South Asia in March 2026: the most important developments in politics
South Asia in March 2026 was dominated by the fallout of the Middle East war, above all in Sri Lanka. On March 5 Sri Lanka evacuated 208 crew members from a second Iranian vessel near its coast, a day after the US military sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena in the same waters. The US reportedly urged Sri Lanka not to repatriate the survivors; on March 8 Sri Lanka granted the rescued sailors one-month visas, and on March 11 a court ordered the bodies of 84 Iranian sailors handed to Iran's embassy. By March 20 Sri Lanka's president said the country had refused a US request to land two fighter jets at Mattala airport and had denied port visits to both Iranian and US warships.
The war also reached energy supplies. Sri Lanka made every Wednesday a public holiday to save energy, received an emergency petroleum shipment from India, while MPs began signing a no-confidence motion against the Power and Energy Minister. Thailand's cabinet ordered home working and halted official overseas trips, and Bangkok pressed Iran to release 18 Thai crew held on a seized container ship.
In Thailand, a coalition of about 292 seats was formed on March 9 without the Klatham, Democrat and Thai Ruamphalang parties. The House elected a new speaker on March 15, and on March 19 parliament elected Anutin Charnvirakul prime minister. His cabinet list was finalised for submission to the king on March 27.
Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, ASEAN foreign ministers called on March 13 for an immediate halt to hostilities in the Middle East. Indonesia refused to pay a reported $1 billion fee for a seat on the US-backed Board of Peace, and the Philippines declared a nationwide state of emergency over the war, described as the first country to do so. In Malaysia a constitutional amendment capping the prime minister's term at 10 years fell two votes short of the required two-thirds majority. Vietnam's Communist Party won nearly 97 percent of National Assembly seats. In Bangladesh, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman stressed mutual respect and cooperation in foreign policy.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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