A  RESEARCH  PAPER  OF MINE ENTITLED " Impact of Policy Responses and Political Leadership in India"   PUBLISHED IN THE CURRENT ISSUE OF SAJOSPS.

(Pl. see No. 3 in the Current Issue)

CURRENT ISSUE

Current Issue
JANUARY - JUNE 2016   
(VOL. XVI NO. 2)

1. Post-2014 Afghanistan: Challenges and Prospects for New Delhi-Kabul Ties

Shyna. V.V, Doctoral Fellow, Centre for Southern Asian Studies, Pondicherry University, Puducherry

As international forces withdraw from Afghanistan, India is positioned to be at the forefront of a regional approach to the reconstruction of Afghanistan. The broad convergence of Indian interests in Afghanistan with those of other key regional actors provides occasion for India to apprehend its region as opportunity, rather than constraint. But the question is how should India cope with the post-US withdrawal situation in Afghanistan?

India's democratic polity, institutionalized decision-making processes, a large consumer base and growing economy make it a far more acceptable partner for Kabul. But while Pakistan will gain from a face-saving US exit, since it will allow Pakistan to increase its so-called 'strategic depth' in Afghanistan, India faces difficult policy choices in Afghanistan after Western forces pull out in 2014. However, New Delhi is now developing a flexible policy framework in Afghanistan that accords with its strategic regional interests and reflects a reassessment of its geopolitical limitations. In the light of this strategic set-back, India's policy of engagement through economic rebuilding requires a thorough analysis. While elaborating on the nature of India's engagement in Afghanistan the current paper will highlight challenges for cooperation between India and Afghanistan after US withdrawal and will try to find out the ways and means which will strengthen the foundations of strong cooperation.

2. India-ASEAN Relationship in 21st Century:
Promoting Deeper Regional

Economic Integration

Dr. Selim Chisti, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics,
Sabang Sajanikanta Mahavidyalaya, Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal

India has strong historical and cultural links with Southeast Asia and its geographic location gives it a unique advantage in reaching out to the countries in the Indo-Pacific. There was unanimity that increasing physical and institutional connectivity between India and Southeast Asia would go a long way to facilitate enhanced economic relations in the region. India and ASEAN signed a Framework Agreement – the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) – on 2003 with a view to providing an institutional framework that would enable economic cooperation to come into effect. Negotiations on a trade in goods agreement between India and ASEAN were started in 2004. The negotiation continued for six years and finally the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AIFTA) was signed on 13 August 2009 in Bangkok during a meeting of the Economic Ministers of ASEAN. The agreement, which only covers trade in goods between India and the ASEAN members, came into effect on 1 January 2010 in the case of Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. For the remaining ASEAN members it will come into force after they have completed their internal requirements. Further, India has plans for bilateral free trade agreements (FTA) with select ASEAN member nations. Broadly speaking, the comparative advantage of ASEAN member countries is in manufacturing, while that of India is in services. Hence both ASEAN and India can exploit their relative strengths via FTA.

3. Impact of Policy Responses and
Political Leadership in India

Dr. Subhendu Ranjan Raj, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science,
PGDAVE COLLEGE, University of Delhi
In the last decade and a half or so , India is credited to have remarkably achieved two seemingly contrarian major achievements . It has been able to achieve political development and stable continuity along with good economic progress from 2001 onwards. Indeed despite having coalitional governments spread over many years at the Centre , India has acknowledgeably produced a remarkable level of power sharing among the multifarious social, caste, linguistic, regional and political formations, and also registered an universally recognised good economic growth with a steady and increasing GDP growth rate from the erstwhile 'hindu rate of growth' of 3.5% to 10% plus. This is no mean achievement because universally it has been realised that coalition governments are not credited with such type of success. Usually it is thought that coalitional democracies may be good for human freedom but they are restrictive for economic growth. Now it can be said that India has proved that coalitional democracy is both conducive to accommodating and enlarging inclusive human freedoms as also enhanced economic growth .
 Coalitions in Indian context have produced a remarkable level of power sharing among the multifarious social, caste, linguistic, regional and political formations, but governance under such coalitional governments has not been very successful and is facing significant challenges now. In the immediate past ie., from 2011 onwards , one finds that India's economic growth has slumped even though currently at the average GDP growth rate of 5.5% - 6% that it is clocking , ( although it is stated by some commentators that India as part of the leading BRICS countries posits a really beneficial economic progress vis a vis the Western world which is having difficulty to muster up a GDP growth of 1-2.5% ). Again there is the reality that contemporaneously , we find that governance not only under coalitional governance but also under single party majoritarian rule is also facing significant challenges today. The breakdown of the coalitional model of governance after the 2014 general elections and the onset of single party majoritarian rule is evidence that suggests possibly that the coalition model may be also passing away. This paper will concentrate on the centrality that economic policy and decision making and leadership of the political executive have come to assume critical importance under this scenario in India in the context of globalisation.

4. Innovation and Technology in Education:
Strategies to be Adopted in Class Rooms