ICYMI #TheTribuneOpinion: From our backyards to borders: A week of political churning

While America and China continue to call each other out over tariffs, a lot has been going on in the Indian subcontinent that’s keeping Indian diplomacy on its toes. Our Op-Ed pieces give a sneak peek into what’s happening in the corridors of power this entire week. Let’s first focus on what is happening in our own backyard.

With Sukhbir Badal back in the saddle as Shiromani Akali Dal president, ‘It’s back to square one for SAD’, writes JNU Professor Surinder S Jodhka. It might end up widening the gulf between the party and the Sikh sangat. Though the Akali Dal was formed under the aegis of the SGPC to function as its political wing, their relationship has changed over time.

From Punjab, let’s go to Tamil Nadu, and in ‘Sounds of a shotgun wedding’, senior journalist Nirupama Subramanian outlines the interesting chronology behind the union of the BJP and AIADMK for the 2026 Tamil Nadu polls, though party workers from both sides remain unconvinced about the unholy alliance. Stalin continues to vouch for TN at the national level, raking up delimitation, language and federalism to take the conversation away from local issues.

Another interesting read is one of the insightful editorials, ‘Urdu is our own’, in which the SC ruling of “allowing Urdu to be used on a municipality” signboard has been hailed. It is a timely reminder to the political leadership that polarising slogans like ‘ek hain to safe hain’ are inimical to a diverse country like ours, the editorial points out.

In ‘Basmati beyond borders: An Indo-Pak story’, environmental health and justice expert Sridhar Radhakrishnan talks about how the conflict between India and Pakistan over the GI tag for Basmati is not just a story of trading rice but about how we are treating the commons between us. We are hardly acknowledging that the scent of the boiling Basmati, whether in Lahore or Lucknow, is alike; it’s the generations of farmers who preserved its ecosystems who are its true custodians. So, a joint protected GI by India and Pakistan could help us reclaim our commons.

Talking more about our neighbours, the spectre of Bangladesh and Pakistan forgiving each other for their past sins and moving on is apparent, writes The Tribune Editor-in-Chief Jyoti Malhotra in her article ‘Ominous churning on India’s frontiers’. Naya Bangladesh has reached out to both China and Pakistan like it hasn’t for decades. And India is caught between a China-friendly Pakistan and a China-friendly Bangladesh.

However, the good news is that India and Sri Lanka have moved ahead in their relationship with a tripartite agreement being signed between them, with the UAE tagging along. In his discerning Op-Ed 'India, Lanka no longer confined by bounds of bilateralism’, strategic analyst KP Nayar writes that the new Sri Lankan President Dissanayake displayed an imaginative approach when PM Modi visited Sri Lanka in early April, which culminated in a first-of-its-kind Defence MoU, talks on which began in December last.

While India has strengthened its position with Sri Lanka, the developments to the East and also to the West are a bit more complex.

On the eastern side, the US has been monitoring the growing influence of China in Bangladesh and Myanmar, writes Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha (retd) in his Op-Ed piece ‘Bay of Bengal is emerging as geopolitical flashpoint’. Yunus may be naïve to invite Chinese businessmen, ignoring the fact that two US generals had visited Bangladesh when Yunus went to China. China has many stakes in Bangladesh; it is Bangladesh’s top import partner. Yunus has reportedly agreed to invite China for the development of Mongla port, the operation of which was awarded to India by the Sheikh Hasina government.

Meanwhile, coming back to India-China relations, Maj Gen Ashok Mehta (retd) makes an important point when he writes that while the US wants to make good with Russia to focus on China, Beijing wishes to mend relations with India to concentrate on the US. Besides, he dwells on the technicalities of the border issue, which for now has seen a thaw. For more info, read his Op-Ed article ‘What India’s ‘new normal’ with China really means’. Meanwhile, Trump’s direct parleys with Putin to end the Russia-Ukraine war, bypassing Ukraine and Europe, have not gone down well with the West, writes Abhijit Bhattacharyya in his incisive article ‘Europe’s waning clout in Russia-Ukraine war’.