• Rivers of Empire: China’s Hydro-Heist in Occupied Tibet

    The Yarlung Tsangpo, the Mekong, and the Salween are not merely rivers—they are Asia’s lifeblood. Yet Beijing treats the Tibetan Plateau, where they originate, as an extractive resource to be harnessed for Chinese strategic dominance. Over two centuries, Tibet’s sacred waterways have provided for billions downstream. Today, China’s hydropower megaprojects are weaponising these waters, transforming…

  • Importing Risk at Sea: Somalia’s Bet on Pakistan’s Navy is Self-Defeating

    On August 28, 2025, Somalia’s cabinet approved a five-year defence cooperation MoU with Pakistan, covering training from basic to staff-college level, naval technical assistance, maintenance and new unit stand-up, selective equipment upgrades, and a Joint Defence Cooperation Committee that meets annually to steer the workstreams. The government paired this with similar cooperation instruments with Jordan…

  • Tibet’s Culture Under Siege: India’s Pluralism as a Counterpoint

    China’s forced assimilation policies in Tibet have entered a new and darker phase. As Beijing closes Tibetan schools and pushes over a million Tibetan children into assimilationist boarding institutions, cultural extinction is no longer a by-product of state policy—it is the policy itself. By contrast, in India’s Himalayan frontier, the Army demonstrates a different model:…

  • No Longer Held Hostage: Kashmir After Geelani

    Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s death in September 2021 closed a chapter in Kashmir’s separatist politics. For decades, the veteran leader of the Hurriyat Conference symbolised Pakistan’s proxy influence, calling for boycotts of elections and amplifying demands for secession. His anniversaries are marked by political commentary, but the valley’s trajectory since his passing has moved decisively…

  • Veterans Fight a New Battle for Healthcare

    In India, soldiers are revered as the guardians of the Republic, their sacrifices often invoked in speeches and ceremonies. Yet once they hang up their boots and uniforms folded away, many veterans find themselves fighting a different kind of battle—the frontline has shifted from border posts to hospital corridors, where elderly servicemen and their families…