For the first time in its remembered history, multiple nations in South Asia are in direct geo-politico-strategic friction with one another, with a reality that seriously challenges the “balance” in the region. New power-brokers have entered the fray, becoming active vectors in calibrating earlier tensions — the increasing regional influence of China through its “Belt and Road Initiative” and its various investments in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar & Sri Lanka, the dynamics of South Asian investments in sub-Saharan Africa, the emergence of Iran and its role in South Asia, the establishment of the 'Taliban' state of Afghanistan — alongside the dramatis of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the strengthening Blue Finance in the Indian Ocean, and the bellicosity of nuclear-powered nationalisms.
The LSE South Asia Centre, in collaboration with LSE IDEAS and The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) hosted the first 3 virtual Roundtables (nos 1, 2 & 3) in 2020-21; in 2021-22, we colloborated with LSE IDEAS to host the next 3 events (Roundtables 4, 5 & 6) in the series to discuss the complexities at the heart of this scenario: the gradual but sure loss of India’s control of the geo-strategic narrative; the strengthening of relations between Nepal and China; Pakistan’s increasing intolerance of Afghanistan; the challenge of India’s “Act East” policy; and China’s sure and steady grip over the region, to name but a few.
The year 2022-23 has been seminal for the geopolitcs of South Asia, principally because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Gradually intensifying Western sanctions on Russian energy exports westwards has led Russia to seek energy markets elsewhere, including South Asia -- with India and Pakistan emerging as important markets. This, alongside China's presence in the region, has fundamentally altered the geopolitical dynamics of the region.
In 2022-23, the LSE South Asia Centre is continuing this series with occasional events starting with Roundtable #7.
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ROUNDTABLE #7
Energy & Geopolitcs in South Asia
Wednesday 10 May | 3pm UK | 5pm Russia | 7pm Pakistan | 7.30pm India
Russia is now exporting more gas to countries in South Asia than ever before. Is Energy changing geopolitics in South Asia?
Speakers: Husain Haqqani (@husainhaqqani) is Director, South & Central Asia at the Hudson Institute in Washington D.C.; Dr C Raja Mohan (@MohanCRaja) is Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, New Delhi; Dr Vladimir Sotnikov is Associate Professor at the Higher School of Economics, National Research University, Moscow.
Discussant: Suhasini Haidar (@suhasinih) is Diplomatic Affairs Editor at The Hindu in India.
Chair: Dr Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, LSE South Asia Centre (@SAsiaLSE).
Photo credit: Kwon Junho, 'The Old Gas Stove on Fire', 2020, Unsplash.
A recording of the event is available here.
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ROUNDTABLE # 6
DEBACLE ECONOMICS? Foreign Investments & Loans in South Asia
Thursday | 12 May 2022 | 3.30pm UK
Why have economies of Sri Lanka & Pakistan been volatile despite loans/investments from international bodies (IMF) or neighbours (China)? This Roundtable will discuss this crucial question -- and the interrelationship between geopolitics & geoeconomics.
Speakers: Hassan Karrar is Associate Professor at the Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani School of Humanities & Social Sciences, Lahore University of Management Sciences (@LifeAtLUMS), and has published extensively on new economic configurations in the Central Asia region (including western China & northern Pakistan); Nadeem ul-Haque (@nadeemhaque) is currently Vice-Chancellor, Pakistan Institute of Development economics (@ PIDEpk), Islamabad. He has worked previously for the IMF, and has first-hand experience of the monetary frameworks & policy formulations of both Pakistan & Sri Lanka through his work; Dushni Weerakoon is Executive Director, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (@TalkEconomicsSL), Colombo. She has published widely on macroeconomic policy, regional trade integration & international economics.
Discussant: Chris Alden is Professor of International Relations (@LSE_IR) & Director of LSE IDEAS (@lseideas), and an expert on debt, development & geopolitcs regarding China.
Chair: Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, LSE South Asia Centre (@SAsiaLSE).
Photo credit: m., 'Saints don't live on Park Avenue', 2018, Unsplash.
This event is in collaboration with LSE IDEAS.
A recording of the event is available here.
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ROUNDTABLE # 5
QUAD-AUKUS & THE RISE OF THE INDO-PACIFIC
Date/Time: Thursday | 31 March 2022 | 3.30pm UK
Roundtable to discuss the strategic focus on South Asia in the QUAD-AUKUS alliance, in the larger geopolitical intentions of superpowers.
Speakers: Frédéric Grare (@fgrare) is Senior Policy Fellow, Asia Programme, at the European Council on Foreign Relations, with expertise in security issues concerning South Asia, the Indo-Pacific, and related issues; Yuka Koshino (@YukaKoshino) is Research Fellow for Security & Technology at The International Institute for Security Studies (IISS), London, and an expert on Japanese security, economic security & technology policy; Harsh V Pant is Professor of International Relations, King's India Institute, King's College London, and Director, Studies & Head, Strategic Studies Programme, Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi; Peter Watkins is Visiting Senior Fellow at LSE IDEAS, and was formerly Director General Strategy & International (2017-18) & Director General Security Policy (2014-17), Ministry of Defence, United Kingdom.
Discussant: Christopher Coker is Professor & Co-Director of LSE IDEAS (LSE's foreign policy think tank), an expert on US security issues, the author, most recently, of Why War? (2021), and member of the Faculty Advisory Group of LSE South Asia Centre.
Chair: Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, LSE South Asia Centre (@SAsiaLSE).
This event is in collaboration with LSE IDEAS.
A recording of the event is avilable here.
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ROUNDTABLE # 4
AFGHANISTAN: BACK TO THE FUTURE?
Date/Time: Thursday | 9 December 2021 | 3.30pm UK
Four months after the Taliban's complete takeover of Afghanistan, where is it all going? This Roundtable of experts will discuss this, its implications for the geo-security of the region, and what may lie ahead for Afghanistan and her South Asian neighbours.
Speakers: C. Uday Bhaskar (@theUdayB) is Director, Society for Policy Studies, New Delhi, and one of India's leading experts on geo-security, and publishes extensively on the subject; Antonio Giustozzi (@AntonioGiustoz2) is Visiting Professor, King's College London, Fellow at RUSI, and the author of several books on the Taliban in Afghanistan including The Taliban at War: 2001-2018 (2019); Michael Kugelman (@MichaelKugelman) is Deputy Director & Senior Associate for South Asia, Wilson Center, Washington DC, and a commentator on US strategy in South Asia; Romain Malejacq (@afghanopoly) is Assistant Professor, Radboud University, and the author of Warlord Survival: The Delusion of State Building in Afghanistan (2020); Ayesha Siddiqa (@iamthedrifter) is Research Associate, SOAS South Asia Institute, an expert on security studies in Pakistan, and author of Military Inc.: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy (2007).
Discussant: Christopher Coker is Professor & Director, LSE IDEAS (@lseideas), an expert on war, US security & terrorism, and author of Why War? (2021).
Chair: Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, LSE South Asia Centre (@SAsiaLSE).
This event is in collaboration with LSE IDEAS.
A recording of the event is available here.
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ROUNDTABLE # 3
KASHMIR: Frontier & Shroud
Thursday 6 May | 3.30pm UK | 7.30pm Pakistan | 8pm India
Speakers: Myra Macdonald (@myraemacdonald) is an expert on South Asian politics and security issues on which she has published 3 books including, very recently, White as a Shroud: India, Pakistan and War on the Frontiers of Kashmir (2021); Pallavi Raghavan (@pallaviraghava1) is Assistant Professor of International Relations at Ashoka University, Sonepat, and author of Animosity at Bay: An Alternative History of the India-Pakistan Relationship, 1947-1952 (2020); and Farzana Shaikh is Associate Fellow at Chatham House, London, and an expert on Pakistan.
Moderator: Rahul Roy-Chaudhury is Senior Fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), London.
Chair: Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, LSE South Asia Centre.
This event is in collaboration with LSE IDEAS and The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), London.
A recording of the event is available here.
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ROUNDTABLE # 2
DIFFERENT STARS, DIFFERENT STRIPES: The US in South Asia
Tuesday, 16 February | 4 pm GMT | 11 am ET | 9.30 pm India
Panelists: Husain Haqqani (@husainhaqqani) is Director for South & Central Asia, Hudson Institute, New York, and an expert on US-Pakistan relations; Daniel Markey (@MarkeyDaniel) is Senior Research Professor in International Relations, SAIS, Johns Hopkins University, and specialises in US-India relations; Rani D. Mullen (@RaniDMullen) is Associate Professor of Government, College of William & Mary, Virginia, USA, and her expertise is on US-Afghanistan policy relations.
Moderator: Rahul Roy-Chaudhury is Senior Fellow for South Asia, The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), London.
Chair: Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, LSE South Asia Centre.
This event is in collaboration with LSE IDEAS and The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), London.
A recording of the event is available here.
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ROUNDTABLE # 1
THE DRAGON'S RING: China in South Asia
Tuesday, 13 October | 3pm UK | 11pm China
Speakers: Filippo Boni (@FilippoBoni1) is Lecturer in Politics & International Studies, Open University, UK, and is a specialist in the politics of Chinese investments in South Asia; Li Li is Deputy Director-General & Senior Fellow, Insitute for International Relations, Tsinghua University, Beijing; Rahul Roy-Chaudhury is Senior Fellow for South Asia at The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), London; Nilanthi Samaranayake (@nilanthis) is Director, Strategy & Policy Analysis Program, Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), Virginia, USA, and is an expert on China's maritime presence in South Asia.
Moderator: Chris Alden is Professor, International Relations, LSE, and Co-Director, LSE IDEAS.
Chair: Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, LSE South Asia Centre.
This event is in collaboration with LSE IDEAS and The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), London.
A recording of this event is available here.