Developments in South Asia in the areas of democracy, political economy and security in the last couple of years are intriguing and raise questions about whether the region is on the road to transformation. The years 2013 and 2014, particularly, have been ‘years of transition’ in South Asia. Almost all South Asia countries have undergone political transitions with cascading effects. These elections are significant for South Asian countries because the region has witnessed political instability for a long period of time. The elections in South Asia generated the hope that the most un-integrated region may become interdependent after coming up of new sets of political heads. These developments in the region have an influence on India’s foreign policy and also mould its domestic politics; and vice-versa. India’s policy towards individual countries also has a decisive impact on the pace of on-going political transitions in a number of spheres: civil-military relations, foreign policy of individual countries, socio-political and economic dynamics and nature of governance. These transitions reflect the nature, behaviour and response of the transitory states towards the others. India, as an important stakeholder in the region is keenly observing these transitions in its neighbourhood. This book titled: Transitions and Interdependence: India and Its Neighbours is the outcome of serious deliberations among well known scholars, diplomats and policy makers at the Fifth Asian Relations Conference organised by the Indian Council of World Affairs in collaboration with the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies in February 2014. Papers presented in the conference have been thoroughly revised before publication and the editors acknowledge with gratitude theses insightful contributions.

Contirbuted articles presented at the 5th Asian Relations Conference, organised by Indian Council of World Affairs in collaboration with Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, held in 2014, at New Delhi.

For India, maintaining friendly relations with its neighbours and projecting its foreign policy interests to the global community has been of primary importance. Over the years, India has reached out not only to its South Asian neighbours but also to countries in East Asia, West Asia, Central Asia, Indian Ocean, Europe, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Oceania. The country has also reinforced its good relations with the US, China, Japan, Russia, the EU and Canada through high-level visits, political interactions, economic engagements and strategic partnerships. The primary objective is to maintain peace and harmony and promote India’s economic and other interests, while, at the same time, playing an increasingly important role in the international order. The book addresses the mix of challenges and opportunities that the country has faced and looks into different facets of political, economic and cultural diplomacy at the bilateral and multilateral levels. This work reflects India’s policy priorities from both the perspectives of a distinguished former diplomat and an erudite scholar.

Challenge and Strategy: Rethinking India's Foreign Policy examines India's foreign policy options in order to ensure that the country retains its space for manoeuvre, to follow an independent foreign policy in the 21st century global scenario.

Takes a prospective look at India's neighbourhood as it may evolve by 2030. The book underlines the challenges that confront Indian policymakers, the opportunities that are likely to emerge, and the manner in which they should frame foreign and security policies for India to maximise the gains and minimise the losses.

Nepal's democracy struggle has been continuing for more than six decades. Since it could not sustain a stable democratic framework even after several attempts in the past, many scholars are stating that Nepal is in permanent transition. Once again, however, it has bagged enormous success in the field of political transformation in 2006 through a highly successful but peacefully organised movement with participation of people from all fields in large numbers. But it could not deconstruct the position of the transition as it has failed to institutionalise the recently gained achievements by making a new constitution even after five years. The only positive thing is that Nepali people, along with various political parties, are still trying hard to resolve vital conflicting issues through dialogue, and come up with a new democratic constitution, though they have already missed three deadlines.

Combining theoretical and empirical insights, this book provides an in-depth analysis of South Asia's transition in the areas of democracy, political economy and security since the end of the Cold War. It provides a close scrutiny to the state of democracy and political economy in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.