As smoke billows from Nepal’s parliament building and protesters storm the streets of Kathmandu, South Asia finds itself once again grappling with the familiar spectre of political upheaval. The resignation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on September 9, 2025, following violent Gen Z-led protests against social media bans, marks yet another chapter in the region’s troubling narrative of regime collapse and institutional breakdown. In a neighbourhood where political stability has become increasingly elusive, India stands as the sole beacon of democratic continuity amid a sea of turbulence.
Nepal:
The Poster Child of
Political Dysfunction
Nepal’s current turmoil cannot be understood without examining the underlying economic and demographic pressures that have created a powder keg of youth frustration. The Himalayan nation faces a stark reality: Approximately 8 million Nepalese — nearly one-fourth of the population — live and work outside the country, driven by limited job opportunities at home. This massive exodus reflects the government’s failure to create meaningful jobs, with the unemployment rate for youth aged 15–24 reaching 20.8 per cent in 2024, according to the World Bank.
The remittance economy has become Nepal’s lifeline and its curse. Money sent home by overseas workers contributes nearly 33 per cent of the nation’s GDP, making Nepal dangerously dependent on external labour markets. While these funds have helped families survive, they have also masked the government’s inability to develop domestic industries and create local employment opportunities. The result is a hollowed-out economy where political leaders have little incentive to pursue genuine development policies. This economic dysfunction is compounded by Nepal’s notorious political instability. Since the end of the monarchy in 2008, the country has witnessed a relentless game of musical chairs among the same familiar faces. Leaders like KP Sharma Oli, Sher Bahadur Deuba, and Pushpa Kamal Dahal have rotated through the prime minister’s office multiple times, forming and breaking coalitions with bewildering frequency. Between 2008 and 2025, Nepal has had 14 different governments, with the average tenure lasting barely 18 months.
The current generation of Nepalese youth — educated, connected, and increasingly frustrated has grown up watching this political theatre while facing bleak employment prospects. Unlike previous generations who accepted political instability as inevitable, Gen Z Nepalese have begun demanding accountability. The recent protests that began over social media bans quickly transformed into a broader uprising against corruption, nepotism, and the political establishment’s failure to address fundamental economic challenges.
The violence that erupted on September 8, claiming 20 lives, represented a breaking point. When protesters stormed and burned the parliament building, they were symbolically rejecting a political system that had failed to represent their interests or provide opportunities for their future.
The Domino Effect:
A Pattern of Collapse
The current crisis in Nepal is not an isolated incident but part of a disturbing pattern that has swept across South Asia over the past few years. The region has witnessed an unprecedented wave of popular uprisings that have toppled governments and destabilised entire nations, creating what experts now describe as “the new politics of instability in South Asia.” The sequence began with Sri Lanka’s dramatic collapse in 2022, when economic mismanagement and corruption sparked mass protests that forced President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country. The images of protesters swimming in the presidential pool became symbolic of the people’s fury against failed governance.
The island nation, once considered a middle-income success story, plunged into its worst economic crisis since independence, with severe shortages of fuel, medicine, and food. Bangladesh followed suit in August 2024, when student-led protests initially focused on quota system reforms transformed into a broader movement against Sheikh Hasina’s increasingly authoritarian rule. After 15 years in power, Hasina was forced to resign and flee to India, leaving behind a nation struggling with political polarisation and economic challenges. The interim government under Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has struggled to maintain stability, with political parties bickering over election dates while mob violence and attacks on minorities surge. Now Nepal joins this unfortunate club, with the army effectively in charge for now, till an interim government begins the task of restoring constitutional order.
Pakistan, Myanmar & Afghanistan: Perpetual Instability
While Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh have experienced dramatic regime changes, Pakistan continues its familiar cycle of political and economic turbulence. Civilian governments in Islamabad are often little more than façades for military power, with real authority residing in Rawalpindi. This pattern of alternating between direct military rule and nominal civilian administrations has prevented any sustainable democratic consolidation. The recent political turmoil caused by the arrest of Imran Khan, compounded by severe economic dislocation and persistent security threats, keeps Pakistan locked in a state of perpetual uncertainty.
Afghanistan presents perhaps the starkest case of instability in the region. Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, the country has plunged into international isolation, economic collapse, and a humanitarian crisis of staggering proportions. The systematic suppression of human rights, particularly women’s rights, has not only deepened internal despair but also heightened regional anxieties. Refugee flows, cross-border militancy, and narcotics trafficking emanating from Afghanistan continue to reverberate across South and Central Asia, underscoring the dangers of a governance model that rests solely on coercion and ideological absolutism.
The anchor in the storm: India’s role amid regional chaos
Myanmar is now engulfed in a civil war, a stark reversal of its tentative democratic transition. The February 2021 coup dismantled years of political opening and accelerated democratic backsliding, as the junta crushed protests, persecuted minorities, and mismanaged the economy. More than 4,500 civilians have been killed and over 2 million displaced, while refugee flows, drug trafficking, and arms smuggling spill into neighbouring countries. With large parts of the country outside military control, Myanmar has fragmented into multiple centres of power, leaving governance fractured and instability entrenched.
The Common Threads of Collapse: Several factors unite the crises unfolding across South Asia. Corruption stands out as the primary catalyst for popular anger, with citizens increasingly unwilling to tolerate kleptocratic elites enriching themselves at the expense of the public good. Economic mismanagement has compounded these frustrations, producing hardship that falls disproportionately on younger generations. Many countries in the region have relied heavily on remittances as a safety valve, creating the illusion of stability while masking the absence of genuine domestic development. When global downturns affect overseas employment opportunities or when political regimes restrict communication with diaspora communities, the fragility of this economic model is quickly exposed.
Authoritarian tendencies-manifested through restrictions on media freedom, curbs on civil society, and intolerance toward political opposition-have further alienated populations already weary of governance failures. Leaders have often chosen to tighten control of information flows rather than confront the structural roots of popular discontent.
Finally, demographics are reshaping the political equation. South Asia is home to one of the world’s youngest populations, and these citizens are increasingly connected, informed, and unwilling to accept the status quo. The disconnect between educated youth and entrenched, ageing political leadership has created a combustible mix that repeatedly pushes fragile systems toward rupture.
India: The Democratic Anchor
In this landscape of collapsing institutions and failed governance, India stands distinctly apart. Despite facing its own challenges, the world’s largest democracy has maintained institutional continuity and democratic processes.
India’s economy, too, has shown resilience in comparison to its neighbours. While countries across South Asia have confronted foreign exchange crises, debt defaults, and fiscal breakdowns, India has maintained growth momentum and macroeconomic stability. As the world’s fastest-growing major economy, India has continued to attract investor confidence even amid global uncertainty, underscoring the strength of its diversified economic base.
Regional Implications and India’s Response
The instability in India’s neighbourhood poses significant challenges. Border security concerns, refugee flows, economic disruption, and the potential for extremist exploitation of chaos all affect Indian interests. The collapse of neighbouring governments creates power vacuums that can be filled by radical elements or external powers seeking to expand their influence.
India’s response has been measured and principled. The country has provided humanitarian assistance while maintaining diplomatic engagement with governments in power as well as key stakeholders on the ground. The policy of “Neighbourhood First” recognizes that India’s own development and security are closely linked to regional stability.
However, India cannot single-handedly stabilize the region. The problems in neighbouring countries are fundamentally internal, rooted in governance failures, institutional weaknesses, and social divisions that require domestic solutions. India can offer support, share experiences, and provide a model, but each country must chart its own path toward stability.
Conclusion
As Nepal’s Gen Z protesters demand accountability and a new political contract, India must calibrate its approach with sensitivity. Rather than acting as a domineering elder, New Delhi’s role should be that of a supportive neighbour, listening, engaging, and reaching out to the aspirations of a generation that is digitally connected, politically conscious, and impatient for change. By demonstrating solidarity with the democratic impulses of Nepal’s youth, while respecting the sovereignty of its institutions, India can help nurture stability next door without fuelling suspicions of interference. In doing so, India underscores that regional leadership is not about control, but about partnership rooted in mutual respect.