South Asia: Traditional and Non-Traditional Security Threats

Contents: I . Traditional Security Threats: 1. South Asia: A Unique Region and Modi's Diplomatic Priority/Diwakar Kaushik. 2. Sino-Indian Political, Economic and Strategic Interest in Asia/V.K. Narula. 3. India-Russia: Problems and Opportunities/Shekhar Adhikari. 4. China-Pakistan Strategic nexus: Challenges for India/Shalini Chawla. 5. Strategic Dimension of Pakistan, China and Myanmar's Relations/Biswajit Bose. 6. The Future of Regional Security in South Asia/Rajpal Budania. 7. Nepal's Recent Experiment with Democracy/Rohit Kumar and Saurabh Sharma. 8. Factoring Tibet Issue in India's National Security/Tseyang Lhamo. 9. India and Sri Lanka: A Relationship Bound by Strategic Proximity but Separated by Tactical Issues/Utham Kumar Jamadhagni and Ramakrishnan Ramani. 10. Maritime Security Challenges in South Asia and its Impact on India's Security/Sanjay Kumar. 11. Security Challenges in Indian Ocean Region; Maldives- A Strategic Pivot/Narendra Kumar. 12. India's Nuclear Programme/Atul Mishra. 13. India's Borders and Cross-border Issues: problems and Prospects/Shreesh K. Pathak. 14. Jammu and Kashmir: A View Point/Jaibans Singh. 15. Significance of Warfare: A Historical Evolution from Early Period to the Present/P.S. Harish. II. Non-Traditional Security Threats. 16. China's Water Diversion Projects: Analysis and Impact/R.N. Singh. 17. Evolving a Theoretical Perspective on Human Security and Development/Raj Kumar Upadhyaya. 18. Environmental Security Challenges to India/Dhirendra Dwivedi. 19. Natural Disasters in India/Jaspal Singh. 20. Population Growth and Population Policy of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh/Amar Singh. 21. Food Security and India's Security Challenges/Shivendra Shahi.

South Asia presents a picture of marked contrast in all fields-politically, economically, and military. Politically, the entire South-Asia region, with the exception of India, has witnessed convulsive politics in the last fifty years. Democratic political institutions if they had been allowed to mature could have contributed to building up of regional trust and confidence. Unfortunately, democracy has been an exception amongst South-Asian states rather than the rule. South Asia, in terms of economic development and regional economic cooperation, offers very attractive prospects due to the richness of natural and energy resources within the region and the potential for cheap hydroelectric power. Military, South Asia is a conflict prone region where the two largest countries fought four wars. This conflictual environment has largely affected the financial resources which could have gone for economic and social development. New military dangers grew in 1998 with the nuclear weaponizations of South Asia. Thus, the possibility of future conflict has become a cause of great concern which affects not only regional actors but also international actors.