Saturday, 26 th June 3
Professor T.V.Paul (Director of the McGill University Université de Montreal Centre for International Peace and Security Studies (CIPSS) State Capacity and South Asia s Insecurity Predicament Commodore (RTD) C. Udhay Bhaskar Director of National Maritime Foundation, New Delhi) India in Regional and Global Geo-politics. 13.45-14.30 discussion ------- 14.30 15.00 Tea and coffee break ---------- 15.00 17.00 Panel III: Extra-regional influences and implications Chair: Professor Udhay Bhaskar (presentations 15.00-16.00) Professor Han Hua, (School of International Studies, Peking University) Evolution of Sino-Indian relations and implications for South Asia security Dr. Harsh Pant (Kings College, University of London) India and the USA Dr. Jivanta Schoettli & Dr. Siegfried O. Wolf (Department of Political Science, South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg) India, Pakistan and Afghanistan 16.00-17.30 Plenary Chairs: Professor Bogusław Zaleski / Professor Subrata Mitra 4
List of Participants Professor Bogusław Zaleski, Centre for Contemporary India Research and Studies, IIR, University of Warsaw (former Deputy Foreign Minister of Republic of Poland) Professor Subrata Mitra, head of Department of Political Science, South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University Professor T.V.Paul (Director of the McGill University Université de Montreal Centre for International Peace and Security Studies (CIPSS) Commodore (RTD) C. Udhay Bhaskar (Director of National Maritime Foundation, New Delhi) Professor Han Hua, (School of International Studies, Peking University) Dr. Harsh Pant (Kings College, University of London) Dr. Jakub Zajaczkowski, chairperson of the Centre for Contemporary India Research and Studies, Institute of International Relations, University of Warsaw Dr. Justyna Nakonieczna (University of Warsaw, Institute of Intrenational Relations, the Head of Graduate Master Programme in International Relations, CCIRS) Dr. Siegfried O. Wolf (Department of Political Science, South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg) Aneta Haliżak (University of Warsaw, Institute of Intrenational Relations, Centre for Contemporary India Reserach and Studies) Dr. Jivanta Schoettli (Department of Political Science, South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg) 5
Abstracts India emerging power: implications for South Asia : In the last decade under different political dispensation India has steered its foreign policies in the management of its relations with the word s major power in an effective manner. India is unique today in that it enjoys strategic partnership with the two leading powers, namely the USA and Russia. The same in the case with its relationships with the EU countries, China and Japan. It is a measure of India s forward movement away from much hallowed but politically irrelevant Nehruvian policies of non-alignment that the major powers today feel comfortable and are encouradged to establish strategic partnership with India. The same cannot be said of India s foreign policies closer home in South Asia. Not that Indian diplomacy lacked vision or competence in formulating or crafting effective policies for the region, but that combination of external intrusive powers pressure on India and domestic political pressures of Indian politics have stymied India s foreign policies toward the countries of South Asia. State Capacity and South Asia s Insecurity Predicament : South Asia, which consists of eight states of different sizes and capabilities, is characterized by high levels of insecurity at interstate, intra-state, and human dimensions. Although most of them emerged as independent nations in the 1940s, the states in the region have not yet been able to settle their conflicts internal and external. The region has also not developed adequate institutional mechanisms and normative frameworks for solving its myriad of security challenges collectively. What explains this chronic insecurity of South Asia? I argue that South Asia s multifaceted insecurity can be explained largely due to two critical variables: the presence of weak states and weak cooperative interstate norms. State capacity acts both as an independent and an intervening variable in causing regional insecurity, while weak cooperative norms are largely intervening variables. What can be done to bring about greater regional security and cooperation? India and the USA : The US-India civilian nuclear energy cooperation has re-defined the nature of this bilateral relationship. India s ties with the US have been steadily strengthening since the end of the Cold War, with their interests converging on a range of issues. But the nuclear non-proliferation regime denying civilian nuclear technology to India, with its larger restrictive implications across the entire high technology spectrum, was a fundamental irritant in this relationship. The nuclear deal removed that irritant and transformed Indo-US partnership. The United States under President Obama remains committed to continuing President Bush's policy of aiding the rise of Indian power has 6
acknowledged that India is a responsible power that will increasingly become central to global governance. The Obama administration gave notice that it intended to contest those who were skeptical about the administration's intentions towards India. However, neither the US nor India are used to partnerships among equals and India remains too proud, too argumentative and too big a nation to reconcile as a junior partner to any state, including the US. How the two democracies adjust to this reality will shape the future of their relationship. South Asia in International Relations: Cultural dimension A notion of cultural security is inextricably connected with the issue of protection of cultural property. For the last few decades, both a growing awareness of necessity for preventing destruction, thefts or smuggling of cultural objects and calls for redress for cultural losses caused by conflicts and colonialism have been noticeable in an international discourse. It resulted in significant developments of international and domestic laws aimed at protecting cultural property and it also influenced museums practice. The evolution of contemporary approach towards handling cultural property, in particular affects countries with significant heritage resources and colonial past. It makes a challenge for states like India to adopt strategies for protection of cultural property within a nexus of internal and external relations. Thus, it is worth considering the peculiarity and effectiveness of protection of Indian cultural heritage and to give thought to legal grounds for the return of art treasures from the UK to India. To depict the complexity of the issue, the discussion will be illustrated with cases of successful retrieval of stolen sacred objects, as well as pending post-colonial claims recently addressed by the Indian government to the leading museums in the UK. South Asia in International Relations: Social dimension The aim of the paper is to study the position of South Asia in international relations from the social dimension. The stated hypothesis is that South Asia is not only a passive receiver of solutions and projects how to improve social conditions, but we can find the concepts and projects that were created locally in the region, and then even spread over the world. Therefore, South Asia has a chance to be recognized as the region actively and creatively involved in finding solutions for problems aimed to be solved in the Millennium Development Goals. New Indian Foreign and Security Policy : The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union altered the balance of power in international relations. For India, the end of the Cold War meant a new strategic situation. In these new circumstances, New Delhi, just as other states of the region, redefined its interests and began searching for suitable strategies and ways to implement them. India, however, did not intend to stop defending its interests in disputes with neighbours, did not give up on creating a security zone in South Asia, or 7
playing the role of a regional and future global power. But India would like to achieve by methods in Indian foreign policy. 8
at City University London (with merits), with the MA thesis concerning strategies of museums collections management adopted by British museums handling foreign restitution claims. She was an apprentice with the National Museum in Warsaw and she had a work placement with the Unit of Cultural Property Management in the British Library London. Currently she is a doctoral researcher at the Institute of International Relations, University of Warsaw. PhD thesis explores legal, social and commercial aspects of international art market. She acts as a lecturer in the issues of protection of cultural property in international law at the Institute of International Relations and abroad. Her research interests concern the issues of the international art trade, art law, protection of cultural property in international law, the impact of restitution claims on the practice of museums and galleries, ethics in museums. Justyna Nakonieczna is Head of Graduate M.A. Program in International Relations Graduate of University of Warsaw. The PhD dissertation The social responsibility of multinational enterprises (2006). Assistant professor at the Institute of International Relations, University of Warsaw, Poland. Areas of expertise and research work: International political economy, social aspects of globalisation, antiglobalisation and alteglobalisation, social responsibility of transnational enterprises, transnational social movements, poverty issues, development issues, international migration issues, international organisations, regional economic cooperation, regionalism and inter-regionalism. Harsh V. Pant teaches at King s College London in the Department of Defence Studies. He is also an Associate with the King s Centre for Science and Security Studies and an Affiliate with the King s India Institute. His current research is focused on Asia-Pacific security and defence issues. His most recent books include Contemporary Debates in Indian Foreign and Security Policy (Palgrave Macmillan) and Indian Foreign Policy in a Unipolar World (Routledge). T.V. Paul is James McGill Professor of International Relations in the Department of Political Science at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, where he has been teaching since 1991. Paul specializes and teaches courses in international relations, especially international security, international conflic 9
Asia s Weak States: Understanding the Regional Insecurity Predicament (Stanford University Press, forthcoming, 2010); Complex Deterrence: Strategy In the Global Era (with Patrick M. Morgan and James J. Wirtz, University of Chicago Press, 2009); The India-Pakistan Conflict: An Enduring Rivalry (Cambridge University Press, 2005); Balance of Power: Theory and 10