I’M just back from a month in southern India, where all is lush, peaceful, and communist. In Kerala, this translates as higher literacy rates, greater gender equality, and less desperate poverty, rather than gulags and Stalinist pogroms. Like the rest of secular India, religion is everywhere; temples, mosques and churches tranquilly co-exist side by side. All gods are catered for.

For three decades, India’s self-branding as the world’s fastest-growing free-market democracy worked. But in a matter of months,it has all begun to fall apart, writes Shashi Tharoor

The present political leaders on the sub-continent have decisively repudiated the legacy of Gandhi and Nehru, inaugurating what could be a dark new chapter in the history of the region, writes Ramachandra Guha.

The dispute over land ownership has been one of the country’s most contentious issues.

There are many reasons why even the oldest democracies, such as the US and Britain, are increasingly riven by tribal hatreds. But when political leaders deliberately exploit these rifts and whip up hostile emotions even further, they do immense harm to the institutions that guarantee people’s freedom and safety, writes Ian Buruma

It seems China may be about to offer a more assertive response to the protests in Hong Kong. Prominent activists have been arrested in recent days and they join the 900 arrested since protests began in June.

As tensions ramp up between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, and peace talks in Afghanistan reach a crucial stage, the Trump administration has some difficult choices to make, writes Richard N Haass

At least 20 people have been killed after a bus fell into a deep gorge on a mountainous road in northern India, police have said.

For the journalist Gauri Lankesh, railing against India’s right-wing nationalism was a birthright and a calling. In an increasingly intolerant country, it was also a death sentence, writes Rollo Romig.

The entire South Asian subcontinent once ruled by the British is seeing religious and ethnic attitudes harden and divisions deepen, writes Mihir Sharma.

India and Pakistan exchanged gunfire through the night in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, a day after Islamabad said it shot down two Indian warplanes and captured a pilot.

These are good days for Ireland’s manufacturers as a resurgent economy driven by home-grown and foreign investment provide the biggest turnaround since the financial collapse 10 years ago, writes John Whelan 

The US must punish Pakistan for its duplicity as it claims to be an ally of America while harbouring terrorists at the same time, writes Brahma Chellaney.

Peter Apps is Reuters global affairs columnist, writing on international affairs, globalization, conflict and other issues.

This year’s Davos gathering could rival the US version of TV reality show The Apprentice, which helped propel Donald Trump into the White House, for ratings-boosting excitement because it’s risky and because the stakes are much higher.

Whether the annual gathering of the world’s movers and shakers in Davos, which takes place this week, might mean positive change or is just an echo chamber where like-minded souls press the flesh is an open question.

Withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership will reduce US influence in Asia as China and Japan gain ground, writes Kevin Rudd.

Donald Trump has pushed for equitable trade deals and opted to prioritise strategic interests over human rights during a meeting with Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte in Manila.

The Prince of Wales should register all his interests to prevent secrecy surrounding his private estate, a royal financial expert has warned.

A Foreign Office minister has met six British seamen who have been detained in India since 2013 to give them an update on their appeal.

At least 173 people have died and millions more have been displaced across northern India, southern Nepal and Bangladesh after heavy monsoon rains unleashed landslides and floods.

The incursions of the People’s Republic into neighbouring states has backfired in an embarrassing standoff with India in the Himalayas, says Brahma Chellaney.       

India stands on the threshold of global economic dominance, with a massive population set to eclipse that of China. Noel Baker savours an optimistic vision of the world’s largest democracy

Latest: Gunmen opened fire on a passenger bus bringing Hindu pilgrims back from a cave shrine in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least seven of them, including five women, and wounding 14 others.

The White House has issued a warning to Bashar Assad as it claimed "potential" evidence showed Syria was preparing for another chemical weapons attack.

India has lost 2,000 square kilometres to its neighbour’s daily, cross-border stealth missions, but a bullet has yet to be fired. It’s time to be assertive, says Brahma Chellaney. 

Portugal has declared three days of national mourning after 61 people were killed in raging forest fires.

French President Emmanuel Macron told Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, on Saturday he would travel to India before the end of the year for a summit on promoting solar energy.

Latest: The Queen of England has expressed her "deepest sympathy" to all those affected by the Manchester bomb attack, adding that "the whole nation has been shocked by the death and injury".

A human rights group has expressed concern over brutal attacks in India by self-appointed "cow protectors" against Muslims and lower castes over rumours that they sold, bought or killed cows for beef.

India has withdrawn 86% of its paper money in a bid to eradicate tax evasion, but a world that follows suit may not be very democratic, writes John Hearne.

Strongman rulers have recognised the influence their diaspora have, leaving Western nations to deal with a population with split loyalties, writes Leonid Bershidsky

Facebook’s instant messaging app, WhatsApp, is mulling a foray into digital payment services in India, its first such offering globally, and has advertised to hire a digital transactions lead in the country.

So what is happening in Sweden? In a terror non-attack, they are set to be a cashless society within a decade. India is going the same way but where does this leave the poor, stall owners, buskers and generous aunts and uncles, asks Clodagh Finn.

US president Donald Trump has made unsubstantiated claims about election fraud - even as he reached out to Democratic rivals, business leaders and union chiefs in a bid to sell his policies.

Police in India say they have arrested a shopkeeper for axing to death a couple from a lower caste for not promptly paying a debt of 15 rupees (20 cent) for groceries.

Prime minister Narendra Modi is clearing the way for Apple to open its first retail store in India after repeated delays, according to people familiar with the matter.

Rock stars U2 have waded into the European Union referendum debate by declaring: “Don’t go — we’d miss you.”