South Asia Quagmire: Striving for Peace

The discussion centers on the tumultuous relations between neighbors and the current fractured state of affairs in South Asia. On the one hand, the emergence of youth power and a desire to bring about change and eliminate corrupt and inefficient governance. From Sri Lanka to Bangladesh to Nepal, grassroots-level protests rocked the country's polity and changed governments. However, has the power transferred from one group or one party to another, or is the expected transformation underway? What we can't predict about Nepal's recent Zen Z protest. As the situation in Nepal is still developing.

On the other hand, increasing hatred and growing enmity between neighbors, particularly in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor and a four-day conflict between India and Pakistan. Furthermore, geopolitical dynamics have been evolving in response to the Growing competition between the US and China in the region. Additionally, the Israel-Gaza war has repercussions in the region. In the recent development, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement (SMDA). What will be the far-reaching impact of this agreement on the region and beyond?

The discussion aim at three key areas: regional and national contexts, inter-regional interactions, and intra-regional geo-political dynamics.

Chair
Dr. Indu Saxena is a Senior Fellow in security & geopolitics with a special interest in Indo-Pacific Security, International relations, security and Terrorism. She is currently working as the Chief Operation Officer with the Consortium of Indo-Pacific Researchers. She has 20 years of experience in teaching and mentoring international relations. She has exemplary leadership qualities and acute skills in partnering with institutions of higher education. Her research papers and articles are published at the international level and in the U.S. Defense Department journal.


Panelists
Amb. Anil Trigunayat is a member of the Indian Foreign Service. He has served in the Indian Missions in Cote d’Ivoire, Bangladesh, Mongolia, the USA, Russia, Sweden, Nigeria, Libya, and Jordan. In the Ministry of External Affairs, he worked in the Economic, West Asia, and North Africa and Consular Divisions. He also served as Director General/Joint Secretary for the Gulf & Haj Divisions in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi. Thereafter, Mr. Trigunayat worked as Deputy Chief of Mission in the rank of Ambassador at the Embassy of India, Moscow.issues.

Maj. Gen. Binoj Basnyat is a retired Nepali ArmyMajor General and a political and security analyst. He is highly decorated with the Order of Suprabal Jana Seva Shree, Nepal; Order of the Lion of Finland; and the Order of Cross of Germany. He holds a Master of Philosophy degree inDefense and Strategic Studies. He represented the UN Department of PoliticalAffairs as a resource person for Sri Lanka's Transformational andReconciliation program post-retirement. He represented the Nepali Army and the country in numerous international meets, capacity building, peace efforts, reintegration, election, governance, rule of law and humanitarian affairs.

Dr. Mohammad Zahidul Islam Khan, is a retired GroupCaptain of Bangladesh Air Force and Chevening scholar. He is a Visiting Research Fellow of the Department of Politics and International Relations, University ofReading, United Kingdom and the Registrar of the American InternationalUniversity-Bangladesh.

Dr. Sannia Abdulla Close is a political scientist and Research Affiliate at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) at Stanford University. Previously, she was a Stanton Nuclear Security Post-doctoral Fellow (2017-2018) at CISAC and has also worked with Cooperative Monitoring Center, Sandia National Labs (Albuquerque, NM). Previously, she had been teaching in the department of Defense and Strategic Studies, Pakistan.

Dinok Colombage is consultant on Geopolitics and public policy in Sri Lanka. He served as the Director of international affairs to former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe

Dr. Pramod Jaiswal is a Research Director at Nepal Institute for International Cooperation and Engagement. He has been a regular and visiting faculty at different universities in South Asia. He has authored, edited and co-edited around dozens of books and the most recent are ‘Rebalancing Asia: Belt and Road Initiative and Indo-Pacific Strategy’ published by Springer, Singapore and “South Asian Women in International Relations’ published by Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.