International Initiatives
Advisor MK Rasgotra, former Foreign Secretary

ORF's initiative in international affairs covers the whole gamut ofIndia's international relations and foreign policy. It alsoincludes a special focused programme on US studies. Apart from theongoing meetings and discussions that are arranged on India'sforeign policy issues and understanding of international relations,during the current year ORF has focused on three specific andsignificant research projects that are critical and important.These are the following:

India's Neighbourhood - Towards a new policy framework
The ORFTask Force on India's Neighbourhood Policy has been engagedin studying India's policy towards its immediate neighbours-Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar to set down an agenda for a cooperative approach to resolving both bilateral and multilateral issues against thebackdrop of an emerging global economic and political order.

The project has been studying the challenging task before India toalign its national interests with that of regional aspirations. The primary focus of the project has been to measure India's attemptsto forge economic alliances across the region, creatingstakeholders in the region's stability and progress within theambit of dynamic strategic dimensions.

The New Asian Power Dynamic
Asia today is a dynamic and fast-growing area. High growth rates inthe region are transforming every aspect of life and these transformations will significantly determine global futures. Forthe immediate future, the US and China will be the two majorplayers - globally and in our immediate neighbourhood. There is need to understand these changes and the ones yet to come so as tobe able to steer these transformations and to manage their impactin a positive manner.

A study of the possible developments in China is of immenseintrinsic value to policy-makers. Such a study of China becomes avery useful lens to examine a set of complex emerging interactionsin the global context.

A simultaneous study of American perceptions and policies towardsChina will provide valuable insights into the working of the US Foreign Policy in this region.. The implications for future US -India relationships are obvious.

Completed early 2006, the project findings are being published as a Monograph-- a comprehensive study of the country positions andpossible scenarios-and a Policy Brief with a set of PolicyRecommendations from the Indian viewpoint. These will addressthemselves to the challenges of managing the complex and perhapscompetitive relationships that are emerging in the region.

The US Studies Programme
India and the United States are natural allies and partners in acommon pursuit of democratic ideals. With the rise in its economicpower and potential, concomitant to the size of its population, andits strategic geopolitical position, India is ready to take itsplace as a key player on the world stage.

The major pre-requisite for enhancing Indo-US relations is anunderstanding of the nuances of US policy making. As economic andstrategic partnerships flower, it has become of paramountimportance that policy makers have access to relevant informationand policy options on issues of mutual interest.

ORF's special research programme on US Studies aims to fill thisknowledge gap.

The objectives of the ORF US Studies Programme are :

To study US society, polity, economy in the context of theirrelevance to India's march towards global leadership

To be a resource base for policy makers on the processes and goalsof US foreign policy making.

To bring a holistic approach to the study of Indo-US relations byenlarging the framework to cover the relations of United Stateswith other countries and vice-versa.

To overcome the tendency to look at the Indo-US relationshipthrough merely the prism of strategic and political objectives.Recognizing that there are many other stake-holders in therelationship, especially in the business community, the effortwould be to find ways and means of bringing them into the dialogueframework.

Pakistan Studies Programme

The need and urgency of monitoring and analysing events anddevelopments in Pakistan in view of its rising strategiccapabilities, fluctuating economic fortunes and dynamic relationswith other nations, particularly China and the United States,cannot be overstated. For the past several years, Observer ResearchFoundation has had an abiding interest in the subject, reflected inthe number of publications and events related to the subject.

The programme focuses on building a database, undertaking focusedstudies on issues that are particularly relevant to India,conducting workshops and seminars and providing periodic assessments about Pakistan and its relations with India, China andthe United States.

The programme's research programme will concentrate on:

Growth of religious fundamentalism and sectarian violence

Pakistan Army: internal dynamics corporate interests, alliance withreligious groups, involvement in the politics and public perception

Political parties; linkages with religious groups and military

Intra-provincial relationship

Water

Ethnic and regional discontent

Public opinion about India, not confined to Kashmir

Role of the US, China, West Asia, Afghanistan, Iran and Russia

India and Russia in Central Asia

From an Indian perspective, Central Asia begins at the Hindukushrange. From the viewpoint of political boundaries, therefore, theregion may be defined to cover Afghanistan and Iran as well as thefive CIS units (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyztan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan,and Tajikistan). The inclusion of the energy factor wouldnecessitate a perspective on the Caspian Sea. The discovery of vastoil and natural gas resources in some of the Central Asian states,India's quest for energy security, has added an additionalstrategic dimension to Indian stakes in Central Asia.

The post- Soviet situation in Central Asia propelled the UnitedStates to 'consolidate and perpetuate the prevailing geo-politicalpluralism in the map of Eurasia' and to shape a new 'cooperativetrans-Eurasian security' for the future. This implied a reductionof Russian pre-eminence and an induction of US and NATO influence.The net impact of this approach varies from state to state. Thepresence of China on the eastern flank of CA, and Chinese quest forAsian energy, adds another dimension to the strategic calculus.

In such a context, the primary Indian interest in the region wouldbe develop vigorously its bilateral relations with individualstates of CA to further economic and energy-security interests. Forthis reason, regional stability would be an Indian requirement.This may be reconciled with the inevitability of political changeand progress of participatory governance. The role of Islamistmovements would be assessed in this context as also in the contextof its impact on Afghanistan and Pakistan.