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SouthAsiaSource

Apr 29, 2021

The Biden administration must incorporate India’s provincial elections in West Bengal and Assam into its South Asia foreign policy

By Rudabeh Shahid and Kaveri Sarkar

Away from India's awful COVID-19 scenes playing out are elections Washington should not ignore. The ongoing state elections in India’s east, specifically the states of West Bengal and Assam, are characterized by dynamics central to today’s India and their results will have long-lasting implications for national politics. The fanning of toxic identity politics, compromising of democratic institutions, the worrisome rise of COVID-19 cases, and the effect on foreign relations are aspects of these elections that deserve Washington’s serious attention.

Bangladesh Coronavirus

Event Recap

Apr 28, 2021

Event Recap: “African and South Asian perspectives on the Leaders Summit on Climate”

By Damola Aluko

It is a good start that President Biden’s Leaders Summit on Climate invited three South Asian nations and five African countries to present their perspectives to the world; however, Biden’s efforts were not adequate. Western world leaders need to pay special attention to what South Asian and African experts have to say. This moment in history provides a critical opportunity for enlightened policymaking that could enable African and South Asian nations to be a force for clean, green, and sustainable economic growth and industrialization; a failure to seize this moment by excluding their voices will undermine global climate action and lead to a ruinous future for over half the world’s population.

Africa Climate Change & Climate Action

SouthAsiaSource

Apr 16, 2021

Dignity and fair negotiations is what we Afghans want

By Ejaz Ahmad Malikzada

When the United States and its allies entered Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks, it did not merely sign up to bring human rights to the Afghan people or to fight a local insurgent group. Indeed, the intervention was driven just as much by the US-led global war on terror, a fight in which we, the people of Afghanistan, have bled and sacrificed thousands of military and civilian lives alongside our US and NATO partners.

Afghanistan Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

SouthAsiaSource

Apr 15, 2021

Khuda hafez Afghanistan and maybe Pakistan!

By Shuja Nawaz

20 years after invading Afghanistan to punish the Taliban for harboring Osama bin Laden, President Joe Biden is saying goodbye to Afghanistan. Regardless of the main reason why President Biden is extracting the US military and hence NATO from Afghanistan, the people of Afghanistan may end up being sacrificed and left to the depredations of the Taliban and Islamic State.

Afghanistan Pakistan

SouthAsiaSource

Apr 14, 2021

“Expediting” the peace process degrades the conceptual integrity of peace

By Muska Dastageer

The United States must realize that securing a peace as just as the Afghan war has been unjust will require time. Degrading the conceptual integrity of peace has meant a dilution of the moral force behind the peace process.

Afghanistan Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

SouthAsiaSource

Mar 25, 2021

The Biden-Harris administration should engage Pakistan if it hopes to negotiate productively with Iran

By Harris A. Samad

Returning the United States to a nuclear agreement with Iran represents one of the Biden-Harris administration’s most standout foreign policies. However, to succeed in the short-, medium-, and long-term, this goal will require a revamped approach to engaging Tehran that pointedly includes Pakistan.

Iran Pakistan

SouthAsiaSource

Mar 22, 2021

Intelligence reform for peacetime – A call to reform and modernize the Afghan intelligence services

By Tamim Asey

The United States, as it pushes for a political settlement and withdraws its troops from Afghanistan, needs to leave a credible and professional Afghan intelligence partner behind with whom it must partner for counter-terrorism (CT) missions post-withdrawal.

Afghanistan Defense Policy

SouthAsiaSource

Mar 8, 2021

The war on Afghanistan’s journalists

By *Popal

In recent months, Afghan journalists and media workers have been subjected to unprecedented levels of attacks. In just four months, twelve journalists have been killed and many more have been targeted. The chilling effect of this violence is the creation of a kind of fear that we have never felt before.

Afghanistan Human Rights

SouthAsiaSource

Mar 4, 2021

COVID-19 is exacerbating air quality issues to the detriment of India’s most vulnerable

By Shashank Jejurikar

The brief period of clean air during India's lockdown offered a glimpse of what can be gained by building a cleaner, more sustainable Indian economy. To explore how that can materialize, this piece will first examine the opposing ecological and economic impacts of India’s lockdown, and then pose policy recommendations that balance sustainability and economic growth.

Climate Change & Climate Action Coronavirus

SouthAsiaSource

Feb 25, 2021

Afghans’ views on the Doha peace process and the Biden administration’s review of the US-Taliban peace agreement

By Makhfi Azizi

Over the last two years, many experts in Afghanistan and the international community have increasingly viewed the 2020 US-Taliban peace deal to be largely skewed to advantage the Taliban. The Biden administration’s step to review the agreement has thus been welcomed by many. In this blog, five Afghans who have lived under the increased threats and violence of the past year share their perspectives.

Afghanistan Human Rights