As an inheritor of venerable civilizations, South Asia has seen fluid political, economic, and cultural interaction in recent historical memory. Unfortunately, today, it is the least integrated of the world’s contiguous land masses, racked by interminable hostilities, poverty, religious extremism, low levels of people-to-people contact, and the threat of nuclear conflict. Even as these old challenges continue to simmer, new challenges in the form of climate change, the new economy, new entrants in South Asia and the new world order are fast emerging.
The Centre for a New South Asia seeks to mitigate the challenges of this region of great potential and immense risk by reviving that liberal and free exchange which formerly existed, and which is the foundation of peace and civilizational growth.. CNSA utilizes interdisciplinary research, debate, dialogue, performances, and ideas to advance this goal.
Mission
Prof. Mohsin Raza Khan
Executive director New South Asia at JSIA
Mr. Khan possesses a master’s in international economics and international relations from the School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University, with a specialization in South Asia. He also has an MA in Global Political Economy from the University of Hull where he was a British Chevening Scholar. His undergraduate degree is in economics from the University of Delhi.
Prof. Khan is a Financial Risk Manager (FRM) certified by the Global association of Risk Professionals (GARP) New York. He has worked as a banker for several years in Dubai, both in corporate lending and risk management. He was also Senior Fellow: Foreign Policy, Economics and Finance at the India Research Group in Washington DC. His interests range over issues of Development, Foreign Policy and Economics. He has in the past written dissertations and papers on India’s manufacturing and Exports, Malaysian Capital Controls during the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997-98, on the Historical Rise of the West Vis-à-vis The Rest and on the Theory and Conduct of War in Islamic History. His particular areas of interest are historical global development trajectories, ethnic conflict, the influence of economic interests on foreign policy, the history of great power politics and conflicts during the 20th century and the gamut of India Pakistan issues – economic, cultural and political.
He believes classes should provide the minutiae of theory and concepts as well as historical depth and draw together the various disciplines in order to sketch the larger picture. Prof Khan is also interested in issues of judicial, legal and police reform for he believes these are core issues of not only human rights but also of economic development. He also has an avid interest in script writing.
Prof. Tridivesh Singh Maini
Senior Fellow
Tridivesh Singh Maini is Assistant Professor at The Jindal School of International Affairs, OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana. He is a former SAV Visiting Fellow (Winter 2016) with the Stimson Centre, Washington DC. Mr Maini was also a Public Policy Scholar with The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy, Chennai (November 2013-March 2014). He was also an Asia Society India-Pakistan Regional Young Leaders Initiative (IPRYLI) Fellow (2013-2014)
His research interests include — India’s ties with its extended neighbourhood (with a focus on Gulf and Iran), Geo-economics in South Asia and the role of India’s states in economic diplomacy. Maini is a regular contributor for a number of publications including — The Geopolitics, The Rise, Loopmedia and South Asia Monitor.
He has authored ‘South Asian Cooperation and the Role of the Punjabs’ (2007). Maini is also one of the editors of ‘Warriors after War: Indian and Pakistani Retired Military Leaders Reflect on Relations between the Two Countries, Past Present and Future’, published by Peter Lang (2011). He has co-authored, Humanity Amidst Insanity: Stories of Compassion and Hope during the Indo-Pak Partition (2022 ) with Tahir Malik and Ali Farooq Malik (a new edition of ‘Humanity Amidst Insanity: Hope during and after the Indo-Pak partition’ published in 2008).
Aarogya Mohan Kaphle
Centre Coordinator
Mr. Aarogya Mohan Kaphle is a young, inquisitive, and highly result oriented student who is pursuing B.A. (Hons.) Global Affairs degree from the Jindal School of International Affairs
Currently, he is serving as a member of Diplomania; a flagship society under the school and working in the Jindal Global Centre for G20 Studies as a researcher. He is also affiliated with the Foreign Policy Research Centre in New Delhi as a research intern.
Prior to university education, he was actively engaged in different social initiatives for half a decade in his hometown; Pokhara, Nepal. As part of this, he successfully lead a youth organization named Leadership Forum Pokhara as a Founder Coordinator and served as Spokesperson of Metropolitan Child Forum Pokhara.
Title : Diplomacy in South Asia: Multiple Layers
Initiative Brief
Introduction :
The Centre for a New South Asia is a
research centres which seeks to study the geo-political dynamics of South
Asian nations under various parameters. Foreign Policy is one such integral
determinant which shapes country’s regional and international affairs
conduct. Considering this, the Centre underscores the increasing importance
of Non-Central Governments (NCG) and non-governmental actors including
business, think-tanks, media in foreign policy.
Introduction :
The Centre for a New South Asia is a research centres which seeks to study the geo-political dynamics of South Asian nations under various parameters. Foreign Policy is one such integral determinant which shapes country’s regional and international affairs conduct. Considering this, the Centre underscores the increasing importance of Non-Central Governments (NCG) and non-governmental actors including business, think-tanks, media in foreign policy.
Rationale :
Geo-politics in contemporary times plays a huge role in defining our day-to-day lives and it is very much important to look into the aspects that factor into defining the foreign policy of a state, under the umbrella of CNSA, this initiative will examine the role of stake holders — business, think tanks, NGOs, non-central government’s (state and provinces) in the context of South Asia’s foreign affairs.
Objectives :
Working Module :
Team Details :
Team Lead: Tridivesh Singh Maini
Coordinator: Chelikani Dharma Teja
Resource Person : Aarogya Mohan Kaphle
For more details and enquiry :
Feel free to reach us via tsmaini@jgu.edu.in (Tridivesh Singh Maini-Team Lead),
22jsia-cdteja@jgu.edu.in (Chelikani Dharma Teja-Coordinator), 22jsia-amkaphle@jgu.edu.in (Aarogya Mohan Kaphle- Resource Person) or cnsa@jgu.edu.in (Centre Mail).
Title : Update on CNSA Research : Regional Cooperation in South Asia
a)This title should be an openable link to be placed in On-going Projects section and after clicking upon it should be able to re-direct to another window.
b) Photo to be posted in the news report is attached along with this mail. Please find the attachment.
News report to be published are as follows :
29 August 2023
The Centre for New South Asia (CNSA), in collaboration with Pokhara Research Centre, a Nepalese think tank is currently engaging in a research project entitled ‘Regional Cooperation in South Asia’. This project seeks to provide a comprehensive causal analysis about the prospects and challenges of Regional Cooperation vis-à-vis South Asia based on the interviews conducted with Practitioners and Scholars from India and Nepal.
The on-going research is conducted by Coordinator of Centre for a New South Asia Mr. Aarogya Mohan Kaphle (BAGA’22) under the supervision of Centre Director Prof. Mohsin Raza Khan. As a part of research, interviews with former ambassadors from India and Nepal was conducted including the Former Foreign Minister of Nepal Dr. Bhesh Bahadur Thapa and Former India’s Foreign Secretary Mr. Shyam Saran. From this news report, we would like to share some of the snippets and key takeaways from those interviews which are as follows.
1. Mr. Shyam Saran
Former Foreign secretary of India Mr. Shyam Saran said that any regional cooperation will require a greater physical connectivity among the countries. Beside this, digital connectivity and people-to-people relations are also crucial. He believes that India, the largest country of the region could lead in terms of many agendas. As far as policy is concerned, he said there are studies on inter basin river management, cross border wildlife corridors, overfishing in coastal regions and forest conversation. Also, there are large number of recommendation as well as declaration by SAARC head of states. So, he emphasized that rather than looking for fresh recommendation and studies, if the past proposals and declaration were implemented that could be a big change.
2. Dr. Madan Kumar Bhattarai
Former Foreign Secretary of Nepal Dr. Madan Kumar Bhattrai opines that mutual trust and goodwill are the prerequisite for any regional cooperation. He said that ‘South Asia can take lessons from ASEAN and identify its core areas of cooperation as per potential of countries.’ Giving example from the past, he mentioned the initiation of International Jute Study Group based in Dhaka which is precedent of economic cooperation South Asian countries. Ambassador Bhattarai said that identifying potential areas and developing ‘Growth Quadrangle’ accordingly would always be in the best interest of South Asia.
3. Prof. Dr. Jayaraj Acharya
Former Fellow of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at the Harvard University and Former Nepal’s Ambassador to the United Nations Prof. Dr. Jayaraj Acharya is of the view that there is a greater scope of Trilateral Cooperation for Nepal’s Foreign Policy. For Nepal, it’s geographic proximity is significant factor for regional cooperation in South Asia. He particularly emphasized on Maritime Transport Access of Nepal with Bangladesh and India. Moreover, there is scope of electricity trade with Bangladesh, Bhutan, and India. Dr. Acharya mentioned that Nepal should negotiate first bilaterally in agendas relating to the trade and transit, and afterwards place it in the trilateral structure. According to him, practical matters like electricity export and electricity transmission could be done through bilateral and trilateral means because it’s very comprehensive and vague in the regional process.
4. Dr. Bhesh Bahadur Thapa
Former Nepal’s Foreign Minister Dr. Bhesh Bahadur Thapa said economic disparities among the countries have occasionally setback regional cooperation in the South Asia. According to him these complex economic dynamics led two factors into play. There are big countries like India and Pakistan in the region which affected the operation of regional institution in many ways. The bilateral relations between India and Pakistan are one of those important aspects. On the other hand, there is a fear of smaller nation gang-up for regional power. Recalling the historical initiatives took by then leaders of Nepal and Bangladesh, he mentioned that since the inception of SAARC smaller countries saw their interest in the regional cooperation for the larger benefit. Sharing his past anecdotes, he also mentioned that the intellectual backing is comparatively weak in South Asia as compared to the past.
This is an on-going project, and we are still conducting interviews with scholars and diplomats of both countries. Stay tuned and keep following the Centre website for further details regarding the project.
The comprehensive analysis about the conducted research will be disclosed in the research paper which will be released after a few months.
Thank you !
- The Centre for A New South Asia
Thank you for your cooperation.