South Asia in April 2026: the most important developments in politics
In South Asia in April 2026, politics was shaped above all by the war involving Iran, the United States and Israel, and by the diplomacy around it. Donald Trump demanded that Iran open the Strait of Hormuz and said he could take out Iran "in one night" if no deal was reached. On April 8 Israel backed a two-week pause in strikes proposed by the US, saying Lebanon was excluded. Islamabad then hosted ceasefire talks, and a 21-hour direct US-Iran session on April 12 ended without a deal. Benjamin Netanyahu faced pressure at home and abroad, according to Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror. Iran demanded compensation from five Arab states, ASEAN urged a permanent end to the conflict, and Bangladesh thanked Pakistan for its mediation. In Indonesia, a US request for military overflight rights drew domestic criticism.
Vietnam's leadership was the other main story. On April 7 the National Assembly unanimously elected Communist Party leader To Lam as state president, giving him both posts. He made his first state visit to China from April 14 to 17, where he and Xi Jinping signed 32 agreements, including deals on rail, aviation and security. South Korea's President Lee visited India and then Vietnam, and both sides set a target of $150 billion in trade by 2030. Wang Yi toured Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar.
In Myanmar, parliament elected Min Aung Hlaing, the general who led the 2021 coup, as president on April 3, and he was sworn in on April 10. A mass amnesty on April 17 reduced Aung San Suu Kyi's sentence and freed former president Win Myint. On April 24 the government imposed martial law in 60 townships. On April 30 Suu Kyi was allowed to move to a designated residence to serve the rest of her sentence.
Elsewhere, Bangladesh's foreign minister made the most senior visit to India since the 2024 uprising and repeated the demand for Sheikh Hasina's extradition. Bangladesh signed a cooperation agreement with the EU and sent a delegation to China. In the Maldives the opposition won a constitutional referendum and mayoral elections against the government. Thailand moved to revoke MOU 44 with Cambodia and shift maritime talks to the UNCLOS framework, while the border closure entered its tenth month.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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