Re-Positioning Pakistan Occupied Kashmir on India’s Policy Map: Geopolitical Drivers, Strategic Impact

Irrespective of an extant territorial claim, Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) comprising the so-called ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir’ (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan, has consistently remained quite low in the list of India’s strategic priorities. Part of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, PoK has for decades neither received adequate attention in terms of the region’s stakes in the broader Kashmir issue nor has it figured prominently in India’s policy pronouncements. Against this backdrop, the monograph urges a policy re-positioning by aggregating key geopolitical parameters concerning PoK which potentially impinge on India’s vital territorial and security interests. That emerging geopolitical pressures exerted by the massive China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) must be factored in while determining the course of India’s policy formulation on PoK, is the core thrust of the study.

About the Author

Dr. Priyanka Singh is Associate Fellow at Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi. She holds an Honours degree in Political Science from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi, and a PhD from University of Lucknow. Her PhD thesis was titled, “Indo-US Relations in the Last Decade – 1990-2000: Shifting Paradigms”. She joined IDSA in September 2007 and is presently associated with the South Asia Centre. Formerly, she worked for the US, Europe & Nuclear Centre at the institute. Her broader research interests include Indo-US relations, US engagement in Pakistan and the Cross Line of Control Confidence Building Measures between India and Pakistan. Currently focusing on Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), she is progressing towards developing expertise and extensive subject matter knowledge on various dimensions related to PoK. Since 2008, she has been compiling and editing IDSA’s monthly newsletter PoK News Digest. She has travelled extensively across the state of Jammu and Kashmir.