Regulated borders with greater emphasis on developing people-to-people contact and cross-border trade initiatives are likely to yield greater security benefits as against a closed border.
What has emerged over the past two weeks is a well calibrated strategy meant to increase the costs for Pakistan of continuing its policy of supporting cross border terrorism as an instrument of state policy.
The reactions of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and India indicate a new regional consensus that state sponsored terrorism cannot be dealt with only at the bilateral level.
Through a pragmatic strategy coupled with national will, India should undertake calibrated responses to defeat Pakistan’s proxy war game plan with a view to making its misadventures prohibitively costly and unsustainable.
The advocacy by Pakistani analysts of the Indian disinclination to retaliate massively in response to their use of TNWs on their own soil indicates either a flawed analysis or a bluff that the Indian armed forces would be inclined to call.
Prime Minister Puspa Kamal Dahal has a whole pile of problems lying unsolved at home. And he has only nine months, as set by his coalition partners, to deliver on his promises.
The Prachanda regime’s success in bringing India-Nepal ties back on track will greatly depend on his domestic performance; that is where the goodwill which can give him political heft lies.
Bangladesh and the Rohingya: Implications of Refugee Re-location to Thengar Char Island
Bangladesh may be able to manage the Rohingya refugee problem only as a short-term expedient, albeit with considerable economic implications.