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    • India's Economic Miracle and its Impact on Nepal

    For a long time, it was common practice to term the rate of economic growth in India the ‘Hindu rate of growth’—a derogatory term for the low growth rate of the economy.

    Hari Bansh Jha
    January 2012

    The Madhesi Movement in Nepal: Implications for India

    This article examines the different narratives on the ‘Madhes’ identity, and situates this discourse in the ethno-linguistic mosaic of the Terai region as well as the larger Nepali political scenario, by identifying the reasons for their increasing assertiveness in politics. The paper argues that exploitation and discrimination by the upper-caste Pahadi migrant communities (especially during the monarchy period) and the Nepali state has played an important role in the consolidation of the Madhesi identity.

    Nihar R. Nayak
    July 2011

    Chemical Weapons in Sri Lanka

    While the Sri Lankan Government and security forces have confirmed the possession of chemical weapons by the LTTE, it is very difficult to verify the actual use of such weapons. However, there are occasional media reports available of LTTE’s chemical attack.

    Gulbin Sultana
    July-December 2011

    ‘Old’ Islamists and ‘New’ Radicals: Understanding the Politics of Religious Radicalisation in Pakistan and its Implications

    The new radicals in Pakistan have challenged the old Islamists as represented by the religious political parties on the nature of state and the means to capture state power. These new radicals reject the ‘bottom up’ approach followed by the traditional Islamic political parties and prefer a ‘top down’ approach. Their ideological inspiration and reference point is Afghanistan under Taliban.

    Smruti S. Pattanaik
    July 2011

    Russia's Growing Afghan Re-Engagement

    The historical baggage weighing on the Russo-Afghan relationship is apparently in the process of being jettisoned. The two countries have been cautiously reaching out and engaging each other for quite some time now. Afghan President Hamid Karzai's state visit to Moscow on 20–21 January 2011 – the first by an Afghan head of state in more than two decades – could be perceived as a major step forward.

    Vishal Chandra
    July 2011

    The Evolving Politics of Taliban Reintegration and Reconciliation in Afghanistan

    The subject assumes significance in view of the politics evolving around the idea of negotiating peace, especially with the Taliban, as the West plans to withdraw bulk of their troops by 2014. Though often regarded as flawed, ill-timed, regressive, wobbly, dangerous and unworkable, the idea has nevertheless come to dominate the discourse on the Afghan war. However, principal Afghan opposition forces and networks operating from Pakistan continue to publicly rebuff and mock at the government's initiative.

    Vishal Chandra
    September 2011

    India–Bangladesh Land Border: A Flawed Inheritance and a Problematic Future

    India shares 4095 kilometres of land and river boundaries with Bangladesh. The border is porous, criss-crossed by rivers and hilly and mountainous terrain which has made the guarding of this border extremely difficult. Border is a political construction. People living in the villages adjacent to the border do not subscribe to any concept of nationality or recognise the boundaries of the nation state. For the people living in the ‘borderlands’, a non-existent line bars them from leading the natural existence they have led for centuries.

    Smruti S. Pattanaik
    September 2011

    Rajapaksa's Sri Lanka: Time to Move Beyond Complacency

    Much water has flown down the Mahaveli since the elimination of V. Prabhakaran and decimation of LTTE, the terror outfit he led, in Sri Lanka in May 2009. President Mahinda Rajapaksa cashed in on the situation well; he called for a new presidential election two years before expiration of his term and won it convincingly in January 2010. His party secured an easy and emphatic victory in the subsequent parliamentary elections, short of a two-thirds majority, in April 2010.

    Ashok K. Behuria
    September 2011

    The Emerging Principle of the Responsibility to Protect: An Asian Perspective

    In the aftermath of the Second World War and the horrors of the Holocaust, during which war crimes were committed on an unprecedented scale, the international community came together to declare ‘never again’ and set up the United Nations. Governments agreed that they would cooperate to prevent the commission of genocide and punish the perpetrators.

    Satish Nambiar
    November 2011

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