A Bengal-Mexico parallel?
The ghastly events in West Bengal reflect a state of helpless residents, run by an apathetic government actively sheltering anti-India migrants, and running Mexico-style narco-criminal syndicates.
The ghastly events in West Bengal reflect a state of helpless residents, run by an apathetic government actively sheltering anti-India migrants, and running Mexico-style narco-criminal syndicates.
Sikkim is India’s second smallest state, yet one of its best, with twice the nation’s GDP. It is surrounded by three of India’s neighbours – China, Bhutan and Nepal – making it one of the country’s most strategic regions. Yet its geopolitical positioning and ongoing border aggression by China have not affected Sikkim's calm or confidence: it is still defined by its beauty and its good governance.
During his visit to New Delhi this week, Australia's navy chief highlighted the need for greater maritime cooperation on security issues in the Indo-Pacific. While India is aware of its growing role in maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, it must also convey to its partners that on matters of security, it prioritises dangers closer to home in its Indian Ocean neighbourhood.
As Pakistan heads to the polls, debt restructuring and economic recovery are on the ballot. The winner of the contest will inherit a weak economy while wielding little authority to implement reform, and will eventually shoulder the blame for the inevitable crisis.
Since the 1980s, Argentina has witnessed repeated rounds of hyperinflation and recurring currency devaluations that made any forward-looking planning impossible. The new President, an outsider with unorthodox economic ideas, may finally enable the long embattled economy to break free from its troubled hyperinflationary past.
Hamas faces an existential crisis in Gaza now that the Israeli army has captured its military headquarters and operating tunnels in northern Gaza. So far Israel has successfully ignored international pressure to limit its ground operation. In between are the Gazans, caught within an ideology they don’t trust.
Javier Milei defied expectations when he won the Presidential election in Argentina earlier this month. The public are looking for early and rapid results that will bring the economy back on a steady keel, even through radical reform. But sectors of the entitled old guard have already announced it will oppose any change in the status quo.
To qualify for the IMF’s latest bailout, Pakistan has had to share accurate information on its economy including its debt to China. This confirms the speculation of Pakistan’s gigantic indebtedness to China.
Türkiye has seen steady development under the leadership of Recep Erdoğan despite domestic and international crises and a difficult neighbourhood. It now has a solid middle class that has voted Erdoğan back as President.
Dhaka recently hosted the Indian Ocean Conference 2023, a multi-country event featuring speakers and participants from the Indian Ocean countries. In recent years, Bangladesh has gone from a ‘basket-case’ to a case study in progress, and across Dhaka are signs of a city undergoing dramatic change.