India/Pakistan

The new citizenship law passed in India which grants citizenship to persons fleeing from a select list of nations which adhere to a specified list of acceptable religions (1), is widely regarded as a carefully crafted bill to exclude Muslims in general, and refugees from certain nations in particular (2).

The tension has been exasperated by a court ruling that Hindu’s have a right to a disputed religious site (3), leading to fears that deep-seated issues could reignite (4).

Pakistan and India continue to accuse each other of terrorism and extremism (5) as the situation in Kashmir continues to worsen (6), with a second mass shut-down of communications networks (7) leading Pakistan’s PM to warn against jihad and reaffirm his dedication to diplomatic actions (8).

Modi seems to be using a resurgence in Hindu nationalism to appease the masses so they remain unfocused on the disaster that is the Indian economic situation (9) and the looming banking crisis (10) with international rating agencies changing their outlook to negative (11).

Despite the turmoil, investors remain hopeful that untapped Indian markets could be paving the way for the next wave of unicorns (12) as start-ups from the fintech (13) and insurance (14) sector to hotels and hospitality (15) start reaching the 1bn valuations.

The volatility in Kashmir is drawing international concern that human rights may be violated with the communications blackouts (16).

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References

1. India’s Parliament Passes Citizenship Law for Non-Muslim Minorities

2. Modi’s surgical strike on Muslims puts India at war with itself

3. Indian court gives disputed religious site to Hindus in landmark ruling

4. Ayodhya dilemma: HISTORICAL VERDICT could draw battle lines between Hindus and Muslims in India

5. India Accuses Pakistan of Running a ‘Terrorist Industry’

6. India, driven by Hindu nationalism, has no right to repress Kashmir -Nikkei Asian Review

7. India shuts down mobile networks as protests spread

8. Imran Khan Warns Calls for Jihad or Military Action in Kashmir Against Pakistan’s Interests

9. ‘Tax terrorism’: India’s slowing economy takes a deadly turn

10. Bank Crisis Hits India: “Bank Stops Functioning, People Crying Outside Bank Branches”

11. Moody’s lowers India’s outlook to negative from stable

12. Next Big Wave of Technology Unicorn Listings Could Be in India

13. Paytm Nears $2 Billion From Backers Including SoftBank, Ant

14. China’s Tencent Raises Bets In India, Enters Insurance Market

15. Oyo Funding: India Startup Oyo Raises $1.5 Billion at $10 Billion Valuation

16. U.S. ‘Concerned’ About Kashmir, Urges India to Restore Normalcy