Courtesy: BSS News
Beijing has agreed to fund a port in Bangladesh, the third port funded by foreign governments. This shouldn’t be a concern for India, because unlike Pakistan and Sri Lanka, it has a diversified lender base. Japan and Russia are the large infrastructure funders, with China in the third place, while the U.S. and the EU are key export markets. India lags as an investor.
Courtesy: PTI
Just four months ago, India and Bangladesh seemed determined to move beyond the difficulties faced during the two-year transition of Mohammad Yunus. But former PM Sheikh Hasina’s audio address to her constituents via Delhi changed the mood. Can the realists and pragmatists in Delhi and Dhaka rebuild and strengthen a coalition of mutual interests?
Courtesy: Gateway House
A slowdown of the Chinese economy, and the shift, particularly by MNCs, from China to other more competitive locations has opened up business opportunities for latecomers to supply chains in the developing world. Evidence suggests that Southeast Asia and some South Asian countries like India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, could be beneficiaries of the supply chain shift, particularly in labour-intensive segments.
Courtesy: New Spotlight Magazine
Building a robust engagement with India on energy can help offset some of the economic and political crises that most of India’s neighbours are facing. Smaller South Asian neighbours will benefit from cheaper electricity and oil, paving the way for greater regional economic cooperation.
Courtesy: Gateway House
Geopolitics is increasingly intertwined with the economic destiny of South Asia. Even before the U.S. tariffs were rolled out, growing polycrises had hit the global economy, which has been struggling since the pandemic. South Asia seems a relatively bright spark of regional trade and growth. This paper analyses South Asia’s trade architecture in the backdrop of a sluggish world economy in the 2020s, and makes recommendations for closer regional economic integration.
Courtesy: Gateway House
Over two centuries, the U.S. has amassed vast economic powers across the globe during and after the two World Wars , and sanctions slowly became an effective tool it used to achieve its foreign policy goals, becoming the global emperor of sanctions.
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A decade after its launch, China’s Belt and Road Initiative has slowed down in South Asia, the result of poorly conceived projects, and irresponsible behavior from borrower and lender alike.
Courtesy:
Bangladesh’s economy has been in distress for some time and is not doing as well as assumed. This could have been one of the factors that drove the protests and the subsequent coup.
Courtesy: Hindustan Times
South Asia requires resilient and cost-effective regional supply chains. This can be achieved through Indian investment, fostering local linkages while reducing dependency on Chinese financing of regional partners. A new approach enhances India's regional influence, creating a win-win scenario for the entire South Asian neighbourhood in a changing global landscape.
Courtesy: Reuters
India’s South Asian neighbours have all seen sharp currency devaluations since early 2022. These are a result of maintaining artificially strong exchange rates, made possible by remittances from migrant workers. However, by postponing the inevitable devaluations, these states have made their economic crises much worse.