Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
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Introduction
SUMIT GANGULY
Issues of regional security in South Asia have received considerably greater
attention since the September 11, 2002 terrorist attacks on the United States.
Such a focus on the region is hardly unwarranted. Even though the majority of the
perpetrators of the acts of terror were Saudi nationals, it is all but certain that the
infrastructure of terror that supported and abetted them was located athwart
South Asia, in the dens of the Taliban regime of Afghanistan.
Despite the renewed focus on South Asian regional security, knowledge of and
interest in the principal player in the region, India, still remains limited in the
Western world. Yet India's role is of paramount significance for the long-term
security and stability of the region. It is not merely the most populous state in the
region but also has a number of other important attributes that undergird its
strategic significance in the region and beyond. It has a substantial military
apparatus,
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a growing economy with some world-class sectors,
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and democratic
political institutions that have withstood countless vicissitudes.
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Consequently,
India's place in the global order at the Cold War's end merits careful scrutiny.
The end of the Cold War necessitated fundamental changes in India's security
and foreign policies. In the initial years of its independence, India's leadership
propounded and promoted the doctrine of nonalignment. This doctrine, among
other matters, sought to steer India away from the emergent, titanic superpower
struggle.
In keeping with the expectations of this doctrine, its principal proponent,
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, sought to dramatically limit defense
expenditures. His interests in limiting the scope and dimensions of India's
military were manifold. Domestically, he was acutely cognizant of India's
endemic poverty and also feared of possible Bonapartist ambitions on the part of
the Indian military.
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Internationally, he was determined to forge a world order
that eschewed, or at least hobbled, the use of force in international politics.
Nehru's stature in the Indian political arena enabled him to pursue these ends
despite criticism and opposition from some quarters. But Nehru's hopes were
dealt a devastating blow in 1962 with the Chinese attack on India's northern
frontiers. The Indian military, largely unprepared for this onslaught, was easily
