2021 was a year of change for South Asia. Along with countries across the region working to vaccinate their populations amidst surges of new variants of COVID-19, the year was also marked by pivotal events that will shape political affairs for the years to come. 2021 saw the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan following the U.S. withdrawal from a two-decade-long war, a ceasefire revival on the Line of Control between India and Pakistan, heightened U.S.-China competition, changing leadership in Nepal, and large scale protests leading to the eventual repeal of farm laws in India. In this SAV series, contributors examine these events and more, and discuss the most important dynamics to watch in the year ahead.
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Images: Rajesh via Flickr (bottom left), via Wikimedia Commons (bottom right), Usman Malik via Flickr (top right)
