(The
views expressed in this issue
are solely those of the authors)
Praful
Bidwai, leading
Indian analyst,
takes on the notions
of security through
nuclear deterrence
or Mutually Assured
Destruction (MAD)
paradigm. In a
polemical argument
against the proliferationists
and militarists,
he logically rejects
military and nuclear
security by raising
the more human
dimensions of
security. The
main thrust of
his arguments
is against the
nuclear arms race
in the subcontinent
whereby he argues,
nuclear weapons
are neither safe
nor will allow
time to avert
an accidental
nuclear exchange
or a false alarm
in the subcontinent.
I.A.
Rehman, Director
Human Rights Commission
of Pakistan (HRCP)
sheds light on
how people's life,
freedoms and human
rights are adversely
affected in conflict
situations in
South Asia. While
narrating some
of the draconian
measures that
narrow the room
for rule and due
process of law,
the author focuses
on the role played
by nation states
in presenting
interstate and
intrastate conflicts
as if in national
interests at the
cost of their
people, who in
true, become victims
in a double-sense,
i. e., by adopting
the ideology of
their ruling elites
and suffering
at the hands of
hardships and
denial of their
fundamental rights.
Lt.
Gen. (Retd.) Satish
Nambiar emphasises
that India, strategic
interests are
best served by
addressing issues
of security in
all its dimensions.
Without nursing
the Indian ambitions
to become a great
power, he places
security in a
much broader perspective.
Taking note of
the challenges
posed to Indian
security, Mr.
Nambiar argues
for South Asian
solidarity to
meet greater imperatives
of demographic
explosion, water
scarcity and,
of course, globalisation.
Ayesha
Siddiqa, a security
analyst, focuses
on problems of
linearity in Pakistan,
security perspectives
and elaborates
how fixated policymakers
are with their
'India-centric'
monist view. Showing
linkages between
the dominance
of the military
in the state structure
and its corporate
interests, the
author unveils
the mindset that
fails to address
security beyond
the prism of military
security. Ms.
Siddiqa emphasises
how Pakistan's
foreign relations
are determined
by the sole pre-occupation
with a threat
from India that,
in her view, could
have been addressed
differently.
Bharat Karnad,
professor of national
security studies
at the Centre
for Policy Studies
of India, while
deconstructing
India's geo-strategic
notions which
marginalise India's
role as a big
power, argues
against what he
laments as truncated,
de-alerted, de-mated
'deterrence by
half-measures'.
Building security
scenarios to their
maximum, the author
develops a case
for much higher
levels of proliferation
of nuclear weapons
and missile systems
that are commensurate
with the self-image
and prestige of
a big power. While
exposing the weaknesses
of the current
nuclear capability
of India as compared
to China and Pakistan
and the members
of the nuclear
club, he wants
India to match
its nuclear might
with other big
powers, while
keeping Pakistan
out of any strategic
calculus, even
though its current
strategic weapons
capacity is still
wanting in terms
of reaching beyond
its western neighbour.
Dr. Syed Rifaat
Hussain, professor
of international
relations at Quaid-e-Azam
University Islamabad,
while evaluating
the missile race
in the subcontinent,
cautions against
the efforts at
acquiring ballistic
missile capabilities,
especially India's
efforts to get
the national missile
defence that can
neutralise Pakistan's
nuclear deterrence
and encourage
the arms race
to higher levels.
Regardless of
how he defines
the pursuit of
weapons by India
and Pakistan,
the author underlines
the importance
of collective
security and links
it to the resolution
of conflict over
Kashmir.
M.R.
Josse, Consultant
Editor of The
People's Review,
Kathmandu, describes
how a small Himalayan
state of Nepal
has delicately
balanced the conflicting
demands of two
big neighbours,
India and China,
to maintain its
sovereignty and
independence over
centuries. Quite
remarkably, the
efforts by the
ruling dynasties,
he argues, helped
Nepal keep its
independence from
British expansionism
by, of course,
providing the
Gorkha arm to
the colonialists
to suppress the
war of Indian
independence in
1857. Developing
as an art the
'strategy of survival',
the author reveals
how Nepal is maintaining
a precarious balance
to ward off threats
to its sovereignty
from India.
Jehan
Perera, leading
Sri Lankan columnist,
traces the background
and causes behind
the protracted
ethnic conflict
between a majority
Sinhala-Buddhist
state and Tamil-Hindu
separatists from
a moderate, but
essentially Sinhala,
position that
lays emphasis
on integration.
He shows how differences,
among the opposing
Sinhala parties,
on the one hand
, and the radical
separatism of
Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE), coupled
with armed struggle,
on the other,
turn the efforts
at political settlement
into a zero-sum
game. Yet, he
argues, the Sinhalese
will have to concede
the Tamils their
due who should,
in turn, accept
the unity of Sri
Lanka under a
more accommodating
federal structure.
Lt. Gen. (Retd.)
Kamal Matinuddin,
former Vice Chief
of Army Staff,
takes a longer
view of the civil
war in Afghanistan,
especially after
9/11, fall of
the Taliban, the
security challenges
faced by the Karzai
government and
its protector
coalition forces
while bringing
into focus the
resurgence of
Taliban and the
role played by
different regional
actors, Pakistan
and India, in
particular. As
a seasoned military
expert he goes
into the details
of security situation
and provides perspectives
on the future
possibilities.
His main thrust
is on how to stabilise
Afghanistan by
addressing the
forces of potential
anarchy.
C. Rammanohar
Reddy, a journalist
from Southern
India, analyses
in empirical terms
the defence expenditure
in India and Pakistan
which is relatively
higher in terms
of its relation
to GDP percentage
as compared to
other regions.
Comparing the
defence spending
of the two neighbours,
he shows that
Pakistan spends
a relatively higher
percentage of
its GDP on defence
without, however,
taking note of
the implications
of an absolutely
higher military
expenditure by
India on Pakistan.
He makes a strong
case for butter
and schools, rather
than guns and
nuclear weapons.
Dr. Imtiaz Ahmed,
professor at Department
of International
Relations, University
of Dhaka, places
the issue of proliferation
of small arms
in South Asia
in the context
of globalisation,
reverse and subaltern
globalisation,
in particular.
Finding linkages
between narco
trade, money laundering
and terrorism,
on the one hand,
and the resistance
by disempowered,
reproduction of
means of living
for subalterns
and globalisation
from below, on
the other, the
author argues
they unleash a
dynamic that cannot
be handled at
the local level,
nor by traditional
policing. It requires
a response from
the victims of
small arms and
civil-police at
the South Asian
scale, he concludes.
Dr. S. Jayahanthan,
editor of eelamnation.com,
makes a strong
and logical case
about the aspirations
of the Tamil people
without, however,
endorsing separatism.
Critically evaluating
Sinhala-Buddhist
nationalism and
Tamil's efforts
at getting equitable
representation,
he exposes the
exclusionary character
of the dominant
Sinhala-Buddhist
politics that
has resulted in
an unbridgeable
ethnic divide.
Although sympathetic
to the Tamil position,
the author does
not fall to the
level of Tamil
exclusivism in
response to Sinhala
chauvinism and
advocates a democratic
solution to the
conflict.
Jean-Luc Racine,
leading French
scholar, presents
European perceptions
and approaches
towards South
Asia, as distinct
from and, often,
in concurrence
with the U.S.
As the European
Union expands
and takes an increasingly
assertive stand
on various issues,
the author describes
the European response
to various challenges
faced by South
Asia, India and
Pakistan, in particular.
How sensitive
the EU is towards
the Indo-Pak conflict,
nuclear proliferation,
terrorism and
other maladies
is explained at
length by the
author.
Shinichi OGAWA,
senior research
fellow at the
National Institute
for Defense Studies
(NIDS), Japan,
explores the motives
behind the development
of Indian and
Pakistani nuclear
weapons. While
discussing the
impact of the
subcontinental
nuclear arms race
on the East Asian
security environment
and the Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT),
the author presents
possible ways
to constrict the
expansion of nuclear
weapons. Terming
nuclear weapons
'evil', he argues
that efforts should
be made to reduce
the dependence
on them, thereby,
relegating them
to the backstage
of international
politics.
Dr.
Ghulam Nabi Fai,
Executive Director
Kashmiri American
Council, narrates
the historical
background of
the Kashmir issue
in the light of
UN resolutions
and shifting positions
of the parties
involved. Emphasising
a peaceful resolution
of the dispute
by involving all
the three parties
- Kashmiris, India
and Pakistan -
the Kashmiri leader
argues in favour
of accommodation,
flexibility and
outliving rigid
stands while underlying
the importance
of addressing
the aspirations
of the Kashmiri
people.
Prem
Shankar Jha, leading
Indian journalist,
evaluates various
official options
on the Kashmir
question, establishing
how unacceptable
and unpalpable
they have become,
given the rigid
positions of both
India and Pakistan.
Ruling out plebiscite,
the Dixon plan,
three options
and LoC as an
international
border, he weighs
the acceptability
of a condominium,
consisting of
the valley and
a part of Azad
Kashmir and the
Tyrol model, without
hurting the national
egos of India
and Pakistan,
while allowing
Kashmiris full
autonomy, a step
less than independence.
