Sunday, January 6, 2002		Books

WRITE VIEW
Conflict resolution in South Asia and global power play
Review by Randeep Wadehra

Conflict and Peacemaking in South Asia edited
by P. Sahadevan. Lancer’s Books, New Delhi. Pages 533. Price Rs 850.

TODAY, the once ignored South Asia has suddenly become a hot topic – and not merely because of the WTC bombing and Taliban. The region’s economic potential and India’s rise as a power and possible strategic ally in the West’s scheme of things are some of the "positive" factors contributing to the change in perception. The increasing trade traffic in the Indian Ocean only underscores this view. The Indo-Pak "nuclear rivalry", China’s emergence as an economic and military power, the need to harness the resource rich Central Asia, etc. have, perhaps, made diplomats and intellectuals at the national and international level to seriously attempt at making South Asia a peace zone.

The current volume is a collection of essays that take a look at the reasons behind inter-state conflicts and the manner in which these can be resolved. In the preface Sahadevan admits that the region has experienced many conflicts and some of them have perpetuated tension at the cost of regional peace and stability. However he emphasises the point that South Asia is endowed with a strong political culture and mechanisms to resolve differences. He further states "…for a regional conflict analysis, we need to look at linkages between the structure of a given region and the process of conflict formation resulting from the competing interests of states instigated or constrained by extra-regional forces".

Raju Thomas asks whether, after nuclearisation, India has achieved less security at a higher economic price, citing the cold war mindset. Referring to the Indian security interests he points out, "The regional triangle involves China, India and Pakistan, and the global triangle, United States, Russia and China. With China as the overlapping pivot in both strategic triangles, how these five key factors relate to each other tends to determine security fears and arms build-ups. Claims by American analysts that the United States ties with China do not affect Indian security, especially a decade after the end of the cold war, are not entirely shared by Indian counterparts." It would be interesting to watch the response to the USA recently reneging on its ABM Treaty obligations.

Elaborating upon the strategic angle thesis Kanti Bajpai says, "Historically, India, China and Pakistan have constituted a nuclear strategic triangle." China’s 1964 nuclear tests set India on the nuclearisation path with Pakistan following suit. He predicts that the triangular relationship shall remain a protracted one. In order to minimise chances of a mishap he advocates a dialogue among the three countries. Pravin Sawhney highlights the conventional military rivalry between China and India as well as between Pakistan and India. He discusses India’s appeasement policy towards China that has put undue burden on our military. He also analyses the military threat, strategies, doctrines and war preparedness for the Himalayan battlefield. He terms India’s military superiority over Pakistan a myth.

Sumit Ganguly has a look at India’s territorial disputes with Pakistan and China, while Uma Singh examines the Kashmir issue. Alok Kumar Gupta dwells on other Indo-Pak territorial disputes like the Rann of Kutch and Sir Creek. Varun Sahni gives prominence to the Siachin dispute’s history and its strategic importance; and C.V. Ranganathan provides the retrospect and prospects of Sino-Indian territorial disputes. Srikanth Kondapalli explains the predicaments in Indian and Chinese policies vis a vis border dispute negotiations. However India does not have problems with these two neighbors alone. There is the Kachchativu dispute with Sri Lanka as detailed by V. Suryanarayan.

Ramaswamy R. Iyer delineates the three river water treaties as steps towards conflict resolution with India’s neighbours – namyly, the Indus Treaty of 1960 with Pakistan, the Mahakali Treaty of February, 1996, with Nepal and the Ganges Treaty of December, 1996, with Bangladesh. Iyer points out that "there is a complex interaction between water issues and political relations". Dipak Gyawali looks upon the region’s international borders as one more constraint in the equitable distribution of water resources. He further notes, "The need today in South Asia…is to manage water scarcity within the constraints imposed upon the region by its monsoonal hydro-ecology, unstable geo-tectonics, and the pitfalls of international finance."

There is an entire spectrum of disputes and prejudices that provokes and sustains animus among the region’s countries. This renders peacemaking a daunting task indeed. How does one go about it? For this, Rajesh Rajagopalan avers, there is a need to understand the international systemic factors that impact upon the region’s conflict resolving efforts. He points out, "The pressures that India or Pakistan faces in a bipolar world are different from the pressures that they face in a unipolar world or what they might face in a multipolar world."

Chintamani Mahapatra underscores the USA’s tilt in favour of Pakistan. He asserts, "The US hesitation to treat Pakistan as a state sponsoring terrorism in the face of clear evidence of Pakistani hand in Kashmiri terrorist activities sets the real limit on the extent to which India and the US can cooperate in counter-terrorism." Moonis Ahmad has a look at the influence of third party mediation on the Indo-Pak relations. He says, "In the context of India and Pakistan, mediation has always remained a myth because Islamabad holds high hopes in a third party involvement to resolve its conflicts with India… In case of India, its ‘rejectionist’ approach tends to ignore the importance of mediation."

CSR Murthy documents the UN role in the resolution of Indo-Pak conflict. However, the world body today remains more or less marginalised thanks to Uncle Sam’s pro-active global policeman’s role. Already war clouds have started gathering on the region’s skies. The latest attack on the Parliament complex is one more step towards an explosive abyss.

The tome under review contains well-documented, informed and cogently argued essays. A must read for all those interested in international affairs.

* * *

People’s Republic of China at Fifty
edited by Arun Kumar Banerji and Purushottam Bhattacharya. Lancer’s Books, New Delhi. Pages 319. Rs 580.

China has come a long from being a nation of opium addicts to the status of a global power. This journey has gone through several phases. Structurally it has evolved from a die-hard communist regime to becoming a more open society. Its military, economic and political impact is being felt all over the world. Today China has more or less shed its ideological rigidity and is well on the way to becoming a free market economy. Pragmatism is the mantra of its present leadership; and this is apparently paying rich dividends in terms of foreign investments, economic progress and strategic impact.

Arun Kumar Banerji traces the Sino-Indian relations since the heady bhai bhai days to the more realistic present. He analyses the causes that led to the deterioration of relations between the two Asian powers. Presently the border dispute is proving to be the most intractable. He feels that by normalising relations with China India would be able to deal with Pakistan more effectively. Conversely, China’s hands would be strengthened vis a vis the USA if Sino-Indian disputes are resolved.

Jyotirmoy Banerji examines the Sino-Russian equation. He feels that China has much better relations than ever before with Russia in trade, industrial and military fields. Their border disputes have been more or less completely resolved.

The Sino-US equation is on an altogether different footing. While, despite the hype, China refused to step into the Soviet Union’s shoes as the new cold war musketeer, it does elicit due consideration from the West in general and the USA in particular as a global player. Anindyo J. Majumdar points out, "China began to be accepted as a global power with the capability to challenge the western domination of world politics. The USA, of necessity, became concerned and irritants were generally downplayed though not totally ignored while trade and economic cooperation issues were given pre-eminence." Thus, the uneasy "pragmatic" relationship between the only super power and the wannabe world power continues. Perhaps, apart from the European Community, China is the only obstacle in the path of Uncle Sam having a free run of the planet.

There are 14 contributors to this volume. They deal with such Sino-centric topics as China’s relationship with Pakistan, Japan, the South-East Asia, South Asia and its maritime policy. There is one essay on Chinese women’s dress too!

You do not have to be a Sinologist to get interested in this book.

* * *

Globalization Unmasked
by James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer Madhyam Books, Delhi. Pages 183. Rs 200.

Is globalszation a new form of imperialism? Apparently it is. The manner in which the world resources are sought to be cornered and exploited for the benefit of a prosperous few represented by the economic interests of an emerging class of transnational capitalists — mostly from the West. It is pointed out in the introduction to the book, "In these interests, the existing world economic order is in the process of being renovated so as to create optimal conditions for the free play of greed, class interest and profit making". There is an uneasy feeling in some quarters that the present US blitz against Afghanistan has more to do with having a better access to the Central Asian natural resources than settling scores with Osama..

The authors feel that the Soviet era term "imperialism" has much greater descriptive and analytical use for understanding the emerging international economic scenario. In chapter 5 they examine the concept of privatisation, and the perils of using it as a critical ingredient of the "neoliberal program of structural reforms and policies designed to create optimal conditions for global capital, freed from the restrictions and regulations under which it has operated to date."

They also have a look at the political aspect of neoliberal capitalism and its imperialist design. The authors point out that according to a school of thought, democracy and capitalism are mutually contradictory terms. The capitalist "democratic content" is not an integral part of the expansion of market relations. It is more a result of class struggle. This contradicts the view that growth of capitalism and democracy are interrelated. "Until the 1980s, it was widely assumed by the advocates of and apologists for capitalist development that… the authoritarian state was viewed as a better political form of capitalist development than the liberal democratic state." This view changed in 1980s when more stress began to be laid on democratisation and political liberalisation as prerequisites for setting off the process of economic liberalisation.

Chapters 7 and 8 focus on the attempts to give a human face to the globalisation process. Chapters 9 and 10 highlight the "complex political dynamics involved in the implementation of their project…" Latin America provides the context for this analysis. Chapter 11 provides the socialist perspective on the globalisation project and the imperialist intent of capitalists in the USA and Europe. The authors advocate the construction of a socialist alternative. The second coming of idealism? Well, you never know!

When Naom Chomsky finds this study "impressive" that "lives up to the promise of its title", one can only stand aside and listen, or rather read this tome.