From the days of election campaign for 2014 Lok Sabha, Northeast India occupied a special attention to Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat. After taking oath as India’s Prime Minister, how his visionary ideas helped Northeast to become a ‘Development’ zone from a ‘Conflict’ zone, is the main crux of this Book. This book tries to test the hypothesis that “state versus community conflict in Northeast India can be managed through integrated thrust over ‘Development’ and ‘Security’ policies”. The idea of connections between security and development thinking is not a new phenomenon, but intermingling both as a nexus and using this nexus for conflict management is a post-Cold War phenomenon. There are already some studies done on countries like Sudan, Sweden, Liberia, Afghanistan etc. – to test development-security nexus as a conflict management tool. But no study has yet done on India, where, in recent times, we see growing emphasis on this approach. In the post-Cold War era, we can underline a change in the mode of conflict management in India’s North-eastern part. While, many theorists and policy-makers exemplify federal solution of violent ethnic identity demands as an ideal tool, both Central and State policies are relying more and more on development-security nexus. From the day of getting office as Premier, Narendra Modi has clearly shown his inclination towards this nexus for bringing peace and stability in Northeast. In different speeches and policy formulations, he seems stubborn towards insurgent groups’ federal demands, and emphasizing and implementing an integrated development plan for North-Eastern Region alongwith the rest of India. His well-acclaimed policies like ‘Act East’, and ‘Neighbourhood First’ also helping in both development and securitisation of Northeast. In this Book, the propositions of this Nexus will be empirically tested in five years of NDA regime (2014-19). Broadly, this Book will delve in the questions like – What do we mean by ‘Development- Security Nexus’?; How the ‘Development - Security Nexus’ is differently imbued with meaning and ultimately employed in India?; What are the ‘new’ policies of Indian Government during Modi-led NDA Government (2014 – 2019)?; What are the development policies and initiatives of NDA Government (2014 – 2019) in development arena of India’s Northeast?; What are the security measures of NDA Government (2014 –2019) in NER?; How far Development-Security Nexus is successful in mitigating or managing conflict in India’s North-eastern part? This Study is qualitative research, in which content analysis technique is applied to study variety of data sources. In this Study, the Governmental documents from different ministries - like Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Ministry of Defence etc. - was interpreted to test the hypothesis. Some reliable non- Governmental sources - like data of Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt. Ltd., Environmental Systems Research Institute and South Asia Terrorism Portal etc. - was also examined for the information and their analysis. As the topic is very much contemporary and we have paucity of secondary sources, print media and multimedia sources were also considered from reliable sources. I hope, this Book will be a benchmark for the society as well as policy making bodies as a comprehensive comparative database of the tested hypothesis that state versus community conflict in Northeast India can be managed through integrated thrust over Development and Security policies.

This book examines the complex and connected past, present, and future of Northeast India and Japan. It looks at the intricate political geography and ethnolinguistic diversity of India’s Northeast, and its historical and strategic relationship with Japan. From the theatre of the Second World War to a potential economic corridor to the Indo-Pacific, the Northeast, which shares a border with China, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar, has emerged as an area of central importance in India–Japan relations. The book highlights the importance of connectivity and cooperation in the North Eastern Region, for sustainable growth, better accessibility, and quality of life. The chapters in the volume look at shared economic, socio-political, and environmental concerns of the two countries as well as the shared legacies between Japan and the Northeast through stories, collective memories and memorials about World War II, and research. They also explore the strategic implications of China’s One Belt One Road initiative in the region and for India–Japan relations, India’s Act-East policy, provincial politics and ethnic conflicts, and the challenges for sustainable development and greater cooperation for the two countries. With contributions from both Indian and Japanese academics, this book will be a key resource on understanding Asian politics. It will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of politics and international relations, strategic studies, development studies, and Asian studies.

The media have a special relationship with conflict situations, external or internal which has been an integral part of the history of a country as well as the world. Northeast India has been beset with insurgencies for more than half-a-century. The Nagas rebelled in the early 1950s and since then insurgency in some form or the other has spread to all the states of the northeast, popularly known as seven sisters. While insurgency in the northeast India is taking a toll of the law and order, peace, stability, progress and foreign relations; it is also causing irreparable harm to the press, the developments and the decision making process in administration. So, should it be the media’s mission to promote peace, democracy and growth in this region? This edited volume contains ten essays written by prominent media persons with first-hand experience of reporting on conflicts in northeast India. It provides the broad range of factors including the manner in which media operates and their relationship to the various ethnic conflicts in the region. This book is perhaps the first of its kind which explored many possibilities how to restore peace and public’s confidence in the region by engaging media as facilitator in the process.

This book provides a detailed account of the evolution of India’s Look and Act East Policy, addressing the nuances of the policy and its efficacy for the Northeast Region. The Northeastern India as a region is landlocked, sharing most of its boundary with neighbouring countries of South and South East Asia. It empirically explores the progress in and prospects for trade, investment and connectivity between Northeast India and Southeast Asian countries. Further, it discusses a range of regional and sub-regional multilateral initiatives – e.g. the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM), and Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) – that could potentially strengthen the cooperation between Northeast India and neighboring regions in the social, cultural and economic spheres.

This book maps the convergence of governance and connectivity within Asia established through the spatial dynamics of trade, capital, conflict, borders and mobility. It situates Indian trade and governance policies within a broader Asian and global context. Focussing on India’s North-East, in particular on India’s Look and Act East Policy, the volume underscores how logistical governance in the region can bring economic and political transformations. It explores the projected development of the North-East into a gateway of transformative cultural interaction among people, just as the Silk Road became a conduit for Buddhism to travel along with musical instruments and tea. Comprehensive and topical, this book will be useful for scholars and researchers of political studies, international relations, governance studies, development studies, international trade and economics and for think tanks working on South and Southeast Asia.

Quarterly Current Affairs - January to March 2018 for Competitive Exams is a unique handy magbook as it gives the complete update of the 1st three months of 2018. The book talks of all the recent evelopments in the field of Polity, Economics, Sience & Technology, Sports, Art & Culture etc. This book would prove to be an asset for all students aspiring for the different competitive exams. The book highlights the gist of the 1st quarter of 2018 through Game Changers, Causes & Effects, Quote & Unquote, etc.

This book explores queer potentialities in the tribal folktales of India. It elucidates the queer elements in the oral narratives of four indigenous communities from East and Northeast India, which are found to be significant repositories of gender fluidity and non-normative desires. Departing from the popular understanding that ‘Otherness’ results largely from undue exposure to Western permissiveness, the author reveals how minority sexualities actually have their roots in aboriginal indigenous cultures and do not necessarily constitute a mimicry of the West. The volume endeavours to demystify the politics behind such vindictive propagation to sensitize the queerphobic mainstream about the essential endogenous presence of the queer in the spaces that are aboriginal. Based on extensive interdisciplinary research, this book is a first of its kind in the study of indigenous queer narratives. It will be useful to scholars and researchers of queer studies, gender studies, tribal and indigenous studies, literature, cultural studies, postcolonialism, sociology, political studies and South Asian studies.

This book presents a systematic study of the transformation of the specific socio-political identity of the Muslims in Assam. It discusses the issues of Muslims under India’s ‘indigenous secularism’, Hindu nationalism and the rise of majoritarian politics; Muslim immigration into Assam after Independence; the Assam Movement and the shift of Muslims from being a vote bank to an autonomous force in the post-Partition politics of Assam; the role of Jamiat; and the divide between Assamese and the neo-Assamese. It explores the history and contemporary politics of the state to show how they shape the new context of Muslim identity in Assam, where previously an Assamese identity often prevailed over religious and linguistic identity. With the current debates on illegal immigration, the National Register of Citizens of India (NRC) and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019, this book will be a timely addition to the existing literature on Muslim minority politics in Assam and northeast India. This book will be useful to scholars and researchers of political science, sociology, political sociology, minority studies, northeast India studies, demography and immigration studies, and development studies. It will interest those concerned with minority politics, communal politics, identity politics, migration, citizenship issues, and South Asian studies.

This book provides an in-depth analysis and critical examination of the representation of ethnic, sexual, cultural, and individual identities in selected literary works by contemporary writers from Northeast India. The book explores the complex dynamics of identity construction, sexuality, marginalisation, ethnicity, and belonging in the context of Meghalaya and Northeast India as a whole. The author analyses poetry and prose by Janice Pariat, Anjum Hasan, Kynpham Singh Nongkynrih, and other Khasi writers. These works candidly portray the turmoil afflicting contemporary Meghalaya – from insurgency and ethnic tensions to ecological threats and loss of roots as well as reconciliation, integration, and mutual understanding. Using postmodern and postcolonial literary strategies, the book depicts fluid, heterogeneous, and multifaceted notions of identity in Northeast India. An exploration of ethnicity, belonging, and unbelonging in the Northeastern context, this book presents marginalised voices and liminal spaces. It will be of interest to academics focusing on Indian English literature, postcolonial literature, and South Asian Studies.

This book analyses the nearly 30 years of India–ASEAN relations from a contemporary perspective, identifies the reasons for India’s vibrant and significant relation with ASEAN and examines the cultural, economic, political and strategic linkages between India and ASEAN. The book projects the future of India–ASEAN relations in the face of the changing Indo-Pacific geopolitics and explores potential policies which could enhance the connection between India and Southeast Asian countries. Arguing that ASEAN is of primary importance to India, the book suggests that any successful outing in the Indo-Pacific would need a strong partnership with India. The book demonstrates how external powers influence ASEAN, with many of them supporting the centrality of ASEAN and its regional architecture in the broader Indo-Pacific. Chapters by experts in their fields present thematically specific analyses of political, defence, maritime and cultural aspects as well as the position of Northeast India in the India–ASEAN relations and assess the success and challenges of India’s ties with ASEAN in the context of the Look East and the Act East Policies. A reassessment of ASEAN–India relations past and present, this book will be of interest to academics and policy makers working in the field of International Relations, Asian Politics and South Asian Politics, in particular India’s Foreign Policy and Southeast Asian Politics.