COMMENT 183 – Are Pakistani dissidents safe in Europe?
On March 2, Sajid Hussain Baloch, a journalist openly critical of Pakistan (Tanner, 2020, May 2), went missing in Sweden (Khan, 2020, April 4). His body was found on April 23 in the Fyris River, outside the university city of Uppsala (Mukhopadhyay, 2020, May 2). Sajid, who escaped from...
WORKING PAPER 18 – Covid-19 in South Asia: Space Matters
Abstract
Covid-19 undoubtedly poses challenges to our world. The first, being the protection of human lives, a pursuit which will influence and take a toll on economic recovery and trust. Through the implementation of a policy of ‘social distancing’, governments have tried to delay the spread of infection to help...
COMMENT 182 – On the Asian Century, Pax Sinica & Beyond (XI): Corona crisis:...
The Global Times (2020, April 16) proclaimed that ‘China's rising status in the world, requires it to ‘safeguard its national interests’. One of the latest target countries of this ‘safeguarding’ is Australia. Canberra made a ‘principled call’ to international political leaders and the World Health Organisation (WHO) for an...
FOCUS 54 – The Changing Face of Urban Informality – Class, Migration & Gender
Abstract
Cities are rapidly changing, and so is the agency of urban infrastructure. It is necessary for policy discussions around urban informality to keep up with this changing pace. This paper begins by exploring how urban infrastructure plays an increasingly structural role in influencing the politics of inclusion & exclusion...
Focus 52 – A European water partnership with South Asia
Abstract
Water in South Asia has been a recurrent central topic in SADF activities nearly from its creation. Among various other initiatives, SADF organised in September 2013 and in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung a conference in Brussels dedicated to the issue. A special session on water management in...
Working Paper 17 – New or Renewed Town: Sustainable Urbanisation in Kolkata
Abstract
This report assesses the sustainability of urbanisation in Kolkata, by identifying possible investment projects of suitable nature that could be of interest to both public and private local, national and international stakeholders. The comparative analysis of Kolkata and India, South Asia and the World, highlights the eminent and existing...
COMMENT 180 – Sino-Sri Lankan relations and the Hambantota Port
Debt trap diplomacy?
In Sri Lanka, the Hambantota Port project funded and initiated under the - government led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2007, is by far the most salient project. China’s involvement and considerable impacts on the Sri Lankan economy since the 2000s are well documented (Panda, 2014, September;...
COMMENT 179 – Coronavirus: Beijing’s public diplomacy and influence campaigns
China is conducting activities in a persistent and systematic manner so as to influence media, academia, think tanks, and political decision-making worldwide (ANI, 2020, April 19; April 16). This phenomenon gathered additional steam with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a large-scale infrastructure development scheme intended to improve connectivity...
Focus 51 – Understanding China’s policies towards its Muslim communities
Abstract
News of the coronavirus epidemic outbreak in Iran disclosed the presence of hundreds of Chinese seminarians in the religious city of Qom. Reports of the link between the outbreak of the virus and the Chinese seminarians succeed very recent news of China’s policies towards its Muslim minority communities. Thus,...
SADF Webinar Series – ‘India and Coronavirus: Impact, Challenges and Strategies’ a webinar talk...
On 21 April 2020, the South Asia Democratic Forum (SADF) held its first webinar, as part of its Webinar Series: ‘India and Coronavirus: Impact, Challenges and Strategies’. Dr. Amitendu Palit, Senior Research Fellow and Research Lead (Trade & Economic Policy) at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) at...