Category South Asia Studies Center

EPA 2024

India-Sri Lanka Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) 2024: Strengthening Economic and Strategic Partnership

The EPA signed in 2024 emerged from the context not merely as a recovery mechanism for Sri Lanka, but as a test case for India’s evolving regional economic diplomacy. As someone seeking to understand how bilateral cooperation is shaped by mutual dependency, geopolitical calculations and economic leverage. This agreement offers a timely lens in  which to explore the political economy of regional integration. Hence, this article attempts to examine the EPA not just as a policy document, but as a strategic narrative. Critics question  whether it reflects a shift toward mutualism or masks deeper asymmetries beneath an ambitious framework.

Strengthening Regional Resilience: The role of the BIMSTEC Centre for Weather and Climate

The BIMSTEC Centre for Weather and Climate (BCWC) is a joint effort as part of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).
It is established by seven member countries of BIMSTEC, namely- Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indian, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

Remembering Ambedkar: His enduring vision and India’s constitutional journey

The ideas and ideals of Babasaheb, whose birth anniversary is today, on April 14, still guide and motivate us. But there’s another special date to remember — January 26, the day we adopted the Constitution in 1950. This year, our Constitution turned 75. Whenever we find ourselves at the crossroads of a constitutional dilemma, we find ourselves turning to the Constituent Assembly debates and the words of Babasaheb, hoping that they will guide us in resolving not only our constitutional quandary but also our moral and social ones.

Advancing Free Trade Through AITIGA Reforms

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) was signed and entered into force on January 1, 2010. The AITIGA (also known as ASEAN-India FTA) was a culmination of a series of efforts by both ASEAN member-States and India to ameliorate their ties. After completing a decade of the AITIGA in 2019, ASEAN and India mutually decided to review the agreement through consultations. While attending the 20th ASEAN-India Summit in 2022 at Jakarta, the Indian Prime Minister emphasised the need to complete the AITIGA in a time-bound manner.

PM Oli’s China Visit: Optics Overshadow Substance

High in optics and but low in content, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s visit to China this week sends signals of balancing India. For the past decade, China has been upping the ante in Kathmandu with close political tie-ups between the communist parties, promises for infrastructure projects, trade, tourism and others.

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