India Quarterly, Ahead of Print.
Global warming and consequent climate change have emerged as serious issues and have started featuring on almost all multilateral forums with statements warning the global leadership to get increasingly proactive about addressing the issues. In world politics, countries are viewing climate change as an issue to gain influence in international politics. India is no exception to this rule and has been shaping its role as a rule-shaper and policy advocate and is an active participant in climate change negotiations. This article traces India’s role since the talks on climate change began as part of wider environmental concerns. It also enumerates the way global leadership viewed and addressed this pressing issue from time to time. The article provides a brief but critical account of India’s policy interventions at global and national levels to appraise India’s growing role and relevance.
Category Archives: India Quarterly
Implications of India’s Act East Policy on the Food Systems and Cultural Heritage of the Konyak Nagas: A Case Study of Sustainable Subsistence and Capitalistic Rationalisation
India Quarterly, Ahead of Print.
This article examines the potential impact of India’s Act East Policy on the food systems of the Konyak Nagas, an indigenous community in Nagaland. The article studies how the traditional knowledge of the Konyak Nagas about the land, labour and ecology has influenced their food culture. The communal landholdings, shifting cultivation, natural preservation of food items, manual labour in agricultural lands and chemical-free fertilisation process have so far kept the Konyaks self-sufficient in terms of requirement of food, and kept the market forces at bay. Emphasising the significance of food security in the changing global scenario in the post-pandemic period and considering the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, the article explores how Act East Policy’s capitalistic rationalisation of resources may significantly affect their sustainable means of subsistence and appropriate their farms and platters, which are an integral element of the cultural fabric of the community.
This article examines the potential impact of India’s Act East Policy on the food systems of the Konyak Nagas, an indigenous community in Nagaland. The article studies how the traditional knowledge of the Konyak Nagas about the land, labour and ecology has influenced their food culture. The communal landholdings, shifting cultivation, natural preservation of food items, manual labour in agricultural lands and chemical-free fertilisation process have so far kept the Konyaks self-sufficient in terms of requirement of food, and kept the market forces at bay. Emphasising the significance of food security in the changing global scenario in the post-pandemic period and considering the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, the article explores how Act East Policy’s capitalistic rationalisation of resources may significantly affect their sustainable means of subsistence and appropriate their farms and platters, which are an integral element of the cultural fabric of the community.
Climate Change and Regional Cooperation in South-east Asian Countries
India Quarterly, Ahead of Print.
Climate change and environmental degradation are the two most pressing concerns faced by the world today for which regional cooperation is necessary. For regional cooperation, governments at the regional level must work together to coordinate activities, unify regulations and create risk-reduction plans. In South-east Asia, multiple initiatives have been taken for a shared framework for carrying out coordinated policy implementation. However, political and technical barriers have stymied efforts to suit the needs and benefits of partnering states. This article will analyse these problems and approaches in a few chosen South-east Asian nations and examine comprehensive action plans built on cooperative partnerships. It will offer a critical assessment of the environmental and climate-related issues South-east Asia faces and also offer recommendations on how to use policy tools to regulate and solve issues of regional environmental governance. It also looks at ways to counteract institutional and regulatory obstacles to reaching desired outcomes emphasising regulatory frameworks and policy.
Climate change and environmental degradation are the two most pressing concerns faced by the world today for which regional cooperation is necessary. For regional cooperation, governments at the regional level must work together to coordinate activities, unify regulations and create risk-reduction plans. In South-east Asia, multiple initiatives have been taken for a shared framework for carrying out coordinated policy implementation. However, political and technical barriers have stymied efforts to suit the needs and benefits of partnering states. This article will analyse these problems and approaches in a few chosen South-east Asian nations and examine comprehensive action plans built on cooperative partnerships. It will offer a critical assessment of the environmental and climate-related issues South-east Asia faces and also offer recommendations on how to use policy tools to regulate and solve issues of regional environmental governance. It also looks at ways to counteract institutional and regulatory obstacles to reaching desired outcomes emphasising regulatory frameworks and policy.
Book review: Nivedita Ray and Sankalp Gurjar (Eds.), India and Africa Looking Ahead: Contemporary Realities and Emerging Prospects
India Quarterly, Ahead of Print.
Nivedita Ray and Sankalp Gurjar (Eds.), India and Africa Looking Ahead: Contemporary Realities and Emerging Prospects (Macmillan, 2023), 200 pp., ₹1430 (Hardcover), ISBN-10: 9356660255.
Nivedita Ray and Sankalp Gurjar (Eds.), India and Africa Looking Ahead: Contemporary Realities and Emerging Prospects (Macmillan, 2023), 200 pp., ₹1430 (Hardcover), ISBN-10: 9356660255.
The Predicament of Security: Tracing Two Years of Taliban Rule
India Quarterly, Ahead of Print.
The paper is an overall assessment of the security situation in Afghanistan that includes both traditional and non-traditional aspects. The paper highlights the deteriorating internal security that is bolstering Pashtunisation in Afghanistan and causing the forced displacement of non-Pashtuns. The implication of this grim development in India’s neighbourhood has severely impacted the peace and security of the Central Asian Region, Russia, China, Iran, India and Pakistan. The victory of the Taliban has resuscitated myriad terrorist groups who want to establish Islamic Caliphate in neighbouring countries, therefore leading to the gradual Talibanisation of the Asian region. The paper also delves into how the departure of foreign forces has created a power vacuum in Afghanistan that has led to the revival of a New Great Game with the addition of regional actors.
The paper is an overall assessment of the security situation in Afghanistan that includes both traditional and non-traditional aspects. The paper highlights the deteriorating internal security that is bolstering Pashtunisation in Afghanistan and causing the forced displacement of non-Pashtuns. The implication of this grim development in India’s neighbourhood has severely impacted the peace and security of the Central Asian Region, Russia, China, Iran, India and Pakistan. The victory of the Taliban has resuscitated myriad terrorist groups who want to establish Islamic Caliphate in neighbouring countries, therefore leading to the gradual Talibanisation of the Asian region. The paper also delves into how the departure of foreign forces has created a power vacuum in Afghanistan that has led to the revival of a New Great Game with the addition of regional actors.
Book review: Michael O. Slobodchikoff and Aakriti A. Tandon, India as a Kingmaker: Status Quo or Revisionist Power
India Quarterly, Ahead of Print.
Michael O. Slobodchikoff and Aakriti A. Tandon, India as a Kingmaker: Status Quo or Revisionist Power (Ann Abor: University of Michigan Press, 2022), XIV+164 pp. $29.95, ISBN: 978-0-472-05566-1 (Paperback).
Michael O. Slobodchikoff and Aakriti A. Tandon, India as a Kingmaker: Status Quo or Revisionist Power (Ann Abor: University of Michigan Press, 2022), XIV+164 pp. $29.95, ISBN: 978-0-472-05566-1 (Paperback).
Playing Cricket: India’s Soft Power, Nation Branding and Future Prospects
India Quarterly, Ahead of Print.
The growing interdependence among the nations, the advancement of science and technology and the impact of globalisation have made it less useful for nations to rely predominantly on hard power to pursue their foreign policies’ goals. In the contemporary era, nations have shifted their attention to soft power as an alternative policy to maximise gains from other countries. Although the exercise of hard power is still relevant in international relations, soft power has become a less destructive option. For instance, sports has proved its power as a tool of diplomacy at different times. In India, cricket has moved from its status as a mere sport to a powerful instrument of diplomacy. In this article, the authors analyse the value of sports in general and cricket in particular as an instrument of public diplomacy, its capacity for nation branding, and the future prospects of cricket in pursuing India’s foreign policy goals.
The growing interdependence among the nations, the advancement of science and technology and the impact of globalisation have made it less useful for nations to rely predominantly on hard power to pursue their foreign policies’ goals. In the contemporary era, nations have shifted their attention to soft power as an alternative policy to maximise gains from other countries. Although the exercise of hard power is still relevant in international relations, soft power has become a less destructive option. For instance, sports has proved its power as a tool of diplomacy at different times. In India, cricket has moved from its status as a mere sport to a powerful instrument of diplomacy. In this article, the authors analyse the value of sports in general and cricket in particular as an instrument of public diplomacy, its capacity for nation branding, and the future prospects of cricket in pursuing India’s foreign policy goals.
Editorial
India Quarterly, Volume 80, Issue 1, Page 7-8, March 2024.
Book review: Avtar Singh Bhasin, Nehru, Tibet and China
India Quarterly, Volume 80, Issue 1, Page 178-181, March 2024.
Avtar Singh Bhasin, Nehru, Tibet and China. Penguin Random House, 2021, pp. 368, ₹699 (Hardcover), ISBN: 9780670094134.
Avtar Singh Bhasin, Nehru, Tibet and China. Penguin Random House, 2021, pp. 368, ₹699 (Hardcover), ISBN: 9780670094134.
Book review: Hoineilhing Sitlhou (Ed.), Identity and Marginality in North East India, Challenges for Social Science Research
India Quarterly, Volume 80, Issue 1, Page 181-186, March 2024.
Hoineilhing Sitlhou (Ed.), Identity and Marginality in North East India, Challenges for Social Science Research. Orient BlackSwan, 2023, pp. 352, ₹1250 (Paperback), ISBN: 9789354423871.
Hoineilhing Sitlhou (Ed.), Identity and Marginality in North East India, Challenges for Social Science Research. Orient BlackSwan, 2023, pp. 352, ₹1250 (Paperback), ISBN: 9789354423871.