South Asia Chat

Two days after the United States elected Joe Biden as their next President and Kamala Harris as the Vice President, uncertainties and anticipation about the current President conceding remains. However, the election outcome was welcomed in South Asia with greater emphasis on the first female Vice President and her Indian ancestry. The region is at the cusp of competition with India and the US on the one hand and China on the other. The recent visit of the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, to South Asia - India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives – has been viewed by many as an 'anti-China roadshow.’ Additionally the Trump administration's promise of pulling out troops from Afghanistan poses security challenges in the region. With all these structural changes underway, what are the likely implications? Prof C Raja Mohan, the Director of ISAS, sheds his insights into Biden’s Presidency and what it means for South Asia.

Last year, the Shiv Sena broke up with its traditional partner, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and entered into an alliance with Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party and a few others to form the government in Maharashtra. Since then it has faced many challenges including the COVID-pandemic and interference from the BJP which is in power at the Centre. The party has also decided to contest 40 seats in the Bihar elections, without entering into any pre-poll partnerships. To share her views on the current state of Maharashtra politics and the Shiv Sena in particular, we spoke to Dr Rajeshwari Deshpande, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Interdisciplinary School (Humanities and Social Sciences), Savitribai Phule Pune University. 

A recent ADB reports points to developing Asia experiencing its first recession in more than six decades, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is expected to have profound influence on Asia-Pacific's geopolitics leading to restructuring of supply chains and realignments in global trade. What must South Asia do to take advantage of these changes and which sectors could be the game-changing strategic industries for the region? To give us more insights into these developments, Dr Amitendu Palit, Senior Research Fellow and Research Lead (Trade and Economics) spoke to Dr Sanjay Kathuria, Retired Lead Economist and Coordinator for regional integration of South Asia, World Bank and Senior Visiting Fellow, Center for Policy Research.

The recent political protests and rallies by a united opposition seem to be part of a campaign to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan. Interestingly, the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif-led PML (N) also chose to take on the all-powerful Army, criticising the hybrid model of governance where the Army leads the Imran Khan government from behind. Also, the government has announced elections in the disputed Gigit-Baltistan province on 15 November 2020. To gain more insights into these developments, we spoke to Dr Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, Associate Professor of Political Economy at the National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University. He also shared his views on the Afghanistan peace process and the forthcoming US Presidential elections. 

The current India-China rivalry has revealed the fault lines in South Asia. The increasing Chinese interests in the region, be it elections in Sri Lanka or involvement with Nepalese communist parties, has resulted in a complex dynamics between New Delhi and Beijing. How do South Asian countries navigate between China, which has risen to be a great power and India, that is at the heart of the subcontinent? In this backdrop, Professor C Raja Mohan spoke to Ambassador Shivshankar Menon about the geopolitics of South Asia. Ambassador Menon is currently a Professor at the Ashoka University in India, the Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Institute of Chinese Studies in New Delhi, and a Distinguished Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Washington. He served as national security advisor to the Prime Minister of India from January 2010 to May 2014 and as Foreign Secretary of India from October 2006 to August 2009. A career diplomat, he was Ambassador or High Commissioner of India to Israel, Sri Lanka, China, and Pakistan.

Soon after the first American Presidential debate for 2020 concluded on September 29, President Donald Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19. While there is uncertainity over the next two debates set for 12 and 22 October, one thing is certain - whoever wins, there will be implications for India. With growing understanding between New Delhi and Washington, the Indian diaspora too has gained prominence. What role will the significant population of Indian Americans play and would the nomination of Kamala Harris as the Vice-presidential candidate of the Democrats make a difference in the way they vote? We discussed these factors with Dr Sanjoy Chakravorty, Professor of Geography and Urban Studies and Global Studies at Temple University and Visiting Fellow at the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania.

Many studies estimate that by 2035, 5G technologies will enable $12.3 trillion of global economic output and support 22 million jobs. Therefore, the race to develop these technologies has begun. But where does India stand with respect to 5G? To discuss this and the challenges that India faces, the country’s position on working with Chinese telecom companies such as Huawei and ZTE as well as the economic gains from adopting these technologies, Dr Karthik Nachiappan spoke to Manoj Kewalramani, Fellow - China Studies at the Takshashila Institution. His research focuses on Chinese politics, foreign policy and approaches to new technologies.

The recent Sri Lankan Parliamentary elections led to the resounding victory for the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), strengthening the hold of the Rajapaksa family. Since coming to power last year, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has pushed for many changes with regard to the constitution and foreign policy. To explain the implications of this win, we spoke to Mr Waruna Karunatilake, a senior journalist and political analyst. He shared his views on various issues related to the country's economy, balancing relations with both India and China, as well as the proposed constitutional amendments that grants greater power to the president.

The nomination of Kamala Harris as the Vice Presidential candidate of the Democratic Party and her part-Indian identity has put the South Asian diaspora’s role and contributions in the forthcoming American elections under spotlight. The growing cultural ties between the United States and India became prominent after the bonhomie between PM Modi and President Trump reflected in the 'Howdy Modi' and 'Namaste Trump' events. So would this have an impact on voting, given the fact that Indians have traditional supported Democrats. We spoke to Dr Sangay Mishra to understand the role of the diaspora, polarisation within the South Asian community and concerns over H1B work visas among other larger issues. Dr Mishra is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Drew University. He is the author of Desis Divided: The Political Lives of South Asian Americans and comments frequently on South Asians in the US as well as South Asian politics and policy.

Germany’s Indo-Pacific strategy unambiguously promises greater responsibility and engagement in Asia, including intensified military cooperation and deployments, defence diplomacy and participation in regional multilateralism particularly ASEAN-led forums. The shift in Germany’s strategy is expected to strengthen the EU’s role in the Indo-Pacific as more countries in the region come out in support. To discuss the internal factors that led to the change, new areas of cooperation with India and the role of China, we spoke to Dr Garima Mohan, a fellow in the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund (GMF) of the United States where she leads the work on India and heads the India Trilateral Forum. Prior to joining GMF, she was the acting team leader and coordinator for the EU’s Asia-Pacific Research and Advice Network (APRAN), which supports EU policymakers on issues concerning the Asia-Pacific. She also led the Global Orders program at the Global Public Policy Institute in Berlin. Garima holds a PhD from the Freie Universität Berlin and received her master’s degree from the London School of Economics.