Working through the political turbulence in the neighbourhood

India must act decisively, and not let China consolidate further in its backyard.

- AJAY DUA

Last week's youth-led toppling of the elected government in Nepal completes the chain of political displacements around India.

In the last three years following the Taliban's capture of power in Afghanistan, the Aung San-headed government in Myanmar was pushed out by the Army. The wave of disappointment and despair with the status quo then widened first to the Maldives and soon thereafter to Sri Lanka. In the summer of 2024, student factions in Bangladesh came together to ease out the democratically elected two-term Premier Sheikh Hasina. The previous year, Pakistan's government under cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan was deposed in a well-orchestrated military coup. Only in Bhutan did public dissatisfaction and dissent, so visible in other neighbouring countries, not come to the fore. The Wangchuk monarchy continues to rule for decades in what it tactfully calls the Land of Happiness. The turbulence of such kind brings along both political and economic uncertainty. However, in most South Asian nations, the resultant political instability has settled fairly quickly, unless sustained by powerful domestic or external forces. The economic consequences, however, have not been as transient and have invariably worsened. Unfortunately, all eight nations in the region remain squarely in the category of developing nations. In fact, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nepal have been languishing for quite a while at the bottom of the pecking rung.