China has given greater leeway in economic matters, to these provinces of the west under its Western Development Strategy (WDS). In India, too, there is greater attention being paid to connecting India’s Look East Policy (LEP), a foreign policy initiative, with the economic development of the Indian Northeast. Might the WDS and the LEP be compared?
Category Archives: Sub-nationalism
Guns, Blankets and Bird Flu
The India-Myanmar border regions form a forgotten frontier in the Indian and global imagination but violence, trade and transnational challenges such as drug-trafficking and the spread of diseases have kept both a regional identity as well as specific community identities alive.
China-Pakistan Relations: Reinterpreting the Nexus
“The Afghans they hate us,
The Indians wanna bring us to our knees
How long will it be Lord, till we piss off the Chinese
I got the blues”
Saad Haroon
A Parliament for Northeast India
Northeast India requires a regional parliament that will function within the ambit of the Indian Constitution but will aim to give the region a weight that is more than the sum of its parts.
The States in Indian Foreign Policy
This presentation focuses on one particular aspect of centre-province relations in India – the nature of influence that Indian provinces (or States) exercise on national foreign policymaking.
Provincial Interests and Foreign Policy
A combination of the success of economic reforms in certain provinces and of coalition politics at the national level underwritten by strong regional parties is beginning to translate into a ‘decentralization’ of Indian foreign policymaking. Indian provinces and their leaders are increasingly vocal in their opinions on foreign policy and international affairs and their views are beginning to have an impact on how the centre makes its foreign policy calculations.
Chinese Strategic Interests in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir
The Karakoram Highway (KKH) is today a strategic and commercial asset for both China and Pakistan but it has also been responsible for transporting terrorism, drugs and disease. Indeed, for Pakistan, the resultant Chinese concerns are no small matter. Its policy towards the Northern Areas invariably invokes the link that the region provides with China and the importance of the trade with that country.
China’s Olympic Hurdles: The Three ‘Evils’
The Olympics have been widely perceived as showcasing China’s arrival on the global stage. However, along with its Olympic preparations, Beijing must have, no doubt, been preparing also for eventualities related to each of the three ‘evils.’ What then, do China’s reactions to the events of March 2008 indicate about its level of preparedness? And, what do these reactions say about how China sees life after the Olympics?
Beyond the McMahon Line
The development of the North East hinges on a range of factors. One of the aspects that could play an important role in the matter is the improvement of infrastructure along the India-China boundary in the sector. While both India and China have legitimate security interests to consider along their common, disputed frontiers, renewed focus on developing border relations between the two Asian giants, especially in the light of recent infrastructure developments in the North East, could have a salutary effect.
Thinking about China in India 