New Delhi, Mar.26 (ANI): The legacy of the partition of the subcontinent into India and Pakistan in 1947 has turned the region into a chaotic zone. Strategic thinkers from different parts of the world, including India, have been focusing their attention on developments in the region ever since. For the last many years the Pentagon Press has been publishing those assessments in the form of a year book. This year's publication is a useful addition.
Violence has not been confined to only to the South Asia region recently. As pointed out by Ajay Singh, a defence analyst, as many as 42 nations in the world witnessed some form of internal or external conflicts in 2015 which claimed l, 80, 000 lives and displaced another 4.2 million persons.
It is feared that 2016 will be even hotter with the continual rise of the Islamic State (IS) also known as Daesh. The tangled web of Syria has contributed to the torrent of 2.2 million refugees fleeing the country, creating a humanitarian disaster unparalleled since the days of World War II. Ajay Singh fears that the presence of Daesh so close to the subcontinent will complicate the security of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Mondira Dutta (JNU) and Shaida Mohammad Abdali (Afghanistan's Ambassador to India ) in their contributions, give an assessment of India' role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan, and point out that India is the fifth largest donor in the country's reconstruction efforts. The situation is complicated because of Pakistan's efforts of claiming to be at par with India, as pointed by Shalini Chawla, a senior research fellow at the Centre for Air Power in Delhi..
Pakistan, though being close to Western nations, has an all weather friendship with China. The West did not object to Pakistan's efforts to have an all weather friendship with China. In recent years, China has adopted an extremely supportive posture in the development of Pakistan's nuclear weapons and supplied it with a variety of nuclear products.
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Shalini Chawla points out that China has also been providing arms aid to Pakistan. Pakistan's defence build-up has been supported by China and the United States. Islamabad has also received aid from Saudi Arabia. Nuclear capability, in the minds of the Pakistani leadership, has been the ultimate weapon for the survival of Pakistan.
The year book contains a detailed assessment of China' attempts at encircling India. A comprehensive assessment is provided by Rajesh Kharat a professor in JNU. By exerting pressure on Bhutan, Shekar Adhikari of the University of Allahabad points out that China has been trying to reduce Nepal's dependence on India. Ever since the Communists have gained strength in Nepal, efforts have also been mounted to support a "Red Corridor" from the borders of Nepal to Kerala.
However, Nepal geographically is a part of the Indian subcontinent. There have been problems in drawing up a new constitution. and the suggestion is that India , at this juncture , should cooperate with Nepal to the fullest extent, so that peace and stability prevails in the subcontinent
Sreeradha Datta, Director of the Maulana Azad Abdul Kalam Institute in Kolkata, in her assessment of the situation in Bangladesh, says religious radicalisation in that nation has been mounting in recent years and serious reservations about the state of democracy have emerged. At present, the country is poised at a critical juncture. Given its other strengths, Bangladesh can overcome political turbulence to achieve full potential through some right political choices. However, India -Bangladesh relations have been at an all time high
Sumathy Permal of the University of Malaysia, in her detailed assessment of the situation around the Straits of Malacca, a critical sea lane in the Indian Ocean, gives an assessment of the geo-strategic interests in the Straits. Besides Malaysia and Singapore, the Straits are of vital importance to India and Thailand. The overlapping claims on the South China Sea affect the Straits, and the maintenance of peace is vital for the big powers.
The book provides an assessment of the situation in Maldives. The detailed assessment of the situation by T. C. Kartikheyan points out that India's concrete engagement with Maldives helps in improving its capacity to defend its vital interests in the Indian Ocean region. He says India has to devise appropriate policies to keep the influence of other states in the region at a distance She has to take into account that the pro-China lobby in that country is a reality to contend with.
The chapter on Sri Lanka concentrates on elections held in that country in 2015 when Maitripala Srisena was elected President and Ranil Wickramasinghe the Prime Minister. The defeat of Mahinda Rajapakshe was a surprise and 2015 has been a benchmark or a landmark for a change, according to Ashik Bonofer of the Madras Christian College, Chennai.
He points out that Rajapakshe had taken the country closer to China. His image as a tall leader who defeated the LTTE garnered enough support till 2014 among the southern Sinhalese, but the urban and moderate Sinhalese and the minority votes worked their magic.
In conclusion the volume gives an assessment of climate change In the region and the need for harnessing the blue economy.
An objective study of developments in the region by eminent scholars , the year book needs to be studied in all academic institutions in South Asia , as also by think tanks in major western countries.
South Asia Defence and Strategic Perspective; Pentagon's Yearbook; Pentagon Press; pages 227. price Rs 995/
Mr. I. Ramamohan Rao is a former Principal Information Officer to the Government of India. He can be reached at raoramamohan@hotmail.com.
