Contemporary World Politics

Chapter 4
Contemporary South Asia

The emergence of independent nations in Asia and Africa was an important

feature of the post-World War II period. India’s struggle for independence had
become a source of inspiration for all the enslaved countries of Asia. The South
Asia includes the following states –
Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and
Afghanistan.
 It also includes mighty Himalayas in the north and the vast Indian Ocean,
the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal in the south, west and east
respectively.
 South Asia stands for diversity in every sense and yet constitutes one
geopolitical space.
 There is considerable scope of mutual cooperation in the region. The first
South Asian Summit was held in 1985 at Dhaka and it was there that the
SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) formally
came into existence.
 In 1983, the foreign ministers of seven South Asian countries held a
meeting in New Delhi. At this meeting a coordinated program was
formulated for these countries. Afghanistan became a member of SAARC
in 2007. China is a formidable power but is not a part of this region.

Various political systems in South Asia –

In terms of civil liberties available to the people of South Asian countries, the
track record of most of these countries is highly disappointing –
 Only Sri Lanka and India have been able to operate democracy
successfully since their independence while Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Nepal, Maldives etc. have seen ups and downs in democratic stability.
 Pakistan began the post-cold war period with successive democratic
governments under Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif respectively. But
suffered a military coup in 1999 and has been run by military regime.
 Till 2006, Nepal was a constitutional monarchy since July 2008 and it
has PM with council of ministers with the government and it has
become a multi-party system.
 The Maldives and the other island nation was a Sultanate till 1968 when
it was transformed into a republic with a Presidential form of
government. In June 2005, the Parliament of the Maldives voted
unanimously to introduce a multi-party system. The Maldivian
Democratic party (MDP) dominates the political affairs of the island.

Why people in South Asia prefer democracy?

 The demand for democracy has gained momentum in the region in recent
years.
 People in all these countries share the aspirations for democracy and there
is widespread support for democracy in all these countries.
 All the people belonging to different status and religions, view the idea of
democracy positively and support the institutions of representative
democracy.
 They prefer democracy over any other form of government and think that
democracy is suitable for the country.

THE MILITARY AND DEMOCRACY IN PAKISTAN

Pakistan emerged as an Islamic nation in 1947, following the partition of
India. The founder of Pakistan, Mr. Jinnah wanted the country to be governed
along Western political concepts but he did not survive for long.
 After framing of its first constitution, General Ayub Khan got himself
elected in 1958 and ruled the country for nearly 11 years.
 Due to mass dissatisfaction he had to leave office and it led to military
takeover of Pakistan under General Yahya Khan.
 During his period in 1971 war broke out with India over the issue of
East Pakistan leading to the creation of Bangladesh.
 From 1971–77 elected government under Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto came to
power.
 The Bhutto government was removed by General Zia-Ul-Haq in 1977.
 General Zia promised to hold elections and transfer the power to a
civilian government.
 General Zia faced a pro-democracy movement from 1982 but he died
in a plane crash and an elected government was established in 1988
under the leadership of Benazir Bhutto who was the leader of People’s
Party of Pakistan (PPP).
 After that there was competitive democracy in Pakistan between
Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Muslim league till 1999.
 In 1999 there was a military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf with
the overthrow of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
 In 2001 Musharraf got himself elected as President.
 In December 2007 Benazir Bhutto was assassinated by suicide bomber
of Al-Qaida.
 Her brutal murder in December 2007 has once again delayed the
election scheduled for January 2008 leading to the preponderance of
military regime under Musharraf once again.
 Bhutto’s husband Asif Ali Zardari has been elected as the President and
Musharraf has been forced to resign.
 Since 2008, democratically elected leaders have been ruling Pakistan.
Factors responsible for building a stable democracy in Pakistan –

 The social dominance of the military, clergy and landowning aristocracy

has led to the frequent overthrow of elected governments, and the
establishment of military government.
 Pakistan’s conflict with India has made the pro-military groups more
powerful who advocate that political parties and democracy in Pakistan are
flawed and is ruled by selfish minded people and chaotic democracy.
 The lack of genuine international support for democratic rule in Pakistan
has further encouraged the military to continue its dominance.
 The US and other Western nations supported military dictatorship in
Pakistan because –
1. They believe that the threat of ‘global islamic terrorism’ can be
countered by stabilising military rule in Pakistan.
2. They also believe Military rule to be the preserver of Western
interest in South Asia and West Asia.
While democracy has not been fully successful in Pakistan, there has been a
strong pro-democracy sentiment in the country. Pakistan has courageous and
relatively free press and strong human rights movement.
Present PM of Pakistan – Imran Khan
Present President of Pakistan – Arif Alvi

DEMOCRACY IN BANGLADESH
When India was partitioned in 1947, East Bengal and parts of Assam had joined
Pakistan. This area known as East Pakistan with Pakistan till 1971. The people of
this region resented the domination of Western Pakistan and the imposition of
Urdu language.
 After the Independence they started demanding proper treatment to
Bengali language and culture and adequate representation in political
power.
 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman led the popular struggle against Western Pakistani
domination.
 In 1970 elections, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Awami League won all seats
in East Pakistan and secured a majority in the proposed Constituent
assembly for the whole Pakistan.
 However, the West Pakistani leadership did not convene the assembly and
arrested Sheikh Mujibur and put him behind bars.
 The military regime of Yahya Khan suppressed the mass movement of the
Bengali people which led to large-scale migration of refugees to India.
 India supported the movement for creation of a separate state militarily and
financially which led to an open war between India and Pakistan in 1971.
 The war resulted in the defeat of Pakistan and creation of Bangladesh.
 The Constitution of Bangladesh affirmed its faith in democracy, socialism
and secularism.
  It adopted a Presidential system of government in 1975. Sheikh Mujibur
abolished all other parties except his Awami League which led to tensions
and conflicts.
 Sheikh Mujibur was assassinated in a military uprising in August 1975.
 The new military ruler Zia-Ur-Rehman formed his own Bangladesh
National Party and won elections in 1979.
 He was assassinated and another military coup was led by Lt. Gen. H.M.
Irshad in 1979.
 It led to widespread protests in favour of democracy in Bangladesh.
 Pro-democracy movements forced him to give up power in 1991. Since
then representative democracy based on multi-party elections has been
working in Bangladesh.
 In 2007 due to political instability, widespread corruption and growing
strife between Bangladesh National Party and Awami League it led to
imposition of emergency.
 In 2009, interim government had elections in which Sheikh Hasina of
Awami league had won landslide majority and became Premier making the
return of democracy in Bangladesh.

NEPAL: MONARCHY AND DEMOCRACY

Nepal had been till recently the only Hindu kingdom in the world but in 2006 it
declared itself to be a secular state. Its political power kept on flip-flopping
between absolute and constitutional monarchy. For long, the king had with the
help of army retained absolute control and limited expansion of democracy.
 In 1990 the King accepted the demand for a new democratic constitution
in response to pro-democratic movements.
 In 1990s the Maoist rebels led an armed aggression against the monarch
and ruling regimes.
 In 2002, the king dismissed the elected government and implemented
absolute Monarchy.
 In 2006 there were massive countrywide pre-democracy protests which led
to the first major victory when the king was forced to restore the House of
Representatives that had been dissolved in April 2002.
 This was led by the Seven Party Alliance (SPA), the Maoists, and social
activists.
 The Maoists rebels have joined the interim government led by GP Koirala
and in 2007 Nepal shifted to democracy.
 In 2008, elections were held in Nepal in which even the Maoists took part.
 The Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal or Prachanda became the new PM
of Nepal in 2016. Since 2018 KP Sharma Oli is the Prime Minister and
Bidhya Devi Bhandari is the President of Nepal. Monarchy has been
abolished in Nepal and the Narainhiti Palace has been converted into a
museum.
ETHNIC CONFLICT AND DEMOCRACY IN SRI LANKA –

Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948. It has retained democracy since

independence but it has faced serious strife based on ethnicity even leading to
secessionist movement.
 After independence Sri Lanka’s political regime was dominated by the
majority Sinhalese community.
 The Sinhalas were hostile to Tamils who had migrated to Sri Lanka and
were denied political, civil, social and economic rights.
 This neglect of Tamil took the form of militant organisation called
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1983.
 1983 onwards LTTE has been fighting an armed conflict including aerial
attacks in 2007 for separate ‘Tamil Eelam’ or Tamil country in the north
eastern part of Sri Lanka.
 Since the Tamils are of Indian origin, there is a considerable pressure on
the Indian government to help these Tamils.
 In 1987 an Accord was signed between India and Sri Lanka by which
Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF) were sent to Sri Lanka to improve
relations between Tamils and Sri Lankans.
 Sri Lankans regarded this as an interference in their country and IPKF was
withdrawn in 1989.
 In the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009 Sri Lankan Army launched major
offence against LTTE reducing it to a few square kilometres and LTTE has
been disbanded.
 Inspite of ethnic strife, Sri Lanka has attained economic growth and high
levels of human development.
 It has controlled its growth rate, is the first country in the region to
liberalise its economy and achieved a high Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

India And Its Neighbours

India and Pakistan – The two countries have a common history and cultural
heritage, yet the Pakistan government has usually been hostile to us. The story of
both the countries is vast and overlaid with prejudices and emotions.

Kashmir dispute - After the partition the two countries got embroiled over the
fate of Kashmir. Wars between India and Pakistan in 1947–48 and 1965 failed to
settle the matter. The 1947–48 war resulted in division of the province into
Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and the Indian provinces of Jammu and
Kashmir divided by LOC.
Bangladesh Issue – In 1971 there was a war between India and Pakistan over the
question of liberation of Bangladesh (Former East Pakistan). In 1971 the war
continued for about two weeks and then Pakistan’s Army General surrendered
unconditionally to India and the Bangladesh liberation forces. The Shimla
Agreement helped in the normalisation of relations between the two countries.
Conflict over Siachen Glacier – Conflict over the Siachen Glacier also led to a
costly war between the two countries. Pakistan sent troops in large numbers with
a view to strengthening its hold over the glacier. India retaliated because Pakistan
acted against us. In 2005 our PM visited this area and declared it to be a zone of
peace.
Arms Race - Arms race between the two countries assumed a new character with
both states acquiring nuclear weapons and missiles to deliver such arms against
each other in the 1990s. In 1998, India conducted nuclear explosion in Pokhran
and Pakistan responded by carrying nuclear test in Chagai Hills.
Sharing River Water Dispute – India and Pakistan also had problems over
sharing the river waters. Until 1960, they were locked in a fierce argument over
the use of the rivers of the Indus basin.
Prime Minister Vajpayee tried to improve bilateral relations with Pakistan by
undertaking the Bus Yatra to Lahore and signing the Lahore declaration. But what
India received in return was the Kargil intrusion an undeclared war between India
and Pakistan.
Other Issues – Its spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is alleged to be
involved in various anti-India campaigns in India’s north-east operating secretly
through Bangladesh and Nepal. The two countries are not in agreement over the
demarcation line in Sir Creek in the Runn of Kutch.

Areas of Agreement –
1. Both the countries have agreed to start a bus Service between Amritsar and
Lahore and to religious places such as Nankana Sahib.
2. The SAARC nations including Pakistan, signed the South Asian Free
Trade Agreement (SAFTA).
3. In September 2006, the two countries reached agreement on instituting a
joint anti-terror mechanism and resume the comprehensive dialogue.

India and Bangladesh –

The era of cordial relations between India and Bangladesh weakened after Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman’s murder in 1975. There have been disagreements and disputes
between the two countries on number of issues.
Issues of conflicts:
Bangladesh had differences over several issues including the sharing of the
Ganga and Brahmaputra river waters. India had been urging Bangladesh for
cooperation in harnessing the Brahmaputra so as to control its flood potential.
 Indian government is unhappy with Bangladesh’s denial of illegal
immigration to India. This problem is related not only to land and
employment in the states of Assam, Tripura and West Bengal, it poses a
threat to India’s security as well.
 Bangladesh’s support for anti-Indian Islamic fundamentalist groups.
  Bangladesh’s refusal to allow Indian troops to move through its territory
to north-eastern India.
 Its decision not to export natural gas to India or allow Myanmar to do so
through Bangladeshi territory.
 Bangladesh is increasingly being used as a transit point by drug dealers and
the drug mafia, which dispatches heroine and opium from Burma, and
other countries of the Golden triangle, to different destinations.
An era of cordiality
 Economic relations have improved considerably in the last 10 years.
 In 1972 both states signed a friendship pact and an agreement on trade.
 Bangladesh is part of India’s look East policy that want to link up with
south-east Asia via Myanmar.
 On disaster management and environmental issues, both the countries have
cooperated regularly.
 Efforts are on to broaden the areas of cooperation further by identifying
common threats and being more sensitive to each other’s needs.

India and Nepal –

India and Nepal share an extremely intimate relationship. Both the countries share
a common culture and signed a Treaty of peace and friendship in 1950.
Era of conflict –
 Indian government has often expressed displeasure at the warm
relationship between Nepal and China.
 Leaders and citizens of Nepal feel that Indian government interferes in its
internal affairs, has designs on its river waters and hydroelectricity and
prevents Nepal, a landlocked country, from getting easier access to sea
through Indian territory.
 Despite differences in trade, scientific cooperation, common natural
resources, electricity generation and interlocking water management grids
for the two countries together.
 There is a hope that the consolidation of democracy in Nepal will lead to
improvements in the ties between the two countries.

India and Sri Lanka –

 The relations between India and Sri Lanka are centuries old. Both the
countries have shared a common history of colonial exploitation. Both the
states were part of the non-aligned movement and agreed on working
towards cordiality, co-existence, cooperation, decolonisation, and
disarmament.
 The governments of India and Sri Lanka have difficulties mostly over
ethnic conflict in the island nation.
 Indian leaders and citizens find it impossible to remain neutral when
Tamils are politically unhappy and are being killed.
  After the military intervention in 1987 the Indian government now prefers
a policy of this disengagement vis-à-vis Sri Lanka’s internal troubles.
 Signed a free trade agreement with Sri Lanka which strengthened relations
between the two countries.
 India’s help in post-tsunami reconstruction in Sri Lanka has also brought
the two countries closer.
 A memorandum of understanding on Cooperation in Small Development
Projects has been signed.

India and Bhutan –

 India enjoys a very special relationship with Bhutan.
 The efforts made by the Bhutanese monarch to weed out the guerrillas and
militants from north-eastern India that operate in his country have been
helpful to India.
 India is involved in many hydro-electric projects of Bhutan and is principal
provider of developmental aids to Bhutan.
 There is the free movement of goods and persons between the two
countries.

India and Maldives –

 India shares cordial relations with Maldives.
 In 1988 when some Tamil militants from Sri Lanka attacked Maldives, the
Indian Air Force came along and protected Maldives from the invasion.
 In November 1988 speed boats carrying 80 armed militants of the People’s
Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam landed in Maldives and along with
allies who had infiltrated the country, began taking over the government.
The plot planned in Sri Lanka by the Tamil nationalist group what is
believed to be an attempt by a Maldivian businessman and politician
opposed to the region of the President of Maldives to gain control and
sought a safe heaven and base for his activities.
 India has contributed to island’s prosperity, tourism, fishing and
development.

PEACE AND COOPERATION IN SOUTH ASIA –

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) formed in 1985 is
a major regional intiative by the South Asian states to evolve cooperation through
multilateral means.
Objectives of SAARC –
1. Promote the welfare of the people of South Asia and improve their quality
of life.
2. Accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in
the region by providing all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity
and realise their full potential.
 3. Promote and strengthen collective self-reliance among the countries of
South Asia.
4. Contribute to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another’s
problems.
5. Promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in the economic,
social, cultural, technical and scientific fields.
6. Strengthen cooperation with other developing countries.
7. Strengthen cooperation among themselves in international forums on
matters of common interest.
8. Cooperate with international and regional organisations with similar aims
and purposes.
 SAARC members signed the South Asian Free Trade Agreement which
promised the formation of free trade zone for the whole of South Asia.
 New chapter of peace and cooperation might evolve in South Asia if all
countries in the region allow free trade across the borders.
 Agreement was signed in 2004 and came into effect on 1 January 2006.
 SAFTA aims at: lowering trade tariffs by 20% in 2007.
 But some of our neighbours fear that SAFTA is away for India to invade
their markets and to influence their societies and politics through
commercial ventures and commercial presence in the countries.
 Analysts in India feel that SAFTA is useless since India already has
bilateral pacts with Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan.
 Although India and Pakistan have been at loggerheads they have
undertaken a series of Confidence Building Measures CBMs to reduce the
risk of war.
 People to people contacts have also been launched to reduce tension
between the two states.
 Opening of bus routes, rail routes, easing of visa restrictions and increased
trade between two parts of Punjab and Summit level meetings have been
certain positive developments towards peace and cooperation in South
Asia.

Suggestions to make SAARC effective –

1. The work on creating a South Asian free trade agreement should begin in
earnest soon.
2. The FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry)
called for the liberalisation of visas for doctors, lawyers, engineers,
teachers etc.
3. Long term multipurpose visas should be granted to traders and tourists.