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Dec 1, 2024 | 
southasianvoices.org | Laxman Kumar Behera |Upamanyu Basu |Zohaib Altaf |Nimrah Javed
Last month, India and China reached an agreement to disengage from their military standoff on the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh and conduct coordinated patrols along friction points. Despite this disengagement, however, India needs to invest in its comprehensive national power and defense preparedness to deal with the long-term threat from Beijing’s military modernization and regional influence.
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Oct 22, 2024 | 
southasianvoices.org | Upamanyu Basu |Zohaib Altaf |Nimrah Javed |Amna Saqib
On September 12, India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and China’s top diplomat Wang Yi met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, to discuss tensions along the disputed India-China border, also called the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The meeting highlighted the stark difference between New Delhi and Beijing in terms of the urgency that they each accord to the resolution of the border dispute.
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Oct 3, 2024 | 
southasianvoices.org | Zohaib Altaf |Nimrah Javed |Upamanyu Basu |Amna Saqib
On 23 August, 2024, a small Indian drone was spotted across the Line of Control in the airspace over Pakistan-administered Kashmir, a reminder of the ever-present tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi. While Pakistan claims it shot down the drone, India asserts that the drone inadvertently strayed due to a malfunction. This episode, though, is emblematic of a larger and more concerning trend—the rapid militarization of drone technology in South Asia.
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Jun 27, 2024 | 
thediplomat.com | Zohaib Altaf |Nimrah Javed
Pakistan is poised to make significant strides in the field of quantum technology with the establishment of its National Center for Quantum Computing, as announced by Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal. This initiative marks a critical step toward overcoming the global quantum divide – if Pakistan can overcome the associated challenges, including economic constraints and a significant brain drain.
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May 16, 2024 | 
southasianvoices.org | Bashir Ali Abbas |Nikita Singla |Zohaib Altaf |Nimrah Javed
Maritime commerce in the Northwestern Indian Ocean has been vulnerable to twin threats in the last six months. On the one hand, the Yemen-based Houthis have attacked international shipping passing through the Red Sea to draw global pressure on Israel to stop its war in Gaza, which has now about 35,000 people. On the other, taking advantage of this disruption, maritime piracy off the Somali coast and the Gulf of Aden has made a dramatic comeback.
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May 10, 2024 | 
southasianvoices.org | Bashir Ali Abbas |Nikita Singla |Zohaib Altaf |Nimrah Javed
Maritime commerce in the Northwestern Indian Ocean has been vulnerable to twin threats in the last six months. On the one hand, the Yemen-based Houthis have attacked international shipping passing through the Red Sea to draw global pressure on Israel to stop its war in Gaza, which has now about 35,000 people. On the other, taking advantage of this disruption, maritime piracy off the Somali coast and the Gulf of Aden has made a dramatic comeback.
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May 2, 2024 | 
southasianvoices.org | Zohaib Altaf |Nimrah Javed |Amira Jadoon |South Asian Voices
India and Pakistan’s integration of a triad of advanced technologies into its arsenal has shifted South Asia’s strategic landscape. The recently tested Agni-5 missile with Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicles (MIRV) technology, space and land surveillance systems enhanced by Artificial Intelligence (AI), and increasingly sophisticated missile defense capabilities all have significant implications for the subcontinent.
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Apr 16, 2024 | 
southasianvoices.org | Amira Jadoon |South Asian Voices |Zohaib Altaf |Nimrah Javed
On March 22, 2024, Islamic State-Khorasan Province (ISKP) killed approximately 137 people in Moscow, Russia, in one of the worst terror attacks Russia has ever experienced. As Russians seek answers, Afghanistan watchers are also on high alert, carefully watching and analyzing what this attack says about ISKP capabilities and reach. South Asia Program’s Nonresident Fellow Dr. Amira Jadoon explains the wide implications of such an attack in a brief Q&A.
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Apr 14, 2024 | 
scmp.com | Zohaib Altaf |Nimrah Javed
The United States Department of Defence’s new commercial space integration strategy represents a transformative approach towards leveraging the commercial space sector to enhance the country’s national security. The document articulates a vision where the divide between private-sector innovation and defence needs is not just bridged but integrated.
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Feb 29, 2024 | 
southasianvoices.org | Qamar Shahzad |Zohaib Altaf |Nimrah Javed |Nasir Mehmood
Language not only serves as a means of communication but also exerts a significant psycholinguistic impact on listeners. Specific choices of words can intensify or diminish the importance of any issue and shape perspectives passively. The nomenclature of South Asia’s strategic arsenal presents a unique case. Most non-South Asian nuclear states predominantly name their weapon systems using alphanumeric codes or acronyms based on technical characteristics (e.g., B61, THAAD).
