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The Pulse
South Asia is a story of promise and peril where Asia’s conflicting forces of modernity and reaction meet head on. Home to a multitude of different cultures, ethnicities, and religions, The Diplomat's regional correspondents and experts will provide the insight you need to navigate one of the world's most consequential regions.
May 25, 2022
Indian Assistance to Sri Lanka: Lifeline or Chokehold?
By Rathindra Kuruwita
India received many concessions from the Rajapaksas in recent years and has vested interests in the status quo.
May 25, 2022
Taliban Say Deal Signed With UAE Firm to Manage Airports
By Rahim Faiez
However, the deal left more questions than answers, as Qatar and Turkey were in line to run the airports.
May 25, 2022
What Lies Behind Modi’s Nepal Visit?
By Bipin Ghimire and Apoorva Pathak
The choice to visit Lumbini for Buddha's birthday was carefully crafted both religiously and geopolitically.
May 24, 2022
Imagine a World Without the Taj Mahal
By Muqtedar Khan
Will the Qutub Minar and the Taj Mahal too be destroyed by Hindutva vandals like the 500-old Babri Masjid and replaced with temples?
May 23, 2022
Bulldozers Emerge as an Important Weapon in BJP’s Anti-Muslim Arsenal
By Kavita Chowdhury
The demolition of properties owned by Muslims was electorally rewarded in Uttar Pradesh. The tactic is being adopted in other parts of India now too.
May 21, 2022
India’s Hindutva Groups Have the Gyanvapi Mosque in Their Crosshairs
By Tarushi Aswani
Hindutva groups are laying claim to a growing number of sites where Muslim monuments and mosques stand, arguing that temples once stood on the same land.
May 21, 2022
Is Gwadar’s New Development Prepared to Handle Its Weather?
By Mariyam Suleman Anees
Gwadar often sees intense seasonal rains that can cause flooding. Recent CPEC-linked development in the rapidly growing city may be making that problem worse.
May 20, 2022
China Becomes Wild Card in Sri Lanka’s Debt Crisis
By Bharatha Mallawarachi, Krutika Pathi and Joe McDonald
Beijing has promised to “play a positive role” in talks with the IMF and offered Colombo more loans but is reluctant to cut its debt.
May 20, 2022
Rains Submerge Infrastructure in India’s Northeast
By Rajeev Bhattacharyya
Will this be the fate too of roads and rails planned to link this landlocked region with South and Southeast Asia?
May 19, 2022
Pakistan’s Relations With Taliban Regime Worsen
By Kathy Gannon
The Afghan Taliban prefer to broker peace rather than crack the whip on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
May 19, 2022
Pakistan’s New Government Mends Ties With the US
By Umair Jamal
Rapprochement could help ease Pakistan’s troubles with negotiating loans from the IMF.
May 18, 2022
Has the Sri Lankan Crisis Triggered a Change in Ethnic Relations?
By Eranga Jayawardena
For the first time ever, an event held by mostly Sinhalese also memorialized Tamil victims of the decades-long civil war.
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