Smruti S. Pattanaik

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Dr Smruti S Pattanaik is a Research Fellow (SS) at the MP-IDSA. Her area of specialisation is South Asia. Her current research project is titled as “India’s Response to China’s Presence in South Asia: Challenges and Policy Options”.

Dr Pattanaik has been a recipient of many international fellowships. She was a Visiting Asia Fellow (Asian Scholarship Foundation, Bangkok) at the Department of International Relations, Dhaka University in 2004 and follow-up grantee in 2007, researching on politics of identity in Bangladesh. She was a recipient of Kodikara Award in 1999 (RCSS, Colombo), a Post-doctoral Fellow at FMSH (Fondation Maison des Science de l’Homme), and was attached to the Centre for International Relations and Research (CERI, Science Po), Paris. She was selected to attend the Symposium on the East Asian Security (SEAS) Program conducted by the US State Department and USPACOM in 2011. She was a Visiting Fellow (September-October 2011) at the International Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), she was a Visiting Professor on ICCR’s India Chair at the University of Colombo for a semester.

She has lectured on India’s foreign policy and South Asia at the Colombo University, Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Asia Centre in the University of Melbourne, University of Karachi, University of Peshawar and University of Dhaka.

She was the Course Director of the India-Bangladesh Studies Programme jointly conducted by Jamia Millia Islamia and Dhaka University. She developed a course on “Political Developments in Bangladesh 1971-2010” as part of the European Union-funded project on Curriculum Development on Peace- building in Europe and South Asia, organised by the Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Millia Islamia in 2011.

Dr Pattanaik has published more than 60 research articles in various peer-reviewed journals both in India and abroad. She has contributed more than 50 chapters in edited books, and delivered lectures on security issues both in India and abroad. She has authored a book titled Elite Perception in Foreign Policy: Role of Print Media in Influencing India-Pakistan Relations 1989-1999 (Manohar Publishers & RCSS: 2004), and a Monograph titled Afghanistan and its Neighbourhood: In Search of a Stable Future (PRIO-IDSA, 2013). She has edited two books South Asia: Envisioning a Regional Future, Pentagon Press, Delhi, (2011) and Four Decades of India Bangladesh Relations: Historical Imperatives and Future Direction, Gyan Publishing House, (2012), and two reports titled Pakistan on the Edge (2013) and Unending Violence in Pakistan: Analysing the Trend (2014). She is a member of MP-IDSA’s task force on neighbouring countries and is coordinator of Pakistan project. She writes for the Daily Star and Dhaka Tribune (Bangladesh) and is on the Editorial Board of MP-IDSA’s flagship journal, Strategic Analysis published by Routledge.


Research Fellow

Publication

The Bangladesh Army: What It Costs to Remain Apolitical

Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr. Smruti Pattanaik’s article ‘The Bangladesh Army: What It Costs to Remain Apolitical’ has been published in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics.

In South Asia, and particularly in Bangladesh, any study of civil–military relations within the theoretical framework of a structure-agency divide is inadequate. Challenges in studying the structure-agency divide can be attributed to the larger-than-life image of the military agency. Military agents as actors, their political motives appear to be more important than the societal structure that influences decision.

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  • Published: 26 March, 2021

COVID-19 Pandemic and India’s Regional Diplomacy

Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr. Smruti Pattanaik’s article ‘COVID-19 Pandemic and India’s Regional Diplomacy’ has been published in South Asian Survey, a bi-annual peer-reviewed scholarly journal, on March 23, 2021.

The article maps India’s regional diplomacy in the historical context and analyses the making of India’s regional diplomacy in the context of COVID-19 pandemic.

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  • Published: 23 March, 2021

South Asian Regionalism: The Limits of Cooperation

Regionalism in South Asia continues to evoke intense academic interest among scholars. SAARC, an organization that was conceptualized in the early eighties, evinced both hope and despair. A hope to overcome the factitious past and move onto the path of prosperity, and the despair that was embodied in its inability to achieve its potential. The fight against poverty and the path to prosperity has mostly been an individualistic journey among countries.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla’s Visit and India-Bangladesh Relations

Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr. Smruti Pattanaik’s article ‘Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla's Visit and India-Bangladesh Relations’ has been published by the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) on September 15, 2020.

Indian projects, especially the High Impact Community Development Projects (HICDP), should stand India in good stead. However, this should be backed by good public relations to project the positive aspects of the relationship, while also working on the shortcomings. India needs to work more on the optics while staying the course on the substance of the relationship, writes Dr. Pattanaik.

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  • Published: 15 September, 2020

The Doha Intra-Afghan Dialogue

Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr. Smruti Pattanaik’s Commentary, ‘The Doha Intra-Afghan Dialogue’ has been published by All India Radio (AIR) World Service, an external services division of AIR, on September 15, 2020.

There is an urgent need for a peaceful transition in Afghanistan. India would like to see an Afghanistan which is at peace with itself. This will ensure regional security. Like Afghanistan, India too, has a lot of stake, writes Dr. Pattanaik.

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  • Published: 15 September, 2020

India- Bangladesh Relations: Bridging the Gap while Marching Forward

Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr. Smruti Pattanaik’s Issue Brief ‘India-Bangladesh Relations: Bridging the Gap while Marching Forward’ has been published by the Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict (SSPC) on September 11, 2020.

India's relations with Bangladesh have perhaps been more scrutinised in recent times. The two countries are making progress in security cooperation. All these make India's relations with Bangladesh to stand on its own feet. There are some issues like the firing at the border, trade issues, and the repatriation of Rohingyas that remain main sticking points, writes Dr. Pattanaik.

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  • Published: 11 September, 2020

An Enduring and Eternal Relationship

Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA, Dr. Smruti Pattanaik’s article, ‘An Enduring and Eternal Relationship’, has been published in Dhaka Tribune on September 01, 2020.

If anyone could be credited with providing a direction and purpose to the India-Bangladesh relationship, it was Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the main architect of the bilateral relationship and the founding father of independent Bangladesh. The two countries need to recall his ideals and the spirit of the Liberation War, writes Dr. Pattanaik.

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  • Published: 1 September, 2020

India Bangladesh Ties On The Upswing

Research Fellow Manohar Parrikar IDSA Dr. Smruti Pattanaik’s article ‘India Bangladesh Ties on The Upswing’ has been published by the All India Radio (AIR) World Service, an External Services Division of AIR, on August 21, 2020.

The relationship has been defined as ‘shonali adhyay’ (golden age) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is held as a ‘role model in the region’ by External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar. This sentiment has been reciprocated too by Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen who defined Bangladesh’s ties with India are historic, rock-solid and as blood relation, writes Dr. Pattanaik.

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  • Published: 21 August, 2020