Smruti S. Pattanaik is Research Fellow (SS) at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. Click here for detailed profile
Even as it presses for action against the people responsible for beheading of Indian soldiers, India should take care not to disengage from the process of dialogue.
India and Pakistan have signed a visa liberalization agreement and reactivated the joint commission during the last round of foreign minister level talks in Islamabad. These are significant steps forward but lot more can be done to make the process of bilateral engagement irreversible.
As India plans to stay engaged in Afghanistan beyond 2014, Iran has emerged as a critical component of India’s Afghan policy. Despite US pressures, India needs to adopt a pragmatic approach vis-à-vis Iran and engage it effectively to protect its vital security and geo-political interests in Afghanistan.
India’s policy in Afghanistan must be Afghan-centric and not be concerned about Pakistani efforts to gain strategic depth. In fact, by getting involved in Afghanistan, Pakistan is likely to endanger its own security and stability.
The India–Afghanistan relationship is not a simple bilateral engagement. India's Afghan policy is driven by, and is dependent on, many extraneous factors such as India's troubled relationship with Pakistan, its search for a land transit to Central Asia through Iran and Afghanistan and its concerns regarding use of Afghan territory by Pakistan to the detriment of Indian interests. Given the geographical constraints, India has relied on Iran for land access to Afghanistan. This has been complicated by Iran–US relations —the two countries with whom India shares common interests.
This book brings out perspectives from India and Bangladesh on various important issues of bilateral cooperation. Bringing together scholars from two premier think tanks in India and Bangladesh who play an important role in providing policy inputs, generating informed debates and discussion and act as an interface between policy makers and the people, this is the first effort of its kind.
Unless Pakistan opens the NATO supply route, it is very unlikely that the US will transfer any coalition support funds, thus creating serious trouble for the aid-dependent Pakistani economy.
India’s vote at the UNHRC may is the first step to send a clear message to the Rajapakse government that it cannot continue to postpone a political resolution of the Tamil issue.
India and Pakistan: Getting Along with the Peace Process
Even as it presses for action against the people responsible for beheading of Indian soldiers, India should take care not to disengage from the process of dialogue.