Dr. Ashok K.Behuria is a Fellow and Coordinator of the South Asia Centre at MP-IDSA. He is a Ph.D in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. He has worked on “India-Pakistan Relationship During the Eighties” for his Ph.D. He joined IDSA in 2003 and before that he worked as Assistant Director at the International Centre for Peace Studies, New Delhi. Dr.Behuria has also been Editor of International Studies, the prestigious research journal from Jawaharlal Nehru University, and has been in the Editorial Boards of Journal of Peace Studies and Strategic Analysis, the flagship journal from IDSA. He has taught at the University of Delhi and JamiaMilliaIslamia, New Delhi. He is a close observer of developments in South Asia and has been awarded the prestigious K Subrahmanyam Award for excellence in strategic studies for his work on Pakistan in 2009. He has published many research articles on strategic issues related to Pakistan, India-Pakistan relations, Sri Lanka, Nepal and South Asian security environment in Indian and foreign journals. He has edited several books on South Asia and continues with his research on internal politics in Pakistan, evolving strategic scenario in the Pak-Af region, radicalisation of religious discourse in the region, India’s engagement with the neighbourhood, regional security, and inter-state cooperation.
Publisher: Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses 2009
The papers in book outline the common challenges that the countries face, identify the factors that inhibit inter-state cooperation, acknowledge the costs of non-cooperation, and reaffirm the need for the states in South Asia to shed their differences and engage with each other in meaningful ways.
In Lahore, in 1999, Pakistan dropped its 'Kashmir first' approach and agreed to discuss it with India along with other issues. Later, under Musharraf, there was an offer to move beyond UN resolutions and adopt a four-step approach to resolve the Kashmir issue. Musharraf's proposals were taken seriously and widely hailed as a sign of flexibility and pragmatism from the Pakistani side. This paper critically analyses these approaches since Lahore and argues that they were occasioned by the changing global political context and that they were more apparent than real.
Yousuf Raza Gilani was nominated by Asif Ali Zardari as the PPP candidate for prime ministership on March 22, 2008. On that occasion, Zardari called upon Gilani “to accept the heavy responsibility and lead the coalition government and the nation to greater heights and a glorious future.” Pakistan’s National Assembly elected Gilani as Prime Minister (264 votes to 42 over Pervez Elahi of PML-Q) two days later.
As the time for the election draws near, the tribal frontier is getting hotter with each passing day. Suddenly rumour mills are active that the new Army Chief is bypassing Musharraf in his interactions with the Americans and is going to allow them some foothold in Pakistan. Americans are now claiming that the Afghan resistance is on the wane and the “level of violent activity in the eastern provinces is down about 40 per cent.”