world’s most dangerous flashpoint – Kashmir. Former... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3289679/south-asia-bright-spot-geopolitically-turbulent-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3289679/south-asia-bright-spot-geopolitically-turbulent-year?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Dec 2024 12:30:08 +0000 The year of elections has claimed its first casualty. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who was re-elected for her fourth consecutive term in January fled the country earlier this month after her position became untenable amid growing anti-government protests. The unrest that prompted Hasina’s departure related to the issue of public sector job quotas for families of war veterans. However, developments in Bangladesh can also be seen as a harbinger of broader trends in South Asia and the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3274931/bangladesh-unrest-signals-troubling-headwinds-global-south?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3274931/bangladesh-unrest-signals-troubling-headwinds-global-south?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Aug 2024 21:30:09 +0000 According to India’s opposition politicians, the country’s democracy is on its deathbed. Congress party chief Mallikarjun Kharge said last month that “democracy will end” if Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to power for a third consecutive term. However, as India’s seven-stage polls, the world’s largest electoral exercise, approach their climax – with the results due to be announced on June 4 – it is apparent that Indian democracy is more robust than initially perceived. While the outcome... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3263554/modis-return-power-would-not-mean-death-indian-democracy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3263554/modis-return-power-would-not-mean-death-indian-democracy?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 May 2024 08:30:10 +0000 The symbolic outcomes of the recent G20 summit in India are as significant as the tangible outcomes. With its Group of 20 presidency, India has managed to democratise the summit both within the country – by hosting G20-related events across the country and thus opening what has historically been a largely elite-driven event to the masses – and globally by raising the voice of the Global South. Notably, the African Union was added as a new permanent member, effectively turning the G20 into the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3234935/why-indias-g20-triumph-means-much-more-tangible-results?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3234935/why-indias-g20-triumph-means-much-more-tangible-results?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Sep 2023 01:30:15 +0000 There has been a long-standing tendency to predict the demise of US global power. There was the humiliating US withdrawal from Vietnam in 1975, and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, which prompted speculation that the United States would be less interested in maintaining an extended military presence in the absence of the cold-war superpower rivalry. Similar sentiments arose amid the operational fatigue of US military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq during the so-called “war on... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2147367/asia-must-overcome-its-timidity-world-stage-us-power?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2147367/asia-must-overcome-its-timidity-world-stage-us-power?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 May 2018 09:30:00 +0000