India's Changing Afghanistan Policy: Regional and Global Implications
Abstract : Since 2001, Afghanistan has allowed New Delhi an opportunity to underscore its role as a regional power. India has growing stakes in peace and stability in Afghanistan, and the 2011 India-Afghan strategic partnership agreement underlines India's commitment to ensure that a positive momentum in Delhi-Kabul ties is maintained. This monograph examines the changing trajectory of Indian policy toward Afghanistan since 2001 and argues that New Delhi has been responding to a strategic environment shaped by other actors in the region. As the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces prepare to leave Afghanistan in 2014, India stands at a crossroads as it remains keen to preserve its interests in Afghanistan. This monograph underlines the ever-evolving Indian policy in Afghanistan by examining it in three phases, before drawing out the implications of this change for the region and the United States. There has been a broader maturing of U.S.-India defense ties, and Afghanistan is likely to be a beneficiary of this trend. Managing Pakistan and unravelling Islamabad's encirclement complex should be the biggest priority for both Washington and New Delhi in the coming years if there is to be any hope of keeping Afghanistan a stable entity post-2014.
Security Implications of ISAF Exit from Afghanistan on South Asia
Abstract : This study analyzes the regional security implications of Afghanistan's internal and external environment. Long conflicts have weakened Afghanistan state. In the midst of a fragile Afghan political, economic and security situation, the US plans to draw down its military forces by the end 2014. Long term prosperity incorporating all factions of Afghan society is vital for the stable and peaceful environment. This goal appears very far away. However, Afghanistan is a resilient and warrior nation, and is evolving as a nation-state. It has passed through very arduous times and surfaced, essentially unchanged, again. The current situation reflects historical instability. The future can be better, but depends on a fine balance between the interests of Afghanistan and regional players. Without internal security, Afghanistan will turn into a hotbed of violence. Ethnic proxies of external actors will lead it into even more conflict. Afghanistan's politics are interwoven among tribal intricacies and the interests of several external players, including its neighbors. My analysis concludes Afghanistan is extremely important to the security environment of South Asia. Without a stable and peaceful Afghanistan, South Asian long term stability will not be possible. Narrow national interests will scramble to fill the vacuum after ISAF exits. This study also includes the discussion on India-Pakistan-Iran relations in the backdrop of Afghanistan. In the post-ISAF environment, a positive sum game is highly unlikely. Without a successful, comprehensive dialogue with all groups, including Taliban, any effort to establish a broad based government will not last long. Only regional consensus and tribal solutions can pave the way for a better future.
India and the Middle East
Part 1 Introduction: common historical experience of imperial domination the British policy of divide and rule the Khalifat issue the Palestine problem the creation of Pakistan the Kashmir issue India's general foreign policy objectives non-alignment - rationale and resilience non-alignment and balance of power global balance regional balance sub-continental balance India and the superpowers India and China self-sufficiency bilateralism. Part 2 India's politico-diplomatic interest in the Middle East - Egypt and Iraq: the Pakistan factor India's fears of an Islamic bloc Kashmir nonalignment a Cairo-centric policy India and Egypt Egypt's opposition to the formation of an Islamic bloc the Pakistani-Egyptian equation Indo-Egyptian cooperation the Suez Crisis, 1956 the cooling of Indo-Egyptian relations India and Iraq Indo-Iraqi relations till 1958 the Baghdad Pact, 1955 the 1958 Ba'athist coup and after the Iraqi foreign minister's visit to India, 1967 the importance of growing Indo-Iraqi ties Indo-Iraqi political honeymoon Iraq and the Janata interregnum, 1977-79 Indo-Iraqi relations in the 1980s. Part 2 India's politico-diplomatic interest in the Middle East - Iran and Saudi Arabia: India and Iran alignment and alienation the Nehru factor the Nasser factor Islam and Pakistan as factors the changing scenario of the 1960s the changing Pakistan-Iran equation the changing tenor of Indo-Arab relations the Bangladesh crisis, 1971 the Arabi-Israeli War, 1973 Khomeini's Iran and India India and Saudi Arabia the initial harmony the Nasser factor Islam and Pakistan as a counter Kashmir the post-1973 period Indo-Saudi ties in the 1980s. Part 3 India's security and strategic interests in the Middle East: India's security concerns and policies in the Middle East till 1971 fears of an Islamic bloc the Baghdad Pact, 1955 non-Pakistani security concerns the Indo-Pakistan wars and the Middle East India's security concerns in the Middle East since 1971 Pakistan and Iran Pakistan and Saudi Arabia the "Islamic bomb" Islamic fundamentalism Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. Part 4 India's economic interests in the Middle East: trade labour remittances oil loans and aid civil construction and industrial projects. Part 5 Indo-Israeli relations: at the UN India's position - a reformulation recognition issue diplomatic relations Bandung, 1955 the Suez Crisis, 1956 covert contacts moments of pettiness the Arab-Israeli War, 1967 the Yom Kippur War, 1973 the Janata government and Israel Israeli invasion of Lebanon, 1982 the Pakistani bomb and Indo-Israeli cooperation Indo-Israeli relations - a reappraisal. Part 6 India and the Palestine Liberation Organization: India and the Palestine question till 1969 differences between the Indian and Arab approaches Indian support at the UN for the Palestinian refugees. (Part contents).