South Asia

Indian immigrants have a growing presence in the United States.
Society

India tops China as biggest source of global migrants

OECD nations see record inflows of people looking to find new homes

9 November 2023
Taliban soldiers stand guard in Mes Aynak valley in 2021: A Chinese company won rights to develop a copper mine during the republican era but has not gotten the project running yet.
Opinion

Afghanistan shows the gap between BRI rhetoric and reality

Chinese initiative has not brought stability but rather requires it

8 November 2023
Jean-Pascal Tricoire, chairman of Schneider Electric, says that nations like India have "the advantage of the late starter" when it comes to decarbonization. 
Global Management Dialogue 2023

Asia can benefit from late start on decarbonization, says Schneider Electric

Chairman says digitalization, electrification key as energy demand grows

7 November 2023
India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party hopes to ride Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity to victory in key state polls just months before a general election is due. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Ken Kobayashi)
Politics

India state polls kick off, testing 'Modi magic' before national vote

Opposition Congress seeks momentum in string of five regional elections

7 November 2023
The World Intellectual Property Organization, based in Geneva, reported 1.58 million patent filings from China for 2022 and 505,000 from the U.S.
Technology

China and India lift global patent filings to record

U.S. maintains growth in 2022, but Japan and Germany suffer declines

7 November 2023
Supporters of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif welcome him back from self-imposed exile in Lahore on Oct. 21, ahead of the 2024 general election.
Politics

With date set, Pakistan enters election season fraught with doubts

Feb. 8 polls raise concerns over security, fate of still-popular Imran Khan's PTI

6 November 2023
Police officers pass a charred public bus burned during an opposition protest in Dhaka on Oct. 31, amid days of political violence.
Politics

Bangladeshi political violence poses 'high risk' to stuttering economy

Disruptions over election likely to worsen already weak fundamentals, experts say

6 November 2023
Bhutan's King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck arrives to offer prayers at a temple in Guwahati, India, on Nov. 3. His visit to India comes shortly after renewed border talks between Bhutan and China.
International relations

India casts wary eye on revived China-Bhutan boundary talks

Bhutanese king visits India days after foreign minister's rare trip to Beijing

5 November 2023
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit New Delhi this week for the annual 2+2 ministerial dialogue with their counterparts S. Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh.
Your Week in Asia

U.S.-India 2+2, Pacific Islands Forum, China Singles Day 'war'

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

5 November 2023
A man scavenges through waste thrown into the Ganges Canal in Muradnaga, India. (Sipa via AP Images)
Opinion

Until the trash is picked up, there will be no 'Clean India'

Cities must be empowered to make citizens pay for their waste

5 November 2023
Police detain pro-Palestinian demonstrators in New Delhi on Oct. 27, amid the Israel-Hamas war. India's opposition parties have sharply criticized the government's response to the conflict.
Middle East crisis

India's response to Israel-Hamas war sparks political fight at home

Abstention on Gaza cease-fire highlights dilemma between 'interests' and 'values'

4 November 2023
Women, seen here in Ajmer, India, in August 2016 worship a cow, an animal held sacred by Hindus, to seek blessings for their male children during the Bach Baras festival.
Energy

Grass to gas: How cow dung can help India decarbonize

Biogas offers path from poverty, widens rural access to modern transport

4 November 2023
Pakistan ordered possibly 1.7 million undocumented Afghans out of the country by Nov. 1, creating chaotic scenes at Torkham and other border crossings. (Norwegian Refugee Council via Reuters)
Afghanistan turmoil

Taliban warns Pakistan about Afghan expulsions: Reap what you sow

Islamabad's repatriation policy fuels anger over lost businesses and assets

3 November 2023
The remains of a burned school in Manipur. Many schools have been destroyed, robbing young people of educational opportunities. (Photo by Greeshma Kuthar)
Politics

India's northeastern Manipur marks 6 months of deadly conflict

Burned schools stand as monuments to lives disrupted and friendships lost

3 November 2023
Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, left, with Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in New Delhi in 2018: India is the de facto security guarantor of Bhutan, a diplomatic minnow.
Opinion

Bhutan is not giving in to China's hardball diplomacy

Beijing uses talks to deflect attention from territorial encroachments

3 November 2023
Leaders of the Quad in Tokyo in May: The grouping's image as a U.S.-led tool to contain China could potentially pose an obstacle to cooperation with ASEAN.
Opinion

The Quad needs to work with other groups. ASEAN is the place to start

Maritime security would be productive area for cooperation

3 November 2023
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will head to Asia after visiting Tel Aviv and Amman.
International relations

Blinken to visit Japan, South Korea and India next week

China and North Korea on agenda for U.S. secretary of state and Asian leaders

3 November 2023
Afghan citizens gather to cross into Afghanistan on Nov. 1, after Pakistan gave a last warning to undocumented immigrants to leave.
Afghanistan turmoil

Pakistan-Afghanistan border overwhelmed as Afghans face expulsion

Islamabad seeks to enforce vow to deport undocumented migrants

2 November 2023
A Senegalese farmer carries freshly harvest eggplants: India and Africa can strengthen agribusiness ties by channeling funds into agrotechnology.
Opinion

India is driving change by working together with Africa

Modi has taken lead in championing trade and investment links with the continent

2 November 2023
A Qatari court recently sentenced eight former Indian Navy personnel to death on uncertain grounds, prompting a diplomatic scramble in New Delhi.
International relations

India lobbies for 8 nationals facing death penalty in Qatar

Murky case of ex-navy officers will test New Delhi's prowess and leverage

2 November 2023
The final close of Ares Management's sixth flagship Asia special situations fund came after about 22 months of fundraising. (Screenshot from Ares Management's website) 
DealStreetAsia

Ares Management closes sixth Asia flagship fund at $2.4bn

CEO praises 'strong' economies and 'robust' earnings in India and Australia

2 November 2023
Singapore asset manager Keppel and Indian real estate developer Rustomjee Group have stakes in a Mumbai residential project named Lavie. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by screenshot from Keppel's website and courtesy of Keppel) 
Property

Singapore's Keppel looks to India amid China's property woes

Temasek-owned asset manager eyes South Asia as Chinese rout continues

2 November 2023
Saima Wazed, left, with her mother, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, right, in 2014. Wazed has been chosen to lead the WHO's regional office for Southeast Asia.
International relations

Bangladesh PM's daughter nominated for key WHO regional post

Saima Wazed chosen over Nepali rival despite criticism of 'apparent nepotism'

1 November 2023
India's new import monitoring system for computers and other selected IT hardware takes effect Nov. 1. (Source photos by Kosaku Mimura and Ken Kobayashi)
Trade

India launches IT hardware import management system: 5 things to know

Monitoring of PCs and tablets follows uproar over plan to impose restrictive licensing

1 November 2023
A public bus burns in Dhaka during a countrywide strike on Oct. 29. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party is protesting police action against its weekend rally and now aims to obstruct transportation for three days this week.
Politics

Bangladesh opposition attempts transport blockade in bid to oust Hasina

Experts say time running out to ease election tensions

31 October 2023