Routledge Handbook on South Asian Foreign Policy

This handbook offers a comprehensive overview of South Asian foreign policy, examining the complex history and present state of South Asian foreign policy, the foreign policy of the countries of the region, as well as their relationships with their neighbors and key external players, such as China and the United States, in an effort to understand South Asia’s place in the world order. It illustrates the future trajectory of foreign policy in the region and analyses future of regional arrangements like SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) and BIMSTEC. The handbook is structured in five parts, each representing a focused area of enquiry: Foreign Policy Relations within South Asia Relations within Indo-Pacific Relations with China, Europe and the United States Security A carefully selected collection of 26 chapters written by experts on South Asian foreign, economic, and security policy, this handbook provides an objective yet accessible overview of the history and current state of foreign policy of each country and the region. It is an authoritative reference work for academics and students as well as international think tanks, research institutes, and non-governmental organizations working on South Asian Politics, Asian Politics, Foreign Politics, International Affairs, World History, and International Relations.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Part I Foreign Policy 1. India’s Foreign Policy Realignments 2. Pakistan’s Foreign Policy: The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same 3. Sleepwalking into a Great Power Rivalry: The Evolution of Sri Lanka’s Foreign Policy in the 21st century 4. Nepal’s Foreign Policy since 1950s 5. The History of British, Soviets and U.S. Invasions and the Afghan Response Part II Relations within South Asia 6. India’s South Asia Policy: Shifts and Continuities 7. The Changing Landscape of India-Pakistan-Afghanistan Relationship 8. The Kashmir Matrix: Strategy/Policy Formulation in India and Pakistan 9. India-Afghanistan Relations: Pragmatism towards Political Normalization 10. Nepal-Bangladesh, Bhutan and Maldives Relations 11. Transformation of India and Bangladesh Relations and Challenges Ahead Part III Relations within Indo-Pacific 12. BIMSTEC-India’s Emerging Foreign Policy Fulcrum 13. India’s Iran Policy: Civilisational Past, Complicated Present 14. From Distant Relations to Close Partners: India’s Relations with Australia and New Zealand 15. Influence & Hedging: China’s Engagement in South Asia 16. Rapid Development of India-Japan Cooperation: Its Chance and Challenges Part IV Relations with China, Europe and U.S. 17. The Transformation of the Indo/China Rivalry in the 21st Century: the Rise of the Maritime Domain 18. Indian Strategic Policy Towards China 19. China-Pakistan Relations: Understanding Strategic Dimensions 20. Caught between the U.S. and China: Balancing in Pakistan’s Foreign Policy 21. Bangladesh-China Relations in an Era of Globalization: Dynamics and Challenges 22. Sri Lanka’s Foreign Policy, Past, Present and Future: Infrastructure Diplomacy and Contemporary Chinese Affairs 23. Nepal’s Relationship with the European Union 24. Nepal-US Relations: The Indo-Pacific and Evolving Strategic Partnership in the 21st Century World Part V Security 25. Terrorism and Indian Foreign Policy 26. Almost Parity: Understanding the India-Pakistan Conventional Military Balance

About the Author :
Aparna Pande is Director of the Initiative on the Future of India and South Asia at the Hudson Institute, USA. She is also the editor of the Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Pakistan (2017) and the author of Explaining Pakistan’s Foreign Policy (Routledge 2011).