scholarly journals Economic Interdependence Since COVID-19: China and South Asia

China Report ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 000944552110391
Author(s):  
Khanindra Ch. Das
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Economic Incentives ◽  
Economic Interdependence ◽  
Chinese Investment ◽  
Fair Competition ◽  
Strategic Influence ◽  
Economic Engagement ◽  
Restrictive Measures ◽  
Trade And Investment

In the backdrop of COVID-19-induced geo-political backlash against China, the article makes an assessment of the nature of economic interdependence of South Asian nations with China. Though COVID-19-induced lockdown led to a decline in trade with China, it recovered quickly in subsequent months. In the case of India, even after imposing restrictive measures, trade with China was found to bounce back indicating to a greater dependence on China. Further, asymmetry in economic engagement with China could be observed for several of the South Asian nations. Chinese investment in the region remained muted during the pandemic. However, strategic involvement in South Asia by China, and other powers, increased considerably which has been manifested by her provisioning of economic incentives and COVID-19-related aid. In the light of increasing strategic influence, South Asian countries desirous of benefitting from foreign trade and investment in their respective economies will need to encourage free and fair competition rather than towing geo-political lines so that sustainable economic gains can be made, which will require strengthening of various market supporting institutions in the respective economies. India’s economic strategy will also assume significance in boosting confidence and increasing the level of integration within South Asia.

scholarly journals Regional Cooperation in South Asia: Exploring the Three Pillars of Regionalism and their Relevance

2020 ◽  
Vol 01 (02) ◽  
pp. 2050008
Author(s):  
ADITI PAUL
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Economic Liberalization ◽  
Economic Interdependence ◽  
Mutual Trust ◽  
The South ◽  
Regional Organizations ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Power Balancing

The lofty ideals penned by the heads of the South Asian states at the birth of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) reflect a vision for promoting mutual trust and understanding in South Asia. But the member states have fallen into the intricate web of power balancing games, fluctuating economic growth and volatile ethnic and religious conditions that has marred the potential gains from regionalism. In such a scenario, while SAARCs snail-like progress continues without any remarkable achievements, there has been a rise of new regional organizations that has not only renewed our attention towards economic liberalization and the benefits accrued from multilateral economic cooperation but has also put into question the fundamentals of regionalism. The paper situates regionalism in acts of cooperation that are not isolated and discrete from each other but rather form a pattern of interconnecting expectations about the future of the alliance and the assumptions on legitimate activities. The paper argues that regionalism is a multi-faceted task and involves political harmony, economic interdependence and common identity as the three pillars. But regionalism in South Asia encourages economic interdependence and proscribes political integration and common values and norms. As a result, the attempts at regionalism in South Asia are conceptually narrow, limited in agenda and inadequate to address the issues of regional peace and security.

South Asia’s Limited Progress toward Peaceful Change

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajesh Basrur ◽  
Kate Sullivan de Estrada
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Economic Interdependence ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Economic Barriers ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Institutional Architecture

This chapter argues that there has been some positive movement toward peaceful change in post–Cold War South Asia in comparison with the Cold War era. During the Cold War, India’s material preponderance in the region and its neighbors’ response were exacerbated by identity-driven conflict and problems of state survival. In the post–Cold War period, mutual insecurity has subsided somewhat, partly as a result of India’s transformation into more of an opportunity than a threat. Democracy, economic interdependence, and institutions are yet to deliver significant levels of peaceful cooperation in the region, however. Most often, the region’s states have seen ongoing democratization marked by instability; vastly more trade with extraregional than intraregional economies; and a regional institutional architecture—the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC)—whose already modest aspirations are circumscribed by India–Pakistan tensions and structural economic barriers. Peaceful change in South Asia will depend significantly on an uptick in India–Pakistan relations, or, given low levels of trade complementarity and China’s growing encroachment into the region, an acknowledgment that “South Asia” is unlikely to function as the central regional container for the pursuit of peaceful change.

Investment Flows from Japan and China to South Asia: Are They Matching with the Economic Prospects of the Region?

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 1520-1535
Author(s):  
Munim K. Barai
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Developed Economies ◽  
Chinese Investment ◽  
Catching Up ◽  
Japanese Investment ◽  
The World ◽  
East And Southeast Asia ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Japan And China

In 2013, China and Japan accounted for about 16.8 per cent of world’s outward investment and 6.1 per cent of outstanding FDI stocks. Due to underlying objectives and strategies, they seem to differ in selecting economies for their investment. While the Japanese investors invest distinctively more in the developed economies, the Chinese investors invest mainly in the developing countries. This article, however, looks into the Chinese and Japanese investment in the South Asian economies and finds that they are yet to channel any significant amount of FDI to this region. This contrasts the investment positions that the Chinese and Japanese investors have followed in the economies of East and Southeast Asia. At the moment, Japan has much higher investment stocks than China’s in South Asia, though the Chinese investment in the region is catching up. However, the article argues that investments from these two major investing countries have not matched with the economic growth record and prospects of the region. In fact, most of the countries in the SAARC have the potential to grow more quickly than many other parts of the world, and Japan and China should take notice of this fact while devising their investment approach.

«Имперский синдром»: концепция османского халифата на Ближнем Востоке и в Южной Азии (первая четверть XX в.)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.A. Kirillina ◽  
A.L. Safronova ◽  
V.V. Orlov
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Political Role ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Aspect Interaction ◽  
Muhammad Rashid Rida ◽  
Political Actions

Аннотация В статье изучены общие и специфические черты идейных воззрений, пропагандистской риторики и политических действий представителей халифатистского движения на Ближнем Востоке и в Южной Азии. В ретроспективном ключе прослеживается эволюция представлений о сущности и необходимости возрождения института халифата в трудах исламских идеологов, реформаторов и политиков Джамал ад-Дина ал-Афгани, Абд ар-Рахмана ал-Кавакиби, Мухаммада Рашида Риды, Абул Калама Азада. Внимание авторов сосредоточено на общественно-политических дискуссиях 2030-х годов XX столетия, а также на повестке дня халифатистских конгрессов и конференций этого периода. На них вырабатывались первые представления современников о пост-османском формате мусульманского единства и идейно-политической роли будущего халифата. Авторы демонстрируют различие между моделями реакции мусульман Ближнего Востока и Южной Азии на упразднение османского халифата республиканским руководством Турции. Установлена многоаспектная взаимосвязь между халифатистскими ценностями, проосманскими настроениями и формами самоотождествления, которые сложились в арабских и южноазиатских обществах. Отдельно намечено соотношение между подъемом халифатистских настроений и радикализацией антиколониальных действий мусульман Индостана.Abstract The article deals with analysis of common and specific features of ideas, propaganda, rhetoric and political actions taken by representatives of the movement for defense of the Caliphate in the Middle East and South Asia. The retrospection showing the transformation of conception of the Caliphate and the necessity of its revival in the works of eminent ideologists and politicians of the Muslim world Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi, Muhammad Rashid Rida and Abul Kalam Azad, is also given in the article. The authors also focus on the social and political discussions of the 1920s 1930s, as well as on the agenda of Caliphatist congresses and conferences of this period. They helped to elaborate the early representations of post-Ottoman pattern of the Muslim unity and the ideological and political role of the future Caliphate. The authors demonstrate the difference between the forms of reaction of Muslims in the Middle East and South Asia to the repudiation of the Caliphate by the Republican leaders of Turkey. The article establishes a multi-aspect interaction between the Caliphatist values and forms of self-identification, emerged in Arab and South Asian societies. The correlation between the rise of Caliphatist attitudes and radicalization of anti-colonial actions of South Asian Muslims is also outlined.

Emerging Trends of Artificial Intelligence in South Asia and its Implications for Pakistan

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaza Arif
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Counter Measures ◽  
China And India ◽  
Emerging Trends ◽  
Military Modernization ◽  
Offensive Realism ◽  
Strategic Balance ◽  
Full Swing

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a breakthrough technology which is astonishingly impressive. Major world powers are rapidly integrating AI in their military doctrines. This trend of militarization of AI can be seen in the South Asian region as well. Following the theoretical approach of offensive realism, China and India are in full swing to revolutionize their militaries with this emerging trend in order to accumulate maximum power and to satisfy their various interests. Consequently, Indian military modernization has the potential to provoke Pakistan to take counter measures. Pakistan is already encountering a number of challenges in economic sector and will face the strenuous task of accommodating a handsome financial share for the development of its AI capabilities. South Asia is a very turbulent region characterized by arch rivals who are also nuclear powers and have repeatedly indulged in various crises over the years. Introduction of AI in South Asia will have significant repercussions as it will trigger an arms race and at the same time disturb the strategic balance in the region.

The Baluch, Sunnism and the State in Iran

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stéphane A. Dudoignon
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Social Life ◽  
The State ◽  
First Century ◽  
Local Democracy ◽  
Oasis Area ◽  
Shed Light

Since 2002, Sunni jihadi groups have been active in Iranian Baluchistan without managing to plunge the region into chaos. This book suggests that a reason for this, besides Tehran’s military responses, has been the quality of Khomeini and Khamenei’s relationship with a network of South-Asia-educated Sunni ulama (mawlawis) originating from the Sarbaz oasis area, in the south of Baluchistan. Educated in the religiously reformist, socially conservative South Asian Deoband School, which puts the madrasa at the centre of social life, the Sarbazi ulama had taken advantage, in Iranian territory, of the eclipse of Baluch tribal might under the Pahlavi monarchy (1925-79). They emerged then as a bulwark against Soviet influence and progressive ideologies, before rallying to Khomeini in 1979. Since the turn of the twenty-first century, they have been playing the role of a rampart against Salafi propaganda and Saudi intrigues. The book shows that, through their alliance with an Iranian Kurdish-born Muslim-Brother movement and through the promotion of a distinct ‘Sunni vote’, they have since the early 2000s contributed towards – and benefitted from – the defence by the Reformist presidents Khatami (1997-2005) and Ruhani (since 2013) of local democracy and of the minorities’ rights. They endeavoured to help, at the same time, preventing the propagation of jihadism and Sunni radicalisation to Iran – at least until the ISIS/Daesh-claimed attacks of June 2017, in Tehran, shed light on the limits of the Islamic Republic’s strategy of reliance on Deobandi ulama and Muslim-Brother preachers in the country’s Sunni-peopled peripheries.

scholarly journals Wasting and Associated Factors among Children under 5 Years in Five South Asian Countries (2014–2018): Analysis of Demographic Health Surveys

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 4578
Author(s):  
Nidhi Wali ◽  
Kingsley E. E. Agho ◽  
Andre M. N. Renzaho
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Health Surveys ◽  
Associated Factors ◽  
Common Factor ◽  
Household Wealth ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Demographic And Health Surveys ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Sampling Weights

Child wasting continues to be a major public health concern in South Asia, having a prevalence above the emergency threshold. This paper aimed to identify factors associated with wasting among children aged 0–23 months, 24–59 months, and 0–59 months in South Asia. A weighted sample of 564,518 children aged 0–59 months from the most recent demographic and health surveys (2014–2018) of five countries in South Asia was combined. Multiple logistic regression analyses that adjusted for clustering and sampling weights were used to examine associated factors. Wasting prevalence was higher for children aged 0–23 months (25%) as compared to 24–59 months (18%), with variations in prevalence across the South Asian countries. The most common factor associated with child wasting was maternal BMI [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for 0–23 months = 2.02; 95% CI: (1.52, 2.68); AOR for 24–59 months = 2.54; 95% CI: (1.83, 3.54); AOR for 0–59 months = 2.18; 95% CI: (1.72, 2.77)]. Other factors included maternal height and age, household wealth index, birth interval and order, children born at home, and access to antenatal visits. Study findings suggest need for nutrition specific and sensitive interventions focused on women, as well as adolescents and children under 2 years of age.

scholarly journals Agroforestry to Achieve Global Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Targets: Are South Asian Countries Sufficiently Prepared?

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 303
Author(s):  
Shalini Dhyani ◽  
Indu K Murthy ◽  
Rakesh Kadaverugu ◽  
Rajarshi Dasgupta ◽  
Manoj Kumar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Agroforestry Systems ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Implementation Phase ◽  
Adaptation And Mitigation

Traditional agroforestry systems across South Asia have historically supported millions of smallholding farmers. Since, 2007 agroforestry has received attention in global climate discussions for its carbon sink potential. Agroforestry plays a defining role in offsetting greenhouse gases, providing sustainable livelihoods, localizing Sustainable Development Goals and achieving biodiversity targets. The review explores evidence of agroforestry systems for human well-being along with its climate adaptation and mitigation potential for South Asia. In particular, we explore key enabling and constraining conditions for mainstreaming agroforestry systems to use them to fulfill global climate mitigation targets. Nationally determined contributions submitted by South Asian countries to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change acknowledge agroforestry systems. In 2016, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation’s Resolution on Agroforestry brought consensus on developing national agroforestry policies by all regional countries and became a strong enabling condition to ensure effectiveness of using agroforestry for climate targets. Lack of uniform methodologies for creation of databases to monitor tree and soil carbon stocks was found to be a key limitation for the purpose. Water scarcity, lack of interactive governance, rights of farmers and ownership issues along with insufficient financial support to rural farmers for agroforestry were other constraining conditions that should be appropriately addressed by the regional countries to develop their preparedness for achieving national climate ambitions. Our review indicates the need to shift from planning to the implementation phase following strong examples shared from India and Nepal, including carbon neutrality scenarios, incentives and sustainable local livelihood to enhance preparedness.

Suicide methods in South Asia over two decades (2001–2020)

2021 ◽  
pp. 002076402110157
Author(s):  
S M Yasir Arafat ◽  
Syeda Ayat-e-Zainab Ali ◽  
Vikas Menon ◽  
Fahad Hussain ◽  
Daniyal Shabbir Ansari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South Asian ◽  
English Language ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Pubmed Central ◽  
Suicide Methods ◽  
Search Terms ◽  
Quantitative Studies

Background: Suicide is a global preventable public health problem. About a quarter of all suicides in the world occur in South Asia. As means restriction is an important suicide prevention strategy, gaining knowledge of the common suicide methods and their changing trends in each country and region is crucial. Aims: We aimed to assess the suicide methods in South Asian countries over the last two decades. Methods: A search was performed in PubMed, PubMed Central, Scopus, and Google Scholar with the search terms. Original articles of quantitative studies, published in the English language, from 2001 to 2020, with full-accessible text, that rank different methods of suicide in eight South Asian countries, were included. Results: A total of 68 studies were found eligible for review. The Maximum number of studies were found from India ( n = 38), followed by Bangladesh ( n = 12), Pakistan ( n = 9), Sri Lanka ( n = 6), and Nepal ( n = 3). Hanging ( n = 40, 55.8%) and poisoning ( n = 24, 35.3%) were the two most common suicide methods reported, in that order. Hanging followed by poisoning were the commonest suicide methods in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan while in Sri Lanka, poisoning was the preferred method to hanging. There is a decline in suicide by poisoning and an increase in suicide by hanging in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and India. Although hanging is still the commonest method in Pakistan, the use of firearms is growing in recent years (2011–2020). Conclusions: There is a steady decline in the incidence of suicides by poisoning following pesticide regulations in South Asian countries. However, there is heterogeneity of study methods, probable under-reporting of suicide, and lack of robust suicide data.

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