Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
मनोहर पर्रिकर रक्षा अध्ययन एवं विश्लेषण संस्थान

Sumita Kumar

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Ms. Sumita Kumar, Senior Research Associate, joined MP-IDSA in 1993. She specialises on South Asian security issues with a special focus on Pakistan. Her research publications have covered a diverse range of issues concerning Pakistan’s foreign policy, strategic thinking, internal politics and security, energy security, and role in regional cooperation. She has published chapters in books and articles in journals in India and abroad, as well as the Indian media. She has done in-depth research, and prepared reports for various agencies and organisations, including the National Security Council Secretariat. She has given briefings and lectures to members of the Indian armed forces and paramilitary forces as well as at academic institutions. She undertook the editing and supervised the production of IDSA’s publications under the outsourcing scheme for four years during which three books were published. She was Staff Representative on the Executive Council of the Institute from September 2004 till October 2006. She has had a research stint at Tashkent, Uzbekistan and has been a guest researcher at the Bonn International Center for Conversion, Germany. She has been an Associate with the Pakistan Security Research Unit, University of Bradford, UK from March 2007 to March 2013, and of PSRU, Durham University since April 2013. She has visited Pakistan a number of times and conducted wide ranging interviews. She is an alumnus of Jawaharlal Nehru University.

She organised the annual South Asia Conference in 2012 and edited the volume which resulted from the proceedings (Stability and Growth in South Asia, IDSA & Pentagon Press, 2014). Her publications include a co-edited book on India’s Neighbourhood: Challenges Ahead (IDSA & Rubicon Publishers, 2008) and a chapter on China’s relations with Pakistan in the China Yearbook (IDSA, August 2015). She was a member of the IDSA team that brought out Pakistan Project Reports titled Unending Violence in Pakistan: Analysing the Trends (November 2014); Pakistan on the Edge (April 2013); and Whither Pakistan? Growing Instability and Implications for India(June 2010). Other publications include a chapter on “US Measures Against Pakistan’s Nuclear Policies, 1990-2001,”in Putting Teeth in the Tiger: Improving the Effectiveness of Arms Embargoes co-edited by Michael Brzoska and George A. Lopez (Emerald Group Publishing Ltd., Bingley, 2009); chapters assessing the political situation in Pakistan and the prospects for regional energy cooperation in India and Its Neighbours:Towards a New Partnership (IDSA, 2008); a chapter on the army in the power structure of Pakistan in Pakistan In a Changing Strategic Context (2004); and on Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme in Nuclear India (1998).

  • Senior Research Associate
  • Email:sumitakumar[at]hotmail[dot]com
  • Phone: +91 11 2671 7983

Publication

Comments

Countering Terrorism as a Joint Venture?

The outcome of the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pervez Musharraf at Havana has evoked mixed reactions from various quarters within both India and Pakistan. It has also raised a number of questions to which there are no easy answers. The meeting, which took place on September 16 on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit, was obviously successful as it resulted in the resumption of the dialogue process, which had stalled in the aftermath of the Mumbai train blasts in July 2006.

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Prospects for Democracy in Pakistan Appear Dim

The pro-democracy, anti-Musharraf movement launched by the combined opposition in May 2006 will once again put on trial the strength and determination of the people of Pakistan to snatch power from the clutches of the military. The Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD), a conglomerate of 15 parties, has demanded the resignation of President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz by July 31, 2006, failing which a vote of no-confidence would be moved against the Musharraf regime. The demand was made in a resolution adopted by the Alliance on July 2.

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Comments

Taliban Successes: A Matter of Concern

Condoleeza Rice's visit to Pakistan on June 27-28, 2006 before she proceeded to Kabul indicated abundant concern on the part of the US government about the increasing strength of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the expectation that Pakistan would pull its weight to ensure better results in combating terrorism. This was made apparent in her clearly enunciated statement which emphasised the need for increased cooperation between Pakistan and the Afghan government on the one hand, and among the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan on the other.

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Pakistan and Regionalism

Regionalism has not been a very successful endeavour in South Asia so far. What has gone wrong? Regionalism can be approached from both functional and neo-functional approaches. While functionalism is still relevant in Europe, primarily because of its geographical contiguity and cultural commonalities, the same does not seem to have worked in South Asia in spite of common historical and cultural roots and geographical contiguity. The article explores the specific case of Pakistan and its inability to come to terms with the basic tenets of regionalism.

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The Earthquake in Kashmir

The massive destruction caused by the earthquake in India and Pakistan has thrown up huge challenges of rescue, relief and rehabilitation. The magnitude of the destruction means that reconstruction and rehabilitation in the affected areas is going to be a long process. There are reports that the death toll in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Northern Territories could cross 50,000. The losses in India have been comparatively less, and despite the huge difficulties of terrain authorities have effectively engaged in overcoming the effects of the tragedy.

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Stability and Growth in South Asia

  • Publisher: Pentagon Press

This book examines the forces and processes which have led to relative political stability or unleashed trends in that direction in some countries of South Asia. It also delves into the factors that have stimulated economic growth in some countries, and impeded economic growth in others. Eminent authors from the region examine how far the positive political and economic trends in the region are irreversible or lend themselves to internal convulsions or external influences. There is also a focus on how far inter-state relations within the region have led to stronger intra-regional co-operation, particularly in the economic field.

  • ISBN 978-81-8274-748-7,
  • Price: ₹ 995/-
  • E-copy available

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