South Asia
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    • About Centre

    South Asia is one of the main areas of research focus at IDSA. The region has been going through a period of turmoil over the last few years. Definitive steps have been taken in the recent past towards the establishment of democratic governments in the region. Given the importance of developments in the region for Indian security, experts at IDSA keenly watch and analyse unfolding developments in each South Asian country.

    Two projects that are currently under progress are ‘Developments in Pakistan’ and ‘Pakistan Occupied Kashmir’. In addition, individual scholars are engaged in researching various security related aspects pertaining to South Asian countries. The Centre has established bilateral institutional relations with leading think tanks in the region and proposes to undertake joint studies.

    Minutes of South Asia Centre Meetings

    Members

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

    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.

    Priyanka Singh
    2017

    The Role of Media in Promoting Regional Understanding in South Asia

    The Role of Media in Promoting Regional Understanding in South Asia
    • Publisher: Pentagon Press
      2016

    This book collates a wide spectrum of views across South Asia, including Myanmar, and debates the role of media in forging regional understanding and goodwill. The media's role in South Asia is essentially conceived as state-centric, adhering to the standard templates of nationalism. This inherent tendency has, at times, cost neutral and balanced coverage of events and issues. The contributors to this volume acknowledge the potential of the media as an institution which could/should, in addition to its routine reportage, focus on regional issues of common interest and promote regional understanding.

    • ISBN 978-81-8274-868-2,
    • Price: ₹. 995.00
    • E-copy available
    Priyanka Singh
    2016

    Multi-party Democracy in the Maldives and the Emerging Security Environment in the Indian Ocean Region

    Multi-party Democracy in the Maldives and the Emerging Security Environment in the Indian Ocean Region
    • Publisher: Pentagon Press

    Maldives is the smallest country of South Asia. But its significance is no less because of its crucial geo-strategic location in the Indian Ocean. It sits astride on major sea lanes of communications (SLOCs). However, the crucial geo-strategic location of the Maldives has also caused problems for the country as it has aroused interests of major world powers.

    • ISBN 978-81-8274-895-8,
    • Price: ₹. 795
    • E-copy available
    Anand Kumar
    2016

    India and South Asia: Exploring Regional Perceptions

    India and South Asia: Exploring Regional Perceptions
    • Publisher: Pentagon Press
      2015

    Perceptions play a very significant role in South Asian politics. They have largely shaped and influenced state policies and politics among the South Asian countries, especially in relation to India, over the years. State policies have at times been hostage to negative or adversarial perceptions, well-entrenched in the popular psyche. The perception formation in South Asia is an extremely dynamic process and has evolved differently in different countries. Perceptions are not static and often change with the shift in domestic as well as regional and global politics.

    • ISBN 978-81-8274-812-5,
    • Price: ₹. 995/-
    • E-copy available
    Vishal Chandra
    2015

    State versus Nations in Pakistan: Sindhi, Baloch and Pakhtun Responses to Nation Building

    State versus Nations in Pakistan: Sindhi, Baloch and Pakhtun Responses to Nation Building

    The present monograph traces the origins of the Pakistani state and the processes that encouraged the state-sponsored efforts to build a Pakistani nation, and seeks to isolate various problems associated with such nation-building efforts.

    Ashok K. Behuria
    2015

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    Pashtun Nationalism in Search of Political Space and the State in Pakistan

    Pakistan is undergoing political turmoil once again. Once again an elected prime minister was first removed in July 2017, and then barred from fighting elections for life on April 13, 2018.

    Nazir Ahmad Mir
    July 2018

    Transforming Eastern South Asia: Relevance of BIMSTEC

    Of late the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is receiving sincere attention from its member countries as an organisation that has the potential to transform the region’s political and economic future. This is because there are several bilateral and sub-regional ongoing projects that are seeking to connect the region and bind them together into one economic whole. Apart from this, after the cancellation of the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) summit in 2017, many would see the BIMSTEC as an alternative to SAARC.

    Smruti S. Pattanaik
    July 2018

    How Sri Lanka Walked into a Debt Trap, and the Way Out

    Sri Lankans love to project their country as the land of serendipity. So, when the island country saw the back of a four-decade-old violent Tamil insurgency in 2009, it was expected that it would surge ahead in a serendipitous way. The turn of events ever since has, however, proved that the country has not been that fortunate. In fact, immediately after the conclusion of the war, Sri Lanka (re)lapsed into multiple crises, occasioned by a regime which functioned in an authoritarian manner.

    Ashok K. Behuria
    March 2018

    India’s Bilateral Security Relationship in South Asia

    The article argues that the contours of a security architecture are becoming slowly visible in South Asia. This process is nurtured by two developments. First, since the 2000s, India has increased its security cooperation with nearly all its neighbours in South Asia. Second, since 2013 governments in New Delhi have promoted the concept of India as a security provider in the region and the Indian Ocean.

    Christian Wagner
    January 2018

    Disaster Relief as a Political Tool: Analysing Indian and Chinese Responses after the Nepal Earthquakes

    In the aftermath of the 2015 earthquakes in Nepal, China and India immediately sent relief teams. The relief efforts in Nepal showcase a competitive aspect of the two major regional powers, as China seeks to gradually increase its influence in South Asia. This article analyses how these two governments utilised relief efforts to increase influence in Nepal, within the wider context of the contentious Sino–Indian relationship. The Chinese and Indian relief responses after the Nepal earthquakes are extrapolated to assess their strategic utility.

    Bibek Chand
    November 2017

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    Bhutan National Assembly Elections 2018: A Mandate for Change?

    Voters in Bhutan have shown their political maturity by bringing in a new government, which is an indicator of growing awareness about their rights and their role in holding governments to account.

    Nihar R Nayak, Rajrajeshwari Singh and Ashok K. Behuria
    November 12, 2018

    Pakistan-Saudi Arabia Relations – the drivers and challenges

    While Pakistan clearly seeks to maintain cordial relations with Iran, it is unlikely that it would be willing to incur the displeasure of Saudi Arabia with which it has greater economic and strategic links.

    Nazir Ahmad Mir
    October 24, 2018

    Nepal-China Transit Agreement: An Evaluation

    Nepal’s quest for an alternate transit country with a view to reducing its dependence on India succeeded with the finalisation of the text for the Protocol of Transit Transport Agreement with China on September 7, 2018.

    Nihar R Nayak
    September 27, 2018

    China Looks to Africa to Reduce Trade Dependence on the US

    China may or may not succeed in transforming Africa into a substitute market. If it does, the bilateral trade relationship is likely to become more unbalanced and tilted in its own favour leading to greater exploitation of Africa.

    Anand Kumar
    September 18, 2018

    The 2018 Maldivian Presidential Elections: Two-horse Race between Development and Reforms

    The forthcoming presidential election is a contest between Yameen’s pledge to bring about a transformational change with mega-projects and Solih’s pledge to end presidential tyranny, injustice and corruption

    Gulbin Sultana
    September 17, 2018

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