Asia

For a subcontinent that still reels from the aftershocks of an excruciating Partition, the very mention of the term is not only evocative of pain but also stirs a sense of curiosity, yet to be satiated in the minds of millions, about what caused it and how long the aftereffects would last. This is true even after more than seven decades have passed, despite a plethora of existing literature already being there as part of the Partition’s discourse. Against this backdrop, Sam Dalrymple’s Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia adds new perspectives to the domain, which has predominantly kept the Partition confined to the creation of Pakistan from British India in 1947. The book disentangles Partition by situating it within a much broader framework, arguing that it is not one Partition that defined the subcontinent’s trajectory but five.

The Paper examines China´s general performance as a hydro-hegemon in Asia, presents the case study on China´s hydro-behaviour in the Yarlung-Tsangpo river basin, and outlines a framework for promoting trans-boundary watercooperation.

The discipline of International Relations (IR) is deeply enmeshed in the history, intellectual traditions and agency claims of the West, thus obscuring the contributions from the non-Western world. IR theory fails to take cognisance of the global distribution of the various actors along with their contribution to a heterogeneous and rich discipline. There is a pressing need for a departure from IR’s historic complicity with marginalisation and the silencing of alternative epistemologies, thereby making its process of knowledge production truly global and democratic.

Through this white paper, China has affirmed its regional ambitions and aims to shape the regional security agenda in the Asia Pacific on its stated terms.

The Asia Africa Growth Corridor provides a transparent and inclusive alternate to the countries of Africa. It builds on the Japanese ethos of working with quality and India’s long and historic people- centric partnership with African countries.

Theorising about international relations in South Asia is a daunting task for any scholar of International Relations. The challenge lies in explaining the causal forces behind state behaviour, in order to illuminate a pattern for arriving at an understanding of these relations in a parsimonious manner.

India needs to start thinking about seeking a greater transformation in China from authoritarianism to embrace the culture of Buddhism and the impact such a change may entail for enduring relations between India and China.