Chapter 3 — Contemporary South Asia

South Asia, as used in this chapter, includes seven countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The mighty Himalayas in the north and the vast Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal provide a natural insularity to the region. Afghanistan and Myanmar are sometimes included in broader discussions, but the chapter defines South Asia as the seven countries listed above.

The chapter identifies several factors: the social dominance of the military, clergy, and landowning aristocracy, which frequently led to the overthrow of elected governments; Pakistan's ongoing conflict with India, which made pro-military groups more powerful; and the lack of genuine international support for democratic rule. The United States and other Western countries encouraged the military's authoritarian rule for their own strategic reasons, including fears about Pakistan's nuclear arsenal falling into terrorist hands.

Bangladesh was part of Pakistan from 1947 to 1971. The Bengali people resented western Pakistani domination and the imposition of Urdu. In the 1970 elections, the Awami League led by Sheikh Mujib-ur Rahman won all seats in East Pakistan and a majority in the proposed national assembly, but the West Pakistani leadership refused to convene the assembly and arrested Sheikh Mujib. After the Pakistani army suppressed the Bengali movement and thousands were killed, India supported East Pakistan financially and militarily. This led to a war in December 1971 that ended with Pakistani forces surrendering and Bangladesh becoming an independent country.

Nepal was a constitutional monarchy where the king retained control with the help of the army and restricted democracy. During the 1990s, the Maoists spread their influence and launched armed insurrection. In 2002, the king dissolved parliament, ending even limited democracy. In April 2006, massive pro-democracy protests led by the Seven Party Alliance (SPA), the Maoists, and social activists forced the king to restore the House of Representatives. In 2008, Nepal abolished the monarchy and became a democratic republic, and in 2015 it adopted a new constitution.

The principal players are the majority Sinhala community, who dominated post-independence politics and were hostile to the Tamil minority, and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which from 1983 onwards fought an armed struggle for a separate 'Tamil Eelam' or homeland for Tamils. India also got directly involved in 1987, signing an accord with Sri Lanka and sending the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), which later pulled out in 1989 without achieving its objective. The armed conflict finally ended in 2009 when the LTTE was vanquished.

The Kashmir dispute began soon after partition in 1947 when Pakistan claimed Kashmir belonged to it. Wars in 1947-48 and 1965 failed to settle the matter, resulting in the division of the region into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and the Indian province of Jammu and Kashmir, separated by the Line of Control. India won a decisive war in 1971 but the Kashmir issue remained unsettled. India has accused Pakistan of supporting Kashmiri militants with arms, training, and money to carry out terrorist strikes against India, while Pakistan has blamed Indian agencies for fomenting trouble in Sindh and Balochistan.

In May 1998, India conducted nuclear explosions at Pokhran. Pakistan responded within a few days by carrying out nuclear tests in the Chagai Hills. This made South Asia the focus of global attention. Since then, both countries appear to have built a military relationship in which the possibility of a direct and full-scale war has declined. However, the arms race and nuclear capability on both sides have continued to be a major source of tension in the region.

Until 1960, India and Pakistan were locked in a fierce argument over the use of rivers of the Indus basin. In 1960, with the help of the World Bank, the two countries signed the Indus Waters Treaty. The treaty has survived to this day in spite of various military conflicts between India and Pakistan — making it a rare successful example of bilateral cooperation. However, some minor differences about the interpretation of the treaty and the use of river waters still remain.

SAARC — the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation — is a major regional initiative by South Asian states for multilateral cooperation, founded in 1985 with the signing of its charter at the first summit in Dhaka. However, due to persisting political differences, SAARC has not had much success. SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Agreement) was signed in 2004 at the 12th SAARC Summit in Islamabad and came into effect on 1 January 2006. It aims at lowering trade tariffs and creating a free trade zone across South Asia.

Both China and the United States remain key players in South Asian politics. American involvement increased rapidly after the Cold War — the US has had good relations with both India and Pakistan, works as a moderator in India-Pakistan relations, and has an added stake due to the large South Asian diaspora in the US. China's strategic partnership with Pakistan remains a major irritant for India, even though Sino-Indian economic ties have multiplied rapidly since 1991 and relations have improved in other ways.

India and Bangladesh have had differences over sharing of the Ganga and Brahmaputra river waters, Bangladesh's alleged support for anti-Indian Islamic fundamentalist groups, and its refusal to allow Indian troops to move through its territory to northeastern India. Despite these disputes, economic relations have improved considerably in the last 20 years. Bangladesh is part of India's Act East policy (Look East since 2014). The two states have also cooperated on disaster management, environmental issues, and in 2015 exchanged certain enclaves.

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