Indian Mandala

Bangladesh’s concerns about the safety of its cricket players is connected to the decision by Indian cricket authorities to exclude Bangladeshi player Mustafizur Rahman from the Indian Premier League. The deterioration in bilateral relations follows former Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina's flight to India. The two sides also accuse each other of sectarian violence as Bangladeshis are set to go to the polls next month. Still, New Delhi is trying a more conciliatory approach.

The Supreme Court has asked states and the central government to urgently identify and repeal all obsolete provisions that continue to contain discriminatory references to people with leprosy. According to the National Human Rights Commission, there are nearly 100 laws that limit the rights and access to services of even those who have been cured.

At last week's summit in Johannesburg, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented a six-point agenda, ranging from coordination against drug trafficking and terrorism to a new framework for critical minerals, as well as regulations on artificial intelligence. Relations with Japan, Italy, and Canada have strengthened. But while New Delhi claims a central role for emerging economies, tensions with Beijing flared up again after yet another incident related to the disputed territory of Arunachal Pradesh.

India wants China to open a flight corridor over Xinjiang, even though the area is highly militarised. Tensions with India have led Pakistan to close its airspace to Indian aircraft, causing Air India losses estimated at over US$ 450 million a year. Meanwhile, closures of land crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan are paralysing regional trade, leading Ariana Afghan Airlines to lower fares to Indian markets.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance won a landslide victory in the Bihar elections, largely outperforming the opposition Mahagathbandhan bloc. The Modi government’s cash transfer programmes for women and youth played a decisive role. Voter turnout among women exceeded that of men for the first time.

The northern Indian state has arbitrarily denied land rights granted under the Forest Rights Act of 2006. The legal process has reached a stalemate, but the case of the village of Kajaria has reignited the debate over the slow implementation of the regulations and the broken promises to indigenous peoples, for whom forests are not only a source of subsistence but also the basis of their identity.

Today, India decided to reopen its embassy in Kabul, marking an unprecedented political step towards the Taliban government. The announcement came after Pakistan struck the Afghan capital to eliminate Noor Wali Mehsud, leader of the Pakistani Taliban. These developments are part of a new phase in the conflict between India and Pakistan, which began with Operation Sindoor, launched by New Delhi in May in response to an attack in Kashmir.

New Delhi is weighing the consequences of the end of US exemptions on the Iranian port of Chabahar, in which it has invested hundreds of millions of dollars as a strategic hub to Central Asia and a counterweight to China's presence in Gwadar. New sanctions risk stalling the project and further complicating relations with Washington, already beset by tariffs and new visa restrictions. In the long run, analysts warn, China could be the real beneficiary of the crisis.

The Modi government wants to boost nuclear energy production with a new nuclear liability fund to attract investment. The goal is to increase production capacity from the current 8.18 GW to 100 GW by 2047. New Delhi has already opened uranium supply and processing to the private sector, but critical issues remain like high costs, the lack of an independent regulatory authority, and the uncertainties surrounding next-generation modular reactors.

Following the approval of the anti-conversion bill in Rajasthan and the Maharashtra Public Security Bill, protests have broken out in India. In Rajasthan, the law even affects voluntary conversions and interfaith marriages, while in Maharashtra, the executive will be able to declare entire organisations ‘illegal’ without concrete evidence. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has asked the states for clarification on the constitutionality of these laws.

The Indian prime minister is expected to visit the northeastern state next week, after more than two years of communal violence. Meanwhile, militant Kuki groups signed a reconciliation agreement with the central and state governments, but many issues remain unresolved, such as the displacement of some 60,000 people and internal divisions within the BJP, the prime minister’s own party, which controlled Manipur when violence erupted in 2023.

Before his highly anticipated trip to China, the Indian prime minister is in Japan, a clear sign that he wants to counterbalance his overtures to Beijing. Economic co-operation is the focus of the visit, especially in high-speed trains and new technologies. Both sides are seeking a mutually beneficial partnership.