A new Security Nexus Perspective by Shyam Tekwani, a professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, traces how small symbols now drive big territorial tensions across South Asia.

Tekwani argues that the region faces its sharpest risk not from armies but from symbolic escalation. He shows how maps, passports, visas, murals and political rhetoric can harden public attitudes and narrow room for diplomacy.

He links three episodes from a single week to that trend: Chinese officials detained a traveler from Arunachal Pradesh in Shanghai, India’s defense minister revived talk that Sindh could “return” to India, and Nepal issued currency notes that display its disputed 2020 political map.

Read the full article: When Maps Begin to Move

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