South Asia: The Quest For Regional Cooperation

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Publisher: Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
ISBN 81-86019-61-8 [Buy Now]
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About the Book

This book is a collection of papers presented at the second annual conference on India’s neighbourhood titled – Changing Political Context in India’s Neighbourhood and Prospects of Security and Regional Cooperation, organised by Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA) in November 2008. The papers have been revised and updated in light of the discussions in the conference and are being served in this volume for wider dissemination of some of the innovative and pragmatic ideas the contributors have raised therein. The papers 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. There is a common view that people of South Asia have natural affinities based on shared history, geography, and culture and there is a natural bonding amongst the people which transcends the relationship between countries and governments. The contributors to this volume argue that the states of South Asia should take these facts into account which refashioning their policies towards each other and towards the region, and take initiatives to deal with common challenges facing them collectively, which would lay the foundation for a better tomorrow for the people of South Asia.

Contents

Preface
About the Contributors

Part One: Perspectives on Regional Cooperation

Changing Political Context in South Asia and Prospects of Security and Regional Cooperation
— Hamid Ansari

Common Challenges Facing South Asia: A Perspective from Bangladesh
— Ataur Rahman

Pro-Poor Thought and Strategy: Major Impediments amidst Groundswell of Change
— Susil Sirivardana

Regional Cooperation for Food Security in South Asia
— Sadiq Ahmed

Should South Asia Look East?
Assessing the Economic Effects of Closer Integration
— Ganeshan Wignaraja

Regional Cooperation in South Asia: 15th SAARC Summit and Emerging Issues
— Saman Kelegama

India and Regional Peace and Cooperation
— S. D. Muni

Part Two: Country Perspectives

The New Great Game: The Contest for Afghanistan
— Walilullah Rahmani

The Afghan Conflict and the Regional Countries
— Haroun Mir

The War on Terror: Challenge and Opportunity for Regional Cooperation
— Babar Sattar

Nepal: In the Cusp of Change
— Aditya Adhikari

India and its Neighbours
— N. Ravi

About the Contributors

Aditya Adhikari is the opinion page editor of daily newspaper The Kathmandu Post, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Arvind Gupta is Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, and holds the Lal Bahadur Shastri Chair at Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses(IDSA), New Delhi.

Ashok K Behuria is Editor, International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and Honorary Fellow, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses(IDSA), New Delhi.

Ataur Rahman is Professor of Political Science & Director, Japan Study Centre, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Babar Sattar is a lawyer based in Islamabad, working as Advocate and Legal Counselor with AJURIS. He writes a regular column for The News, Pakistan.

Ganeshan Wignaraja is a Principal Economist at the Asian Development Bank’s Office of Regional Economic Integration working on Asian economic integration, the WTO, and economic competitiveness. He also represents ADB on the WTO Director-General’s Advisory Group on Aid for Trade.

Hamid Ansari is the current Vice President of India. He is a former chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), India. He is also an academician and a career diplomat.

Haroun Mir is Co-Founder and Dy. Director, Afghanistan’s Centre for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS), Kabul, Afghanistan. He has served as a special assistant to late Ahmad Shah Massoud, Afghanistan’s former Defence Minister from 1993-99.

N. Ravi is Secretary (EAST) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.

Sadiq Ahmed is working with the World Bank as Chief Economist for the South Asia Region, Washington DC, USA.

Saman Kelegama is the Executive Director of the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS). He is also Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka.

S.D. Muni is a senior research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, NUS, Singapore. He is also Senior Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses(IDSA), New Delhi.

Susil Sirivardana is Co-Chairperson, Participatory institute of Development
Alternatives and Associate Coordinator, South Asian Perspectives Network Association (SAPNA), Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Walliullah Rehmani is Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Kabul Center For Strategic Studies, Kabul, Afghanistan.

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