South Asia in January 2026: the most important developments in politics
In January 2026, politics in South Asia and neighbouring Southeast Asia was dominated by the run-up to Bangladesh's 13th national election, the first since Sheikh Hasina's ouster. Over one-third of polling centres were marked as risky, and the official campaign began on 22 January with more than 127 million registered voters. BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman met British, Swiss, US and EU diplomats, and China reaffirmed its support for what it called Bangladesh's democratic transition. India withdrew the families of its diplomats from Bangladesh on 20 and 21 January. On 25 January Hasina gave her first public address from India, which Dhaka criticised, and on 29 January she called the election a sham. Elsewhere in the region, a Manila court on 16 January acquitted former congressman Arnie Teves of murder; he remains detained on separate terrorism charges.
Myanmar held the three phases of its military-run election, ending on 25 January, and the military-backed USDP won a majority. ASEAN said it would not send observers, and on 30 January its foreign ministers said they did not recognise the result 'for now'. The UN said at least 170 people were killed in air strikes during the poll. At the International Court of Justice, hearings on the genocide case over the Rohingya opened on 12 January, and Myanmar called the case flawed and unfounded.
In Vietnam, the Communist Party held its 14th National Party Congress from 19 January, elected a 200-member Central Committee and a 19-member Politburo, and re-elected To Lam as General Secretary. Xi Jinping held phone talks with him on 26 January, and Vietnam and the European Union upgraded relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership on 29 January.
Other items: Indonesia, Pakistan, Cambodia and several Middle Eastern states joined Donald Trump's Board of Peace for Gaza. The Thai-Cambodian border dispute topped the agenda of the ASEAN foreign ministers' retreat. Japan and the Philippines signed defence agreements, Singapore's Parliament removed Pritam Singh as Leader of the Opposition, and Malaysia froze army and police procurement decisions amid a corruption investigation.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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