Politics

1. International Politics of South
Asia
Dr. Haider Nizamani
December 2020

3. What do we mean
by South Asia?
What to study in
international politics
of South Asia?
How to study
international politics
of South Asia?

4. Salient features of South Asian
security
Huge variation
among SAARC
countries
Blurred lines
between external
and internal realms
India-centric region

5. Diversities
 Religions—Hinduism, Islam,
Buddhists, Sikhs
 Linguistic, ethnic
 Demographic

6. Social Indicators in South Asia
 Over 40 percent of the region’s
population is under 18 years
 Majority of South Asians still live in
villages
 Largest pool of illiterates in the world
in this region

7. How to study South Asia?
Where does one start?
What should we pick to study?
How do we proceed?

8. South Asia as India-centric
region
 India is geographic centre sharing
borders with most of SAARC
members
 India having more than 50 percent of
South Asia’s population
 Border issues with its neighbors:
small and big

9. India-centric region
 Of more than 1 billion Indians, 80
percent are classified as Hindu and
13.5 percent Muslim
 Nepal was officially a Hindu state
 Sri Lanka with majority Buddhists
 Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan
and Maldives as Muslim majority
countries

10. India-Pakistan rivalry
 Three major wars: 1947-48; 1965;
1971
 Dismemberment of Pakistan and the
creation of Bangladesh in 1971
 Two declared nuclear weapons states
since 1998.

11. One Legacy, Two Countries
 British colonialism
 Indian and Muslim nationalism

12. August 14-15, 1947 as the reference
point—emergence of India and
Pakistan as sovereign states on the
world map

13. Subcontinent on the eve of
independence
Partition using
religion criterion—
India and Pakistan
Carving up of
countries—
Boundary
Commission led by
Sir Cyril Radcliff
Division of the
Punjab and Bengal

14. Lasting legacies of bitter separation
Division of everything ranging from Air
Force to missing women
12 million displaced people
More than one million dead in matter
of months

15. Kashmir Dispute

16. India-China relations
 Two most populous countries of the
world
 Dispute border of about 3000KMs
 McMahon Line: another contentious
British Legacy
 1962: Sino-Indian war and the defeat
of India
 Enemy of my enemy is my friend:
China –Pakistan friendship

17. Superpowers and South Asia
 During Cold War, India becomes
champion of Non-Aligned Movement
 Pakistan becomes part of the US
sponsored anti-Communist regional
alliances like SEATO and CENTO
 India becomes close to the Soviet
Union

18. Post-Cold War South Asia
 US and India grow closer in the
1990s with the collapse of the Soviet
Union and liberalization of Indian
economy
 After 9/11, shared concern with
terrorism brings India and US more
claoser
 Relations between US and Pakistan
become problematic

19. What’s happening in South Asia—
International news sources
New York Times (www.nytimes.com),
Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk), BBC
South Asia (www.bbc.co.uk)

20. National news sources
For official versions consult websites
of Ministries of Foreign Affairs
Hindu (www.thehindu.com)
Dawn (www.dawn.com)
The Wire (www.thewire.in )

21. Institutions in South Asia
South Asian Association of Regional
Cooperation (www.saarc-sec.org )
Regional Centre for Strategic Studies,
Colombo (www.rcss.org)
Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies,
New Delhi (www.ipcs.org)
Institute of Strategic Studies
Islamabad (www.iss.org.pk)
Bangladesh Institute of International
& Strategic Studies, Dhaka
(www.biiss.org)

22. International institutions
International Crisis Group
(www.crisisgroup.org)
Council on Foreign Relations
(www.cfr.org)
Henry L. Stimson Centre
(www.stimson.org)