Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
मनोहर पर्रिकर रक्षा अध्ययन एवं विश्लेषण संस्थान

Sumita Kumar

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Ms. Sumita Kumar, Senior Research Associate, joined MP-IDSA in 1993. She specialises on South Asian security issues with a special focus on Pakistan. Her research publications have covered a diverse range of issues concerning Pakistan’s foreign policy, strategic thinking, internal politics and security, energy security, and role in regional cooperation. She has published chapters in books and articles in journals in India and abroad, as well as the Indian media. She has done in-depth research, and prepared reports for various agencies and organisations, including the National Security Council Secretariat. She has given briefings and lectures to members of the Indian armed forces and paramilitary forces as well as at academic institutions. She undertook the editing and supervised the production of IDSA’s publications under the outsourcing scheme for four years during which three books were published. She was Staff Representative on the Executive Council of the Institute from September 2004 till October 2006. She has had a research stint at Tashkent, Uzbekistan and has been a guest researcher at the Bonn International Center for Conversion, Germany. She has been an Associate with the Pakistan Security Research Unit, University of Bradford, UK from March 2007 to March 2013, and of PSRU, Durham University since April 2013. She has visited Pakistan a number of times and conducted wide ranging interviews. She is an alumnus of Jawaharlal Nehru University.

She organised the annual South Asia Conference in 2012 and edited the volume which resulted from the proceedings (Stability and Growth in South Asia, IDSA & Pentagon Press, 2014). Her publications include a co-edited book on India’s Neighbourhood: Challenges Ahead (IDSA & Rubicon Publishers, 2008) and a chapter on China’s relations with Pakistan in the China Yearbook (IDSA, August 2015). She was a member of the IDSA team that brought out Pakistan Project Reports titled Unending Violence in Pakistan: Analysing the Trends (November 2014); Pakistan on the Edge (April 2013); and Whither Pakistan? Growing Instability and Implications for India(June 2010). Other publications include a chapter on “US Measures Against Pakistan’s Nuclear Policies, 1990-2001,”in Putting Teeth in the Tiger: Improving the Effectiveness of Arms Embargoes co-edited by Michael Brzoska and George A. Lopez (Emerald Group Publishing Ltd., Bingley, 2009); chapters assessing the political situation in Pakistan and the prospects for regional energy cooperation in India and Its Neighbours:Towards a New Partnership (IDSA, 2008); a chapter on the army in the power structure of Pakistan in Pakistan In a Changing Strategic Context (2004); and on Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme in Nuclear India (1998).

Senior Research Associate

Publication

Pakistan’s Strategic Thinking

The strategic outlook of the political, bureaucratic and military elites in Pakistan was shaped by historical exigencies, geopolitical location, Pakistan's self-perception, and its Islamic credentials. Pakistan's military-dominated leadership formulated strategies towards regional and extra-regional powers based on its threat perceptions. The strategies adopted have not necessarily resulted in fully achieving the objectives for which they were formulated.

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Pakistan’s Energy Security: Challenges and Options

Development prospects and economic growth in Pakistan, like in most other countries, will hinge on securing sustainable energy supplies. The Pakistan government has developed a strategy to enhance its energy production by 2030. This article explores the problems faced by the Pakistan government in optimising its use of indigenous energy resources and the implications that future plans to strengthen its energy security may have for its domestic and foreign policy.

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Pakistan-Iran Relations: The US Factor

Pakistan-Iran relations have been complex and paradoxical. The United States has tried to influence this relationship on various counts, given that Iran is an important foreign policy concern for the United States and Pakistan is an important neighbour of Iran and has been a United States ally in the global war on terrorism. This article explores Pakistan's policy towards Iran and the extent to which the United States has been an influencing factor in this regard.

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Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations: Stablizing Politics Through Economics

The discourse on Pakistan-Afghanistan relations has usually centred on the political strategic dimensions of their relationship. This is not surprising given the acrimonious association between the two countries. Yet it is interesting to note that even against the backdrop of mounting tensions due to the deepening insurgency in Afghanistan, there has been unprecedented growth in economic activity between the two countries. This article explores the magnitude of economic relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the potential that has for impacting political relations.

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Countering Terrorism as a Joint Venture?

The outcome of the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pervez Musharraf at Havana has evoked mixed reactions from various quarters within both India and Pakistan. It has also raised a number of questions to which there are no easy answers. The meeting, which took place on September 16 on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit, was obviously successful as it resulted in the resumption of the dialogue process, which had stalled in the aftermath of the Mumbai train blasts in July 2006.

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