Three revolutions on its doorstep have not shaken India, but they have served as a serious warning. The question on everyone's lips is whether the South Asian heavyweight will escape the wave of uprisings that has swept through its neighbors over the past three years.

"The collapse of governments across South Asia, from Sri Lanka’s economic meltdown, in 2022, to the uprisings in Bangladesh [during the summer of 2024] and Nepal [at the start of September], has established a regional pattern that should alarm New Delhi," warned Sushant Singh, a columnist for the magazine The Caravan.

Most of the ills condemned by young people in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal appear to be shared – and even amplified – across the subcontinent. Chief among them is the lack of economic integration for youth. In this country of 1.4 billion people − the world's most populous, where half the population is under 28 − unemployment among youth has reached critical levels. Despite growth at 7.8% during the first quarter of 2025-2026, India has failed to create enough jobs for the roughly 10 million young people entering the labor market each year. According to data from the think tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, nearly one in two people aged 20 to 24 is unemployed.

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