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

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    Pakistan Occupied Kashmir: Politics, Parties and Personalities

    • Publisher: Pentagon Press
      2019
    This book is a rersult of research undertaken on the subject by the scholars associated with the IDSA project on Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) - also known as Pakistan Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK) - Which includes both the so-called "Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK)" and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), was legally a part of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kahmir, which acceded to India in October 1947. The authors of this book seek to provide a critical analysis of the politics of the above mentioned two regions within PoK; throw light on the genesis and evolution of various political parties and interest groups, and acquaint the readers with different pesonalities playing important role in politics therein. The main aim of the publication is to help the scholars, analysts, and policy-makers to understand the dynamics of the political systems in PoK, the complex interaction of these systems with the government in Islamabad and the responses of the local leadership to Pakistan's strateghy of keeping them under strict control in the name of representative governance over the last 70 years.
    • ISBN: 978-93-86618-67-2,
    • Price: ₹.1495/-
    • E-copy available
    Surinder Kumar Sharma, Yaqoob-ul-Hassan and Ashok K. Behuria
    2019

    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

    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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    The Challenge of Coordinating India’s Multiple Border Forces: An Analysis of Cross-Border Infiltration Across the India-Pakistan Boundary

    India’s international borders and disputed boundaries with its neighbours are guarded by five different Central Armed Police Forces, two Paramilitary Forces and the Indian Army.

    Vineet Gupta
    March 2019

    US-Taliban Talks for Afghan Peace: Complexities Galore

    The ongoing dialogue between the US and the Taliban has generated lot of interest among strategic analysts in the region and beyond. There are indications that the Taliban are hardening their position as the US appears to be in a haste to pull off an agreement.

    Ashok K. Behuria, Yaqoob-ul-Hassan and Sanya Saroha
    March 2019

    Decimating Democracy in 140 Characters or Less: Pakistan Army’s Subjugation of State Institutions through Twitter

    The Directorate General of Inter Services Public Relations (DG-ISPR), or the Pakistan Army’s media wing has perfected the form of subverting democracy and showcasing the dominant position of the Army in the entire Pakistani polity. This article sets out to prove the same in a quantified manner. By analysing almost 25 tweets from the official account of DG-ISPR in the period 2016 −18, the article tries to quantify, using the Merkel-Croissant model of embedded democracy, the priorities of the Pakistan Army.

    Akshat Upadhyay
    March 2019

    Transformation of Indo-Bangladesh Relations: From Insecurity to Cooperation in Northeast India

    Bangladesh and India are enjoying increasingly close relations in the latter’s northeastern region. This represents a transformation in the two countries’ past relationship, which was characterised by suspicion, distrust and insecurity. This recent change, which began with the arrival of Bangladesh’s current regime in 2009, has resulted in a sense of cooperation, mutual interest and connectivity. This article aims to explain this transformation.

    Md. Sohel Rana
    November 2018

    Balochistan: On The International Drugs Superhighway

    Pakistan’s Balochistan province, which shares borders with Iran and Afghanistan, has quietly functioned as one of the main arteries through which Afghanistan’s massive opium crop reaches the outer world. Six of the nine major drug trafficking routes from Afghanistan transit through Balochistan en route to Iran, Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. Afghanistan’s opium production peaked at 9,000 tons in 2017, on account of the country’s rampant instability and lack of viable options for families to sustain themselves.

    Sandhya Jain
    September 2018

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    Moving Beyond the Listing of Masood Azhar

    With China now willing to discuss issues of mutual interest with India, a well-structured bilateral dialogue on regional and global terrorism may go a long way in convincing Beijing of the need to put pressure on Islamabad to act against terror

    Sujan R. Chinoy
    May 16, 2019

    Sri Lanka: Securitising Minority Alienation

    The Easter bomb blasts is a grim reminder of how the undercurrent of ethno-religious violence remains a dominant factor in Sri Lanka’s chequered history.

    Smruti S. Pattanaik
    April 29, 2019

    One Year of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement

    Although the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement has been able to mainstream the Pashtun issue and has inspired popular empathy, its anti-establishment thrust has made it a soft target for the pro-establishment media and political actors.

    Zainab Akhter
    January 28, 2019

    US-Taliban Peace Talks and the Disquiet

    Trump seems to have reconciled himself to the fact that Afghanistan may become an ‘Islamic Emirate of Taliban’ with Sharia Law being imposed with or without the consent of the people.

    V. Mahalingam
    January 01, 2019

    Bangladesh General Elections 2018: What Next for the Opposition

    It remains to be seen whether AL in its third term will be able to address the issue of rampant corruption that has deeply permeated the governance structure as well as the issue of free speech that many believe the ICT Act has impaired.

    Smruti S. Pattanaik
    December 31, 2018

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