South Asia’s New Strategic Reality (Observer Research Foundation)

Last week, the Indian Army’s special forces took out several suspected terror camps across the volatile Line of Control in Kashmir in response to an attack on an Indian army post in Kashmir by Pakistan-based terrorists that killed 20 soldiers on September 18. The Indian response came almost 11 days after the initial attack and reflected an attempt by the Modi government to pressurise Pakistan on multiple fronts, thereby gaining leverage over an adversary that had long used terrorism and proxies to challenge India.

http://www.orfonline.org/research/south-asias-new-strategic-reality/

Will Sri Lanka find more takers in South Asia? (Padma Rao Sundarji, South Asia Monitor)

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is currently on his second visit to India within two years since the unlikely 'rainbow' coalition of his United National Party (UNP) and the faction of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) under President Maithripala Sirisena came to power in a stupendous election in January 2015. One of the earliest promises made by Wickremesinghe's government was to restore ties with India which, under the former government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, had sunk to their lowest levels.

http://southasiamonitor.org/news/will-sri-lanka-find-more-takers-in-south-asia-/n/19740

South and Southeast Asia—The Islamic State’s New Front? (Joshua Kurlantzick, CFR)

Over the past year, as the Islamic State (ISIS) has suffered multiple losses in Syria and Iraq, the group has clearly been looking to widen its impact, taking the fight to countries outside of the Middle East. Increasingly, ISIS leaders have used social media to call on Islamic radicals to stage attacks in countries in the West like France and the United States, where the Orlando gunman, the San Bernardino gunmen, and the Nice attacker, among others, have publicly identified themselves with ISIS. In most of these cases, the attackers were lone wolves (or duos) who had not received any training or funding from ISIS, and often had not even traveled to Islamic State-controlled territory to train and fight. (To be sure, some recent attackers in Western nations had traveled to ISIS-controlled territory and fought with the group.)

http://blogs.cfr.org/asia/2016/10/04/south-and-southeast-asia-the-islamic-states-new-front/

Collective action on South Asia’s ‘wicked problems’ (Dipak Gyawali, ORF)

The problems of water, energy, climate change, and urbanisation, are all intertwined; they are, also, all 'wicked'. There is little consensus on how to effectively navigate these problems, let alone, how to solve them. Of these, water is key: the threat of climatic changes is primarily manifested in water, its dwindling supply, and the conflicts that may potentially arise. It also encompasses so-called 'toad's eye' concerns of the grassroots, often informal economy, as well as the 'eagle's eye' perspectives of national and global managers. In South Asia, regional cooperation in managing water has not been successful for various reasons. While there are nascent regional instruments in the form of SAARC chartered institutions, they are weak and in need of greater push if they are to be of any use to furthering regional integration.

http://www.orfonline.org/research/collective-action-on-south-asias-wicked-problems/

Rethinking water-climate cooperation in South Asia (Gareth Price, ORF)

Water is a finite resource but demand for it is not. As water supply dwindles to its limit, potential conflicts are brewing between countries that share transboundary freshwater resources. Is the world equipped with the means to prevent the eruption of such conflicts? In South Asia, transboundary water management systems have remained weak, leaving coriparians extremely vulnerable to conflict. A sound management system has now become imperative, as the very real threats of climatic changes further exacerbate the problem of dwindling water supply. South Asian co-riparians must reimagine their water relations, encourage cross-boundary cooperation, and aim to mitigate the ill impacts of what has historically been a haphazard water management system.

http://www.orfonline.org/research/rethinking-water-climate-cooperation-in-south-asia/

Implications Of Sino-Russian Ties For South Asia Region (Institute of South Asian Studies)

http://www.eurasiareview.com/11092015-implications-of-sino-russian-ties-for-south-asia-region-analysis/

(Istituto fondamentale - Global) Managing intractable conflicts in the Middle East and South Asia (Brookings)

http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2015/07/23-me-south-asia-conflict-cohen-malter

(Istituto fondamentale - South Asia) India's New Opportunity to Lead South Asia (Sourabh Gupta, The Diplomat)

http://thediplomat.com/2015/07/indias-new-opportunity-to-lead-south-asia/

(Istituto fondamentale - South Asia) From Confrontation to Cooperation in South Asia: Lessons from Sikhism and Sufism (M. Ashraf Haidari, The Diplomat)

http://thediplomat.com/2015/06/from-confrontation-to-cooperation-in-south-asia-lessons-from-sikhism-and-sufism/

(Istituto fondamentale - South Asia) A Boost to Sub-Regionalism in South Asia (Sridhar Ramaswamy, The Diplomat)

http://thediplomat.com/2015/06/a-boost-to-sub-regionalism-in-south-asia/