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Panel No. 24

Panel Title: History of the Indian Princely States

Convenor: Dr. Christian Wagner, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Berlin
Co-convenors: Dr. Mohammed B. Alam, Professor of History and Political Science, Miyazaki International College, Japan, & Karsten Frey, Dept. of Political Science, South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg

    Friday 9 July, 8–12

Panel Abstract: Contemporary works on International Relations of South Asia cover a wide range of topics that encompass aspects of foreign policy, nuclear deterrence, the debate over India's hegemonic influence in South Asia, bi- and multilateral relations, international regimes and its impact, prospects and problems of South Asian regional co-operation and so on. Moreover, transnational actors as well as international norms gained more and more attention in the theoretical discourse in contrast to state centred analysis and classical realist approaches.
The panel offers the opportunity to combine the different angles of the international relations debate with problems and issues with particular relevance to South Asia. Possible topics are:
- foreign policy analysis of individual countries (i.e. from Bangladesh to Sri Lanka),
- strategic and security issues (i.e. nuclearisation deterrence, defence spending, Kashmir)
- Confidence-Building in South Asia (i.e. CBMs, Nuclear Risk Reduction Measures, third party mediation)
- the impact of international norms and regimes (i.e. human rights, NPT, CTBT),
- aspects of bilateral relations (i.e. India and neighbouring countries, Nepal-Bhutan),
- the role of external powers and institutions in South Asia (i.e. USA, China, Russia, Europe, UN, WTO)
- prospects of regional cooperation (i.e. SAARC, BIMSTEC, IORARC),
This panel seeks papers that will examine issues such as these, holistically in relation to contemporary South Asia.

         Read the convenor’s panel report after the conference

Papers accepted for presentation in the panel:

Paper Giver 1: Theodore P. Wright, Jr., Niskayuna, New York, USA

Paper 1 Title: American Intervention in South Asian Interstate Disputes: Afghanistan and Kashmir: the Israeli/Zionist Aspect

Paper Abstract: Intervention by the United States in the disputes among South Asian states, chiefly India and Pakistan, began slowly after their independence, in what was still perceived in Washington as a British sphere of influence. When it did come it was largely as a byproduct of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Until the American and allied attack on Afghanistan in October 2001, there was no direct military involvement comparable to those in Latin America (Cuba, Panama), East Asia (Korea) and the Middle East (Lebanon), but only economic and cultural influence. Above all, the supply of weapons to Pakistan (1954-65), to India (1962) and to the Mujahidin of Afghanistan against the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, promoted warfare in the region. Diplomatic involvement in South Asian disputes such as Kashmir was limited and ineffective. The closest the United States came to direct military intervention was President Nixon's futile dispatch of a nuclear aircraft carrier into the Bay of Bengal during the war over Bangladesh secession from Pakistan in 1971.
It will be the thesis of this paper that it was the convergence of several major new trends both inside and outside the region in the 1990s which led to the hitherto unimaginable American military attack on the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and its al Qaeda guests. Of course, the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on Sept.11, 2001 were the immediate precipitants, but the larger "war on terrorism" and its subsequent extension to Iraq are explicable in terms of broader changes.

l. The rise and politicization of religious fundamentalism in Islam (al Qaeda and the Taliban), American Christianity (End of Days theology), Hinduism (Hindutva) and Judaism (the Likud).
2. The infiltration and rise to dominance in the United States foreign policy-making process, especially regarding the Middle East, of the so-called "neo-conservatives" and "Christo-Zionists", and more broadly the increasing power of the Zionist lobby in the U.S. Congress.
3. The volte face of Indian policy towards the Arab-Israeli dispute from the Arab/Palestinian side to the Israeli side, and the concomittant loss of Indian Muslim influence, beginning in 1991.
4. In the case of the Afghan war, the feminist antipathy to the Taliban because of its violation of the supposedly universal human rights of women, which prevented timely U.S. recognition of the regime.
5. The shift of media dominance to right-wing television as against the print media worldwide.
6. The fraudulent election of George Bush to the U.S. presidency in 2000.


Paper Giver 2: Veena Ravi Kumar, Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi , India

Paper 2 Title: Pathways to peace in Kashmir: The significance of diplomacy, democracy and development in South Asia

Paper abstract: The objective of my proposed study is to explore the ways by which the peace dividend of the present can be consolidated so that a road map for resolving the Kashmir problem can be evolved. To fulfil this objective I attempt to follow the opportunities that have been opened up in the areas of diplomacy, democracy and development. Although intellectuals and political leaders in India have been averse to recognising the need for mediation I consider that the behind the purdah persuasion of the USA has significantly changed the course of India-Pakistan relations. Hence, I propose to explore how the United States can contribute as an interested interlocutor in nudging the two countries to actively work on a road map to resolve the Kashmir tangle.
The thaw in India-Pakistan relations is also because the spaces for democracy have been opened up in both India and Pakistan. The recently held elections in Kashmir universally acknowledged as 'free and fair' and the subsequent formation of the government of Mufti Mohammad has brought the agenda of development along with the healing touch policy to the forefront in Kashmir. This new agenda has such a powerful impact that even the Hurriyat Conference in Kashmir is now in two minds and sometimes willing to enter into negotiations with India. Similarly, in Pakistan the conduct of national elections and the reintroduction of democratic practices have succeeded in subduing the influence wielded by Jehadi extremist groups and have even contributed to the moderation of such extremism. Hence I propose to study the means by which these democratic processes can be reinforced by appropriate policy measures and political interventions. In this context, being a woman I will be particularly interested in exploring how women can be empowered to participate in political processes so that political processes are made to respond to issues of women's rights and gender equality.
Economists as well as industrialists and traders acknowledge that both India and Pakistan stand to gain if trade between India and Pakistan is opened up and if the SAFTA (south Asian Free Trade Area) programme of the SAARC is implemented. Economic development in South Asia will open new secular spaces and would reduce the incidence of unemployment and poverty-the twin causes that induce young men to join the ranks of militants. Hence, my study will also concentrate on the politics of development and would explore for ways in which regional economic cooperation may be promoted skirting the road blocks that have been erected by mutual suspicion in India-Pakistan relations. While diplomacy, democracy and development will create the conditions conducive for drawing road map to resolve the Kashmir problem, one cannot wait for the ideal conditions. Hence it is necessary to begin to draw the rough outline of the road map to peace in Kashmir. Eventually I intend to draw upon the lessons from such experiments in Ireland and Sri Lanka and to resolve seemingly intractable issues of self determination to work out a new, different and workable road map for peace in Kashmir and in the entire subcontinent.


Paper Giver 3: Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad

Paper 3 Title: Nuclear Risk’s Preventive Approaches in an Adversarial Indo-Pakistan Scenario

Paper Abstract: The purpose of the proposed research is to examine the repercussions of current nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan and chalk out an acceptable strategy for both India and Pakistan, which would not only decrease the security dilemma of both the belligerent neighbors, but also reduce the nuclear risks in South Asia. Such research is greatly needed in the strategic environment of South Asia, where peace and stability is constantly threatened by arms race and military jingoism between India and Pakistan. There is a dearth of literature on the nuclear risk preventive approaches between India and Pakistan. The proposed study, hence, would be an effort to fill this gap.

      Full paper to be downloaded (as a pdf-file)


Paper Giver 4: Klaus Voll, India-Consult, Hameln and Free University, Berlin

Paper 4 Title: Conflict Resolution and Confidence-Building Measures between India and Pakistan: An Indian Perspective

Paper Abstract: After an enduring "low-intensity war" by Pakistan, the Kargil cannonade, the attack on the Indian Parliament on the 13th of December 2001 and the following confrontation between India and Pakistan with an imminent war-danger in 2001/02, an intensified "Cold War" between India and Pakistan followed. The Peace Initiative by the Indian government, starting with Atal Behari Vajpayee´s speech in Srinagar on the 18th of April 2003, led to a positive response by the government in Pakistan.
The paper analyses the major factors, which led, since the SAARC-Summit in Islamabad, to this watershed in the current bilateral relations. India´s wider geo-strategic interests, domestic and economic compulsions, the ground-situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the influence of civil societies as well as the informal pressure by the United States of America and the international community on both rivals contributed to these developments. But can this momentum be maintained in a constructive and sustainable manner?
Against the background of the campaign for the Lok Sabha-elections 2004 and its outcome, the vexed question of Kashmir as a part of the composite dialogue, the discussions between the Indian Government and a part of the erstwhile Hurriyat conference, terrorist activities in Kashmir and the delicate military balance, the major unfolding patterns in the negotiations between India and Pakistan will be analysed.
Based on discussions with leading Indian politicians, foreign- and security-policy analysts from various think-tanks, academic institutions and the media, as well as interactions with civil society activists, an objective perspective about the success of a sustainable conflict-resolution and durable confidence-building measures between the two nuclear rivals in South Asia is attempted.


Paper giver 5: Happymon Jacob, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

Paper 5 title: Track-II Diplomacy and Indo-Pak Relations

Paper abstract: Track-two diplomacy in South Asia addressing bilateral issues can survive only if it becomes part of the larger civil society movement in India. Unless and until peace activism and track-two diplomacy radically broaden their constituency by way of co-opting more issues, groups and people and also by letting go of the traditional issues like Kashmir, Indo-Pak relations, and addressing issues like women’s issues, water pollution, water scarcity, labor issues etc., track-two diplomacy in south Asia will die a premature death.


Paper giver 6: Mohammed Badrul Alam, Miyazaki International College, Miyazaki, Japan

Paper 6 title: Between Dominance and Confidence-Building Measures: A Study of India’s Nuclear Doctrine and the Current Regional Environment In South Asia

Paper abstract: With the acquisition of nuclear weapon capability by India in a formal way in 1998 (to be subsequently followed up by its neighbor, Pakistan) and the escalation of conflict over the ongoing Kashmir tangle, the nuclear debate in the sub-continent has become a live issue with far reaching regional and global ramifications. My paper will critically examine and evaluate India’s nuclear doctrine by tracing the roots of India’s nuclear policy from India’s independence up to the present and discuss India’s stand on NPT, CTBT and other current measures towards nuclear non-proliferation, nuclear arms control and confidence building measures. As India’s proclaimed nuclear doctrine is being scrutinised, which type of weapon system India will prefer and adopt in order to have a stable deterrence? What will be India’s nuclear strategy and counter-strategy
vis-a-vis Pakistan? Can India win a possible nuclear war with Pakistan? What will be the outcome of such policies in the regional sector as well as in the international scene? Is there a possibility for the emergence of a stable nuclear proliferation regime in South Asia? The paper will attempt to provide answers to the above questions in addition to forecasting a probable security scenario for South Asia in the immediate foreseeable future.

      Full paper to be downloaded (as a pdf-file)


Paper giver 7: Christian Wagner, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Berlin

Paper 7 title: India as a Regional Power?

Paper abstract: The debate about India as a regional power in South Asia is shaped by a realist paradigma that assumes a hegemonic approach. This can be underlined by Indira Gandhi’s security doctrine of the 1980s and by various interventions. But a closer empirical look reveals that despite the military and economic asymmetry in favour of India, her South Asia policy was far less successful than expected. Except for smaller countries like Bhutan and Nepal India has never been able to exert a permanent influence on the domestic affairs in the neighbouring countries. India’s relations with Pakistan are the most obvious case for this argument. Although there had been instances in India’s bilateral relations with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka were India had a strong impact on their domestic development there are also long periods where India was not able to push her interest.
Moreover the domestic changes and the liberalisation after 1991 have changed India’s South Asia policy fundamentally. The policy of confrontation has been more or less completely replaced by an approach that favours co-operation. This can also be seen in India’s new approach towards multi-lateral institutions like the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC).
The paper argues that India’s regional policy can no longer be understood by a state-centric realist approach alone. The importance of economic factors in India’s foreign policy as well as the new security challenges that are linked with the networks of transnational terrorism make it necessary to include new theoretical approaches in order to understand India’s South Asia policy.

Panel report:

The panel on ‘International Relations and the South Asian Security Order’, which took place in the Nya Festsalen on Friday, 9th of July, 8 -12, was jointly chaired by Dr. Christian Wagner, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Berlin, Dr. Mohammed B. Alam, Professor of History and Political Science, Miyazaki International College, Japan, and Karsten Frey, South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg. Four papers were presented at the panel.
The first session from 8.00 to 9.30 was commenced with the presentation of Prof. Theodore Wright, New York, on ‘American Intervention in South Asian Interstate Disputes: Afghanistan and Kashmir: the Israeli/Zionist Aspect’. Therein, Prof. Wright gave a broad overview of the history of US foreign policy towards South Asia since the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, with an emphasis on the role of the Zionist lobby in the U.S. Congress and the impact of the Arab-Israeli dispute.
The second paper was presented by Prof. Mohammed B. Alam, Miyazaki, Japan, on ‘Between Dominance and Confidence-Building Measures: A Study of India’s Nuclear Doctrine and the Current Regional Environment in South Asia’. Prof. Alam critically examined and evaluated India’s nuclear doctrine by tracing the roots of India’s nuclear policy from India’s independence up to the present and discuss India’s stand on NPT, CTBT and other current measures towards nuclear non-proliferation, nuclear arms control and confidence building measures.
The discussion on both presentations of the first session was chaired by Dr. Christian Wagner.
After the coffee break, the second session from 10.30 to 12.00 included two presentations. The first paper was presented by Prof. Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad, on ‘Nuclear Risk’s Preventive Approaches in an Adversarial Indo-Pakistan Scenario’. The paper aimed at exploring acceptable strategies for both India and Pakistan, which would not only decrease the security dilemma of both the belligerent neighbors, but also reduce the nuclear risks in South Asia.
Finally, the panel was concluded with the presentation by Dr. Christian Wagner, Berlin, on ‘India as a Regional Power?’. Therein, Dr. Wagner developed an explanatory model to India’s emerging foreign policy over time along the concepts of hard and soft power.
The discussion to the second session was chaired by Karsten Frey, Heidelberg.
All four papers were followed by a lively discussion. The general discussion, which had to be limited to 15 minutes only, mainly focused on India’s changing role within the South Asian region as well as in the global arena.

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