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Vol
5, No. 1 Jan -
Mar 2010
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DEBATE
Post-Copenhagen
Scenarios
India’s Options and
Interests
SHYAM SARAN: Former Foreign Secretary and till recently the Prime Minister’s
Special Envoy on Climate Change.
Climate Change: The Road to
Cancun, Mexico
In my view, the objective was not the conclusion of a substantive
outcome but to use COP‑15 to eviscerate UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol
and create a new legal basis for a global climate change regime. If success
was achieved in getting a congenial “political” agreement, this could
become the template for a new legal agreement which could supersede, or
even replace, the existing Climate Treaty and Protocol….
P.K. GAUTAM:
Research Fellow, Institute for Defence Studies
and Analyses, New Delhi
Getting the Science Right
in the Public Domain
Due to the complex nature of the science, uncertainty will remain.
Energy efficiency, renewable energy, non-polluted air and water, sufficient
food with preservation of forests and biodiversity are all desirable goals.
These could well be understood as manifestations of good governance. With
the current public doubts on the inadequacies and common sense errors in
the science of climate change it may be worthwhile to first have
India-specific data on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change . …
MUKUL SANWAL: The author has worked at the policy level in the Government of India
and in the UN Climate Change Secretariat
Turning a Crisis into an
Opportunity
The Copenhagen Accord, by shifting the focus to “what” has to be done
from “how” it should be done, has redefined the principle of common but
differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities in terms of
burden sharing. As future increases in global emissions of carbon
dioxide will come from developing countries, they have to be innovative in
modifying growth pathways in order to achieve sustainable development, and
must now develop their vision of a climate-constrained future to impact on
global trends …..
ARTICLES
LORD BHIKHU PAREKH: A former Vice-Chancellor of the Maharaja Sayajirao
University of Baroda, Baron Parekh taught at the London School of
Economics, the University of Glasgow, University of Hull and at the
University of Westminster. He was appointed a life peer in 2000 as Baron
Parekh. He was awarded Padma Bhushan
by Government of India in 2007
India’s Place in the World
In so far as I can see, India will not be content to be an
economically and militarily strong state because it believes that it
represents something; and it also believes that the world of which it is a
part is shaped by others and it is compelled to live by the rules and norms
that others have set for it. …. Since India can play a global role, wants
to play that role and should play it in the years to come, I want to turn
to the most significant question – What are we entitled to expect from
this? What should be India’s guiding principles? And how should it arrange
its own affairs, such that it can play that role effectively? ….
Edited version of the transcript
of the address delivered at the ‘Annual Lecture’ of the Association of
Indian Diplomats on 8 January 2010 at ‘Sapru House’, New Delhi.
Edited transcript of the Lecture
SANJEEB KUMAR MOHANTY and
J.N. MAHANTY: Sanjeeb Kumar Mohanty is a Post-Doctoral Research
Scholar in Berhampur University, Orissa. J.N. Mahanty is a Professor in the Post-Graduate Department
of Political Science, Berhampur University,
Orissa.
The ‘Moderate Taliban’
Theory: The Indian Dilemma
There are several reasons for India’s uneasiness about the prospect
of the United States negotiating with the so-called moderate Taliban.
First, India believes that the Taliban is wedded to a fundamentalist
ideology. …. the Taliban idea of a state is merely the political expression
of its conservative social vision. A regressive social agenda will prevent
people from making full use of the opportunities offered by a democratic
state. The Taliban’s comeback means brutal governance, a paralysed economy, international isolation and a denial
of basic human rights. ….
SAURABH KUMAR: The author was till recently India’s Ambassador to Austria, IAEA,
UNIDO and UNOV.
Striving for a Nuclear
Weapon Free World
As regards the practical
difficulties against the very notion of abolition of nuclear weapons, most
observers of the international scene would readily confess to scepticism. Mainly, the nuclear weapon states would not
want to sign away what they believe to be the source of their hegemony.
Their declared defence doctrines and strategies
place heavy reliance upon nuclear weapons. ….
ARUN MOHANTY: Associate Professor at School of International Studies, Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi.
Indo-Russian Strategic
Partnership in the 21st Century
India and Russia are, perhaps, the only two major powers in the world
who gain confidence from each other’s growing strength. Their bilateral
relations are remarkable for continuity with change, consistency and
stability, and have, by and large, escaped the vicissitudes that generally
flow from political fluctuation in countries that are partners in such
relationship. Their relationship has been assiduously built on a virtual
national consensus in both countries.
ORAL
HISTORY
From
Nuclear Apartheid to Nuclear Deal: The First Steps
Ambassador K. Raghunath, Foreign
Secretary during an eventful period of India’s diplomatic history, recalls
the background and aftermath of the May 1998 nuclear tests, which
represented a crucial step forward in the development of our national
security and foreign policy. The narration includes a recapitulation of
international reactions, and how the large adverse element was managed, as
well as the dialogue with different countries. He also reflects on the
significance of the tests, as seen against the larger canvas of India’s
nuclear history, including the events of the subsequent decade, culminating
in the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
Full Text
BOOK
REVIEWS
DHRUV
C. KATOCH
The Unmaking of Nepal by R.S.N. Singh
ADITI
MALHOTRA
Pakistan’s Military and its Strategy by Shalini Chawla
RAMAKRUSHNA
PRADHAN
India’s Energy Security edited by Ligia Noronha and Anant Sudarshan
VINEET
THAKUR
India’s Foreign Policy: Problems and
Prospects edited by Sumit Ganguly
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Vol 5, No. 2 Apr
- Jun 2010
_____________________________________
DEBATE
Post NPT Review Conference 2010:
India’s Choices and Concerns
ARUNDHATI
GHOSE: Former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to
the United Nations Offices at Geneva.
India and the
NPT will Remain Strangers for the Foreseeable Future
It
is clear that India and the NPT will remain strangers for the foreseeable
future. With the 2008 NSG waiver, however, much of the disadvantage
regarding access to nuclear fuel and technology has been diluted. ……The
fact is that the NPT is still alive, however fragile it might be, and is
the only treaty in the nuclear field in which some basic concerns of India
are addressed: nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation, nuclear security and
the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
MANPREET
SETHI: Senior Fellow, Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi.
No Reason for
India to be on the Defensive
With
its unblemished record on non-proliferation, in contrast to the other two NPT
hold-outs, there is no reason for India to be on the defensive. Rather, it
would do India well to publicly endorse the principle of the NPT while
exhorting treaty members to resolve the internal contradictions that weaken
it.
RAJESH
RAJAGOPALAN: Professor at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi.
India Needs
to Seek a New Compact with the Non-proliferation Order
India
needs to seek a new compact with the global nuclear non-proliferation
order. Such an arrangement will not be a formal one but one in which
both the elements of the nuclear non-proliferation regime as well as India
take deliberate steps to strengthen the global nuclear order. We have
little interest in a world with more nuclear powers or one in which terrorists
might potentially seek and acquire nuclear weapons.
N.S. SISODIA,
A. VINOD KUMAR : Director
General; and Associate Fellow, respectively at Institute for Defence
Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi.
Proactive
Engagement for Greater Integration
In
the emerging scenario, proactive engagement with the NPT community would
offer opportunities for exploring greater integration with the regime. As a
part of the regime India may be able to play a more effective role to bring
about structural corrections as a key player within the system rather than
as an outlier. It was perhaps easier for India to remain outside of the NPT
system by not being an important player in the regime. However, the nuclear
deal and India’s legitimate desire to play a constructive role in the
relevant fora, including the NSG, have altered this condition.
ARTICLES
K.
SUBRAHMANYAM: The author is a senior strategic analyst and former Director
of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. The article
is based on a lecture delivered at the Association of Indian Diplomats,
Sapru House, New Delhi.
Prospects for
A Nuclear-Weapons-Free World
All
that one can say on the current debate on the issue is to quote President
Barack Obama’s Prague speech where he admitted, “Maybe it will not happen
in our lifetime.” He was talking about his own lifetime and he is in his
late forties. …Therefore, we have to take into account that the probability
of seeing a world without nuclear weapons is not very bright, not only
during our generation, perhaps even during the next generation.
DILIP LAHIRI:
The author, a former Ambassador of India to Italy, was the
leader of the Indian delegation to the 1998 Diplomatic Plenipotentiary
Conference at Rome which negotiated the ICC Statute.
The International
Criminal Court: Should India Continue to Stay Out?
How
serious are Indian concerns at being politically targeted in the ICC if it
joined? This was the primary reason for the strong opposition of the armed
forces and security authorities to India supporting the ICC. … Even if
India is not ready to join, it should move towards a posture of
constructive engagement with the ICC.
V.S. SESHADRI: The
author is a member of the Indian Foreign Service. The article, however,
reflects his personal views and not necessarily those of the government.
Economic
Diplomacy Challenges in the New Decade
It
is too early to predict if India’s growth during the new decade will
significantly change its place in the world order. To be sure, India’s
current efforts are not really directed at becoming a No. 2 or No. 3
economy in the world, but more at bringing the benefits of development to
all its people and to eradicate poverty among its citizens at the earliest.
CHINTAMANI MAHAPATRA: Professor
of American Studies Programme, School of
International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
The United
States and the Emerging Balance of Power in Asia
While
the era of unbridled US hegemony in Asia appears to be ending, the new
balance of power is yet to crystallize. It will perhaps take quite a while
before a durable new Asian balance of power is in place. But the
indications of a new era in the making are discernible. What are the
distinguishing features of this new era? Who are the new main players in
Asian politics and economics? What will be their equations with the United
States?
BINODA KUMAR
MISHRA: Fellow at the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata.
Cooperation
and Discord in India-China Relationship: Key to the Future of South and
South-East Asia
Four
Cs characterize the Sino-Indian relationship, namely, Conflict,
Cooperation, Competition and Containment. … Objectively, both would help
themselves well if they cooperate. But the aspiration to great-power status
and the historical issues seem to weigh heavy on their minds.
ORAL HISTORY
The India-Taipei
Association: A Mission Extraordinaire
Ambassador
Vinod C. Khanna, the First Director General of the India-Taipei Association, the de
facto Indian Mission to Taiwan, narrates the nuances in India’s diplomatic
undertaking there. He states: The first and most important thing is that it
was an unusual mission. It was not like any other diplomatic mission. This
was entirely different because I was not there as India’s accredited envoy
to a sovereign state. .... Evolving the precise relationship with the
Taiwanese government was a delicate matter. .... The problem was how to
ensure an optimal middle path – have a productive relationship with the
local government without giving it “diplomatic” colour.
Full Text
BOOK REVIEWS
ALI AHMED
India’s Nuclear Debate: Exceptionalism and the
Bomb by Priyanjali Malik
D. SANTISHREE PANDIT
U.S. Policy Towards India: A Post Cold War
Study by Amulya Kumar Tripathy
and Rabi Narayan Tripathy
SUSENJIT GUHA
Caring for Democracy in Bangladesh by Sreeradha Dutta
PUNAM PANDEY
A History of Bangladesh by Willem Van Schendel
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Vol
5, No. 3
Jul - Sep 2010
_____________________________________
DEBATE
India,
Russia and the Shift in Global Balance Of Power
Anuradha M. Chenoy: Professor, Russian and Central
Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru
University, New Delhi
Does
Russia Matter in India’s Foreign Policy?:
Indian
foreign policy is in transition and the debate on how it can leverage its
foreign policy to improve its international position is inconclusive.
Russia can still provide a viable alternative, where India should maintain
its choices. India’s ambition and potential for great-power status will
require Russian support. Building regional alliances, and being proactive
in organizations like the SCO and CICA are sure roads for broadening the
Indo-Russian relation into a broader regional multilateral one as a factor
in multipolarity. India cannot be in search of a shadowy concept of great
power which is subordinate to the US superpower in critical areas.
Prakash Nanda: Editor,
Geopolitics magazine, New Delhi.
A
Time-tested Partnership:
It is
logical ... for India to cultivate and nurture its relationship with Russia
in the context of historical experience, current policy orientations and
tangible mutuality of interests and mutual benefits in the foreseeable
future. Realism requires that Russia remains a country of top priority in
India’s external dealings. To borrow a Russian proverb, “old friends are
better than new ones.” of power.
Vijay
Sakhuja: Director (Research) Indian
Council of World Affairs, New Delhi.
A
Catalyst for India’s Military Industrial Complex:
Despite
the occasional setbacks, both India and Russia have conveyed to the
international community that their time-tested relationship has deep
foundations and they respect each other’s national interests. The military
cooperation has transformed from simple sale of weaponry from Russia to
India to joint development of new technologies, weapon systems and
platforms. India stands to benefit immensely from the Russian military
market, which can act as a catalyst for the augmentation of India’s
military industrial complex.
ARTICLES
Oliver Stuenkel: Visiting Professor of International Relations, University of São
Paulo (USP), Brazil, and Fellow at the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi), Berlin, Germany.
The Case for Stronger
Brazil-India Relations
(Download Article)
Brazil’s efforts to fortify its relations
with India are part of a broader goal to strengthen ties with other
developing nations. South-South diplomacy has been a hallmark of the Lula
administration. While it would be simplistic to reduce Brazil-India ties to
the personal predilection of Brazil’s current President, it is true that it
is under President Lula that the Brazilian government’s efforts to engage
with India have reached a historic high. As Lula is preparing his political
exit, it is India’s responsibility to preserve his legacy and make the
partnership last.
Rajaram Panda and Shamshad A. Khan: Senior Fellow and Research Assistant, respectively, at the
Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi.
China and the South China
Sea: Future Power Projections
China’s rise, both economically and
militarily, has aroused serious academic curiosity in Asia, US and Europe.
China has already replaced Japan as the world’s second-biggest economic
power and aspires to replace the US as No. 1. In its race towards economic
prosperity, China has tried to extend its sphere of influence across the
globe by investment strategies in resource projects and port development
activities. By asserting claims on territories in its neighbourhood
where other countries too have competing claims, it has generated fear.
Debate centering on whether China’s rise is peaceful and benign or pregnant
with uncertainties remains inconclusive. China’s cooperation with “rogue
states” such as North Korea or clandestine deals with Pakistan raise
uncomfortable questions.
Nivedita Das Kundu: Research Fellow, Indian Council of World
Affairs, New Delhi.
Geopolitical and Economic
Significance of Central Eurasia - Indian Perspective
India’s relation with Central Eurasia is
very strong mainly because of its civilizational
links with the region. India has deep interest in the region as it lies in
its extended neighbourhood and also due to its
security concerns and energy requirements. India maintains a relatively
high profile in the region because of its longstanding special relationship
with the erstwhile Soviet Union and its links with Central Eurasia in terms
of age-old trade and economic relations through the Silk Route. Research
interest in Central Eurasia has grown over the past few years in India,
including their nationalism policy, their civil society organizations and
urban development. India has been active in Central Eurasia, although China
was quicker off the mark in developing a close relationship with
post-Soviet Central Eurasia.
N. Manoharan: Senior Fellow, Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), New Delhi.
Post-Conflict India-Sri
Lanka Relations - With Lions, Without Tigers
Post-LTTE India-Sri Lanka relations have
reached an unprecedented level of depth and quality. The violent phase of
the ethnic conflict in the island that stood as a constant source of irritation
in the bilateral relations has ended with the military defeat of the LTTE.
The ethnic issue, however, lingers on. India has time and again conveyed
its willingness to do whatever is required for satisfactory resolution of
the ethnic question that meets the sentiments of all the communities of Sri
Lanka. Not limiting itself to voicing its concerns, New Delhi should make
sure that Colombo seriously moves forward in resolving the ethnic issue at
the earliest. Simultaneously, India should constantly provide resources
required for the resettlement of the IDPs in the short term and invest in
the economic development of the war-ravaged northeast of Sri Lanka. This
will not only ensure that another armed conflict does not occur, but also
open up immense economic opportunities for India.
RAJESWARI
PILLAI RAJAGOPALAN: Senior Fellow at the
Institute of Security Studies (ISS), Observer Research Foundation, New
Delhi.
Drivers of Obama’s AfPak
Policy - An Indian View
If Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh’s November 2009 meeting with President Barack Obama
was all about China, his April 2010 meeting was almost entirely focused on
AfPak and Indo-Pak issues. These issues gained a fresh lease particularly
after a leaked report by the Wall Street Journal (5 April 2010) of a secret
directive issued by Obama which sought a resolution of the Indo-Pak issue
without which the US would not be able to get full cooperation from
Pakistan in the global war on terror (GWOT), particularly in Afghanistan.
The report noted that the directive “concluded that India must make
resolving its tensions with Pakistan a priority for progress to be made on
US goals in the region.” Obama’s conviction that finding a solution to the
Kashmir issue is almost a prerequisite for getting Pakistan’s support for
GWOT worries India.
ORAL HISTORY
Representing India during the Vietnam
Conundrum
P. K. Budhwar
Ambassador
Prem Kumar Budhwar was
a young Indian Foreign Service officer doing his posting in North Vietnam
in the early 1970’s. He manned the small Indian diplomatic mission almost
all alone and saw through many things at the height of war in Vietnam and
India’s relations with that country.
Full
Text
BOOK
REVIEWS
ISHANI NASKAR, Department of Political
Science, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata
Subir Bhaumik,
Troubled Periphery: Crisis of
India’s North East, (New
Delhi: Sage, 2009), Pages: 305, Price: Rs. 695.00
VISHNU PRIYA, Reader in Political
Science, Maitreyi College, University of Delhi
Rajiv Sikri,
Challenge and Strategy: Rethinking
India’s Foreign Policy, (New
Delhi: Sage, 2009), Pages: xx+317, Price: Rs. 595.00.
S.D. MUNI,
India’s
Foreign Policy: The Democracy Dimension, (Delhi: Foundation Books,
2009), Pages: vii+178,
ANUSHREE BHATTACHARYYA,
Research
Associate, National Maritime Foundation, New Delhi
K.V. Kesavan
and Daljit Singh, eds, South and Southeast Asia: Responding to
Changing Geo-Political and Security Challenges, (New Delhi:
Knowledge World, 2010), Pages: 166, Price: Rs. 440.00.
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Vol 5, No. 4 Oct - Dec 2010
_____________________________________
DEBATE
Political Developments
and
Evolving Security
Scenarios in Nepal
ASHOK
K MEHTA: Former commander of the
Indian Peace Keeping Forces in Sri Lanka, frequent commentator on Nepal and
Srilanka
Current Impasse is a Betrayal by Maoists
Nepal’s peace process,
it seems, has been held hostage by the commanding majority of 238 Maoist
lawmakers in the Constituent Assembly. Is the current impasse betrayal by
Maoists of the peace process? The simplistic answer is yes. But the
situation could have been less bad had the political parties acted more
responsibly in the run-up to the elections and after. India, which was the
catalyst to the political process, mishandled the Maoists, failing to
address their insecurities. …
NISHCHAL N. PANDEY: Director, Centre for
South Asian Studies, Kathmandu
The Change of
Generation Need to be Grasped by Policymakers
Almost all salient
aspects of India-Nepal relations of the last five decades are under
scrutiny by both the political parties and parliament, whether it is the
open border system, agreement on water resources or the Treaty of Peace and
Friendship of 1950. The challenges and opportunities emanating from this
change of generation not only in Nepal but also in India need to be grasped
by policymakers of both countries. …
K. V. RAJAN: Former Secretary of the
Ministry of External Affairs and was also Ambassador to Nepal
India to Accept Maoists as Important
Players
India has no option but
to accept the fact that the Maoists will be important political players in
Nepal for the foreseeable future, and this grim reality cannot be wished
away. Their cooperation in saving the peace process and writing of the
Constitution is indispensable. India is in any case conscious of its
limitations in trying to influence the course of events in that country.
India cannot replace, or be seen as replacing, its earlier “two-pillar”
policy (of supporting the constitutional monarchy and multi-party
democracy) with a new twin-pillar approach which bars the Maoists from a
second chance in the power structure and restricts Nepal from expanding its
relations with China.
ARTICLES
SWASHPAWAN SINGH: Former Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the
United Nations Office, Geneva
The
Politics of Multilateralism: The Geneva Story
The UN has grown in size, the
scope of issues it addresses, its geographic spread, the number of
conferences and meetings organized and the number of personnel it employs:
but its effectiveness and ability to deliver remain a matter of concern.
The need for reform is widely recognized: several efforts have been made to
change methods of work, procedures, financing arrangements, delivery
mechanisms and accountability criteria. But the outcomes have been less
than satisfactory: the required structural and systemic reform has still to
happen.
RAMASWAMY
R. IYER: Formerly Secretary Water
Resources, Government of India and the initiator and principal draftsman of
India’s first National Water Policy in 1987)
Our
Water Future
There are a number of perspectives
on water. What dominated initially was engineering; then it was engineering
plus economics. Now, we have to subordinate both engineering and economics
to ecology and social justice. Combining ecology and social justice in one
overarching perspective, we might call it dharma (responsibility) –
responsibility to other people, other groups, other countries, future
generations, to nature. Some might say this is unrealistic: what then is
realistic? …
SANJAY
PULIPAKA: Fellow at the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of
Asian Studies, Kolkata
Elections
in Myanmar: Implications for India
Apart from institutional
diversity, India will have to deal with consequences that emanate from the
electoral performance of the ethnic parties. Sub-regional ethnic parties
have also made their presence felt. The long-term implications of the
emergence of ethnic parties in the electoral arena of Myanmar need to be
studied in greater detail, especially given that these ethnic parties have
been articulating their ethnic identities and the need for political
processes to protect and promote them. …
LAKHAN
MEHROTRA: Formerly Secretary in India’s
Ministry of External Affairs and the United Nations Envoy in Cambodia and
Indonesia
South
Asia: A way Forward
We cannot face the world with just
pride and dignity unless we eliminate the hydra of poverty that stalks our
region. Each country of our region has the responsibility to concentrate on
this theme individually and in concert with regional partners. SAARC should
take the lead in promoting collaborative efforts to achieve poverty
alleviation. It should be possible for SAARC member states to spare a
proportion of their national allocations to meet the challenge of poverty
for SAARC’s collaborative efforts to that end. …
SHALENDRA
D. SHARMA: Professor, University of San
Francisco
US-India
Nuclear Deal: The Saga of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill
No doubt, the efficacy of India’s
legislation on civil liability for nuclear damages will ultimately be
determined by the nuclear industry, both international and domestic. The
yardstick will be the cost of doing business in India. Even the Nuclear
Power Corporation of India, responsible for operating the country’s nuclear
reactors, as well as the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and
Industry (FICCI) have pointed out that under legislation the cost of
producing nuclear power will be higher in India as the suppliers must have
hefty insurance to cover their liabilities. …
ORAL HISTORY
The (Hi)story of one Lakh Visas
MANI SHANKAR AIYAR
Mani Shankar Aiyar,
former member of the Indian Foreign Service, former Minister in the Union
Cabinet and at present a member of the upper house of the Indian
Parliament, was tasked with the assignment of opening India’s Consulate
General in Karachi in December 1978, after the Assistant High Commission
had been closed down in December 1971 during the Bangladesh war. He
recounts here his experiences as India’s Consul General, including the
decision to issue hundreds of visas every day, his interaction with the
people and leadership of Pakistan, and reflections on India-Pakistan
relations in those years.
Full Text
BOOK REVIEWS
ARIF
ALI KHAN
Rajaram Panda and Pankaj Jha - Eds, India and New
Zealand: Emerging Challenges
ANIMESH
ROUL
Hermann Kulke,
K. Kesavapany and Vijay Sakhuja,
Nagapatnam to Suvarnadwipa:
Reflections on Chola Naval Expeditions to South
East Asia
PRIYANKA
SINGH
Bob Woodward, Obama’s War – The Inside Story
ARVIND
KUMAR
Harsh V. Pant, Indian
Foreign Policy in a Unipolar World
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