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Dr Zainab Akhter has a PhD from the Centre for International Politics, Organization, and Disarmament (CIPOD), School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. She also has an MPhil from the same university as well as a post graduate degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from the University of Kashmir. Zainab was earlier a Research Officer with the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS), and has also worked with the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) as a Research Associate and at India Institute as a researcher. She has interned with the Hindustan Times and has been awarded the Ladakh Women Writers Award for the year 2008 by Charkha, a Delhi-based NGO. She was selected for the India-Pakistan Legislative Fellowship 2017 by the US Government and was placed as the India Legislative Fellow at Hudson Institute, a think tank based in Washington DC.
Her areas of research interest are Soft Power, Cultural Diplomacy, India-Pakistan relations, CBMs, people-to-people diplomacy, Jammu and Kashmir (with special focus on Ladakh). She has extensively travelled in Pakistan and Baltistan. She is part of the Editorial Team for the Journal of International Association of Ladakh Studies, a member of the International Association of Ladakh Studies (IALS), Communities without Boundaries International, an international nongovernment organization that works to build peace and Women’s Regional Network, a network of women civil society leaders working together to advance women’s rights and regional peace in South Asia. She has presented papers in various national and international conferences and has published research papers and articles in journals, websites and newspapers on strategic issues related to Pakistan, India-Pakistan relations, Gilgit-Baltistan, Kashmir and Ladakh.
Her journal articles include: “India-Pakistan Relations: Efficacy of Culture,” Millennial Asia: An International Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2016; “Indo-Pak Diplomacy: Modi’s Pakistan Policy,” Mainstream, Vol. 54, No. 9, 2016; “The Strategic Importance of the Siachen Glacier for India,” Indian Defence Review, February 2016.
She has also reviewed a book titled Conflict in Jammu & Kashmir: Impact on Polity, Society, and Economy, which was published in Book Review, Vol. 36, No. 9, 2012. Her latest publications are In Pakistan’s Tryst with Democracy Shadow of Military looms large, published in Daily O, 18 August 2018 and Pakistan and the Politics of CPEC: A Rethink on the Anvil, published in South Asian Voices (SAV), 21 October 2018.
Gilgit-Baltistan and its Saga of Unending Human Rights Violations, by Alok Bansal
In general, the contemporary and historical narrative of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is mostly woven through the prism of Kashmir issue, disregarding comprehensive information about strategically important regions like Ladakh and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). In the study of India–Pakistan relations, most scholars and analysts tend to overlook GB, which explains the sparse literature on and information about the region.
Is Imran Khan’s Luck Running Out?
With a failing foreign policy and a crippling economy, and growing domestic opposition as well as criticism within the army, Imran Khan and his government is clearly caught between the devil and the deep sea.
Imran Khan Going Through Hard Times
Research Associate under the Pakistan News Digest Project, IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article on Pakistan’s Policy on India, titled ‘Imran Khan Going Through Hard Times’ has been published by All India Radio (AIR) World Service, an external services division of AIR, on October 06, 2019.
Union Territory status for Ladakh: Understanding the politics
Research Associate under the Pakistan News Digest Project, IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article on Ladakh, titled ‘Union Territory status for Ladakh: Understanding the politics’ has been published in ‘Asia Dialogue’, an online magazine of the University of Nottingham Asia Research Institute, on September 19, 2019.
The new Union Territory of Ladakh will need a unique approach so that it can manage its regional development while at the same time taking into account the sensitivities of its environment, customs and culture, writes Dr. Akhter.
India’s Strong Rebuttal At The 42nd UNHRC Meeting
Research Associate under the Pakistan News Digest Project, IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article on India’s stand on Kashmir at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), titled ‘India’s Strong Rebuttal at the 42nd UNHRC Meeting’ has been published by All India Radio (AIR) World Service, an external services division of AIR, on September 12, 2019.
Pakistan Cracking Down On Voices Of Dissent
Research Associate under the Pakistan News Digest Project, IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article on Pakistan, titled ‘Pakistan Cracking Down on Voices of Dissent’ has been published by All India Radio (AIR) World Service, an external services division of AIR, on June 20, 2019.
Persecution Of Minorities In Pakistan Continues
Research Associate under the Pakistan News Digest Project, IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article on minorities in Pakistan, titled ‘Persecution of Minorities in Pakistan Continues’ was published by All India Radio (AIR) World Service, an external services division of AIR, on May 29, 2019.
The Pakistani minorities are facing the wrath of the country’s discriminatory policy at the hands of the government as well as prejudice and victimization at the hand of people at large, especially the right-wing extremists, writes Dr Akhter.
Islamism and intelligence in South Asia: militancy, politics and security
State sponsorship of terrorism is a complex and often ignored subject in contemporary security studies discourses. As stated by the British military historian Adrian Weale and noted in the foreword of Islamism and Intelligence in South Asia, ‘[i]nternational terrorism rarely happens without a state sponsor, directly or indirectly’ (p. x). Covert and overt support to terrorist groups to fulfil the state’s interest was a feature of international terrorism in the 1960s and 1970s.
The Data Darbar Suicide Attack
Research Associate under the Pakistan News Digest Project, IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article on the attack on famous Sufi shrine Data Darbar in Lahore, titled ‘The Data Darbar Suicide Attack’ has been published by All India Radio (AIR) World Service, an external services division of AIR, on May 10, 2019.
Elections in Ladakh: Internal fault lines
Research Associate under the Pakistan News Digest Project, IDSA, Dr. Zainab Akhter’s article on Lok Sabha elections in Ladakh, titled ‘Elections in Ladakh: Internal fault lines’ has been published in the opinion section of ‘Rising Kashmir’ on May 05, 2019.
In Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, Ladakh is the largest Lok Sabha constituency area wise and is divided into four broader constituencies, Leh, Nubra, Kargil and Zanskar. The politics in the region is complicated due to internal fault-lines and underneath simmering communal tension between Kargil and Leh, writes Dr. Akhter.