Mujib Mashal

I am the South Asia bureau chief for The New York Times, leading our coverage of India and the diverse region around it.

What I Cover

Based out of New Delhi, I work with a team of dedicated journalists to cover the major developments in India and several of its neighboring countries — Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives. While my focus remains on the political and geopolitical trends at a time when India is coming into its own as an important international power, I also travel around the region to bring cultural and social stories of life in a complex and layered place.

My Background

I have a degree in South Asian history from Columbia University, largely focused on the Indian independence movement. My more than a decade of experience in journalism has almost entirely been in South Asia. I covered Afghanistan for five years for The Times, focusing on the human toll of the war at the peak of the conflict there. For the past three years, I have reported from India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh.

I started my journalism career as an intern with The Times in 2010, before I moved on to work for Al Jazeera English in Doha, Qatar. For three years, I pursued magazine writing, contributing to The Atlantic, Harper’s and Time. I returned to The Times in 2015 as an international correspondent.

I was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. I lived in the United States for eight years, where I attended high school and university. My life has been shaped by influences from the region I cover — from Indian music and cinema, to Urdu literature, to cricket, one of the most-watched sports in the world.

Journalistic Ethics

As a Times journalist, I share the values and adhere to the standards of integrity outlined in The Times’s Ethical Journalism handbook. I strive for accuracy over speed in what is a particularly complex place, especially at a time of heightened disinformation. I try to reach out to every side of a story to understand the complexity, and to make sure we have done our utmost for fairness and giving people a chance to respond. The vastness of the region we cover also requires us to apply extreme caution in cross-checking information in corners we might not have immediate access to. I do not accept gifts, which at times can be difficult to communicate in a region where hospitality is a matter of pride.

• Email: [email protected]

• X: @MujMash

• Instagram: @mujmash