Author: Susan Banki, Sydney University
Two photographs encapsulate the complexity of Bhutan’s 11-year-old democracy. In the first, the King of Bhutan accepts an award from the United Nations Development Programme for advancing human development and the wellbeing of the people of Bhutan. In the second photograph, a few lone yaks graze at the base of a massive mountain under the caption ‘Yak Herding on the Decline’, symbolising the decline of rural livelihoods, the degradation of the natural environment and advance of rural–urban migration.
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Author: Ashok Swain, Uppsala University
South Asia is facing severe water scarcity. As the region’s population grows and its economies develop, a lack of sustainable water development strategy is leading to increasingly acute water shortages.
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Author: Prabir De, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS)
On 30 August 2018, the heads of the Bay of Bengal Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) countries will meet in Kathmandu for the fourth BIMSTEC summit. The last BIMSTEC summit was held in 2014 and a mini-summit was held on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Goa in October 2016. Read more…
Authors: Simrit Kaur and Harpreet Kaur, University of Delhi
With climate change and the associated warmer temperatures already altering the timings and patterns of bird migrations, climate change-induced human migration is not far behind. Estimates suggest that by 2050 there are likely to be between 25 million and 1 billion environmental migrants in the world, with a major proportion of these originating from low and lower-middle income countries. Read more…
Author: Prabir De, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS)
2017 marks the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). BIMSTEC was established to expand cooperation among Bay of Bengal countries. While long maintaining a relatively low profile as a sub-regional grouping, BIMSTEC could be a driver of future integration between South and Southeast Asia. Read more…
Author: M. Taylor Fravel, MIT
The standoff between China and India on the Dolam plateau in the Doklam region has lasted for more than one month. Both sides have miscalculated, with potentially dire consequences. Read more…
Author: Sourabh Gupta, ICAS
China and India are locked yet again in a standoff of Himalayan proportions.
Almost five weeks after Indian troops trespassed and forcibly halted the activities of a Chinese road construction crew on a narrow plateau at the China–Bhutan–India tri-junction area in the Sikkim Himalayas, the two sides appear no closer to resolving their quarrel. Read more…
Author: Prabir De, Research and Information System for Developing Countries
The Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) sub-regional grouping has realised that narrowing connectivity gaps is a must for facilitating regional trade. Improved connectivity, which the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is only making slow progress on, is essential to providing cheaper access to goods and services, creating more jobs and ultimately helping to alleviate poverty at a faster rate. Read more…
Author: Rajni Gamage, RSIS
BIMSTEC, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation comprising Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, celebrates its 20th anniversary in June 2017. It is well positioned to engage in maritime security cooperation to face the challenges of a changing strategic and economic landscape. Read more…
Authors: Asit K. Biswas and Cecilia Tortajada, NUS
Socially and economically, the performance of the four northern Indian states (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh) collectively known as BIMARU (meaning ‘sick’ in Hindi) and neighbouring Nepal has left much to be desired. Read more…
Author: Mark Fabian, ANU
Asia figures increasingly prominently in comparative research into happiness and wellbeing. First, there is the question of how and whether rapid ‘Asian miracle’ income growth rates have translated into happier societies. Second, there is the impact of collectivism, as opposed to individualism, on happiness and wellbeing. Read more…
Authors: Udisha Saklani and Cecilia Tortajada, NUS
The 24th round of China–Bhutan border talks held in Beijing in August 2016 brought several aspects of South Asia’s geopolitics into focus. China’s increasingly cosy relations with Pakistan, and more recently Nepal, has concerned India for many years. Read more…
Author: Yoichiro Ishihara, World Bank
Bhutan has a very different outlook on development. With a population of less than one million and nestled in the eastern Himalayas, this small country has adopted the sustainable development approach of gross national happiness (GNH), Read more…
Author: Mark Turner, UNSW Canberra
Bhutan was a latecomer to democracy. The small Himalayan kingdom joined the ranks of democratic nations only in 2008 when the first national elections were held and its constitution approved. But since then, how is democracy developing in the country? Read more…
Author: Ram Upendra Das and Nitya Batra, RIS
One of the easiest ways to boost economic activity is by promoting regional economic integration that facilitates freer movement of goods, services and investment, helping to achieve regional developmental objectives by creating jobs. But in eastern South Asia, this process is being held up by misguided decisions, strategies and outdated ideas. Read more…
