One Year After Pahalgam: Competing Narratives and Converging Risks

One Year After Pahalgam: Competing Narratives and Converging Risks

May 7 through 10 marked the one-year anniversary of one of the most intense crises in decades between India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed neighbors that share a long and heavily militarized border and together hold at risk nearly 1.7 billion…

India’s Military Vision for 2047: A Challenging Path

India’s Military Vision for 2047: A Challenging Path

Historically, recurring crises, scarcity of resources, and a tendency toward ad hoc thinking have constrained India’s defense planning. But on March 10, 2026, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh released Defence Forces Vision 2047: A Roadmap for a Future-Ready Indian Military,…

The Islamabad Channel: Mediation and Elite Survival

The Islamabad Channel: Mediation and Elite Survival

In the summer of 1971, a Pakistani military plane carried Henry Kissinger on a secret flight to Beijing. The trip helped unlock one of the Cold War’s most consequential diplomatic openings and briefly made Pakistan indispensable to global strategy. Islamabad…

After the Four-Day War: Defense Adaptation and Strategic Realignment Across South Asia

After the Four-Day War: Defense Adaptation and Strategic Realignment Across South Asia

The May 2025 conflict between India and Pakistan lasted less than a week, but its aftershocks are still coursing through the region. The crisis saw the region's first live combat test of Chinese-manufactured J-10C fighters, PL-15 beyond-visual-range (BVR) missiles, and…

Check out our series on the cybersecurity threats, laws, and norms in South Asia.

In our latest series, SAV experts grapple with the recent political upheaval in Nepal, which raised a number of critical questions: what drove the outpouring of mass frustration that toppled the government? How can the interim government—and the country as a whole—navigate the fraught political moment to hold legitimate, inclusive elections? Most importantly, what is required to address the concerns of Nepalis, implement lasting reforms, and deliver enduring stability and prosperity to the Himalayan nation? Explores answers to these questions below!

Read our series on Nepal's crisis