Latest Articles about South Asia
Bay of Bengal Littorals in Chinese Strategic Calculus
China appears to be zealously guarding its maritime footprint in the Bay of Bengal through politico-economic and strategic initiatives. Two high level visits in June by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping to Bangladesh and Premier Wen Jiabao to Burma (Myanmar) signal the urgency with which... MORE
Karachi Emerges as Pakistan’s New Tinderbox of Violence and Extremism
Two commanders of the Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) were arrested in the Pakistani port of Karachi on June 11, charged with plotting suicide attacks in the city of 18 million people. Only days later, four militants attacked a Karachi court house with firearms and grenades to successfully... MORE
Dawood Ibrahim: India’s Elusive Most Wanted Man
Figured at number three in Forbes’s most wanted fugitive list in 2010—and ranked at number 50 in Forbes’ list of “The World's Most Powerful People” in 2009—Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar remains the most notorious underworld leader who has spread a robust crime network across the Middle... MORE
Taliban Spokesman Discusses Relations with al-Qaeda and Opium Production in Afghanistan
Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi recently gave an interview to the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat in which he discussed the Taliban’s relations with al-Qaeda, the sources of opium production in Afghanistan, and the impact of the arrest of the second man in the Taliban leadership,... MORE
Perceptions of Success and Failure in ISAF Operations in Marjah, Afghanistan
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) launched Operation Moshtarak in the Nad Ali and Lashkar Gah Districts of Afghanistan’s Helmand Province in mid-February. The intent was to wrest it from Taliban control and create a “bubble of security” for local governance, described in an ISAF... MORE
TAPI and the Prospects of an Indian-Turkmen Strategic Partnership
For more than 15 years, the Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline (TAPI) project, which proposes to deliver gas from Turkmenistan to Pakistan and India via Afghanistan, has remained an elusive scheme. Backed by the West and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), it is a subject of intense debate... MORE
Al-Qaeda after al-Yazid: Coping with the American Drone Offensive
The death of al-Qaeda’s operational leader in Afghanistan last month is a significant but not fatal setback for the radical Islamist movement. Mustafa Ahmad Muhammad Uthman Abu al-Yazid (a.k.a. Shaykh Sa’id al-Masri) was apparently killed in a May 21 drone attack in Pakistan’s North Waziristan... MORE
Attacks on the Ahmadiya in Lahore Reveal Growth of the Punjabi Taliban
The multiple suicide attacks by the Punjabi Taliban on two mosques in Lahore where members of the Jamaat-i-Ahmadiya had gathered to pray on May 28 hardly came as a surprise. As hundreds of Ahmadis gathered to offer prayers in the early Friday afternoon, several suicide... MORE
The China-Pakistan Reactor Deal and Asia’s Nuclear Energy Race
In late April, China announced the sale of two nuclear reactors to Pakistan. This deal is clearly against the guidelines of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and the spirit if not the letter of the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) [1]. Nevertheless, the United States has not... MORE
An Ominous Break from the Past in Thailand: Implications of the Red Shirt Revolt
King Chulalongkorn (Rama IV-1868-1910) is responsible for initiating the modernization process in Thailand. Enamored with European civilization of the time, especially European economic and scientific gains, King Chulalongkorn embraced European rule of law, capitalism, education, and to a limited extent, politics. The king even introduced... MORE