India S Saudi Policy

The book traces India’s Saudi Policy and locates the current state of bilateral relations and the challenges it faces. It argues that during the Cold War the relations were largely shaped by the Pakistan factor which in turn inhibited both sides from exploring the importance and value of one another. As a result, the relations were largely transactional and marginal. The end of the Cold War coincided with two interesting developments, namely, significant growth in India’s economic power and influence and the de-hyphenation of Pakistan from its Middle East policy. This resulted in greater political engagements between India and Saudi Arabia and was strengthened by the growing energy trade ties. For long expatiate population and haj have been the backbone of the relations, and they have been new instruments as India looks to enhance its engagements with the Kingdom through investments opportunities, political contacts, shared security concerns and strategic cooperation. India’s Saudi policy, however, face many challenges most importantly the regional instability, the Iran factor, low oil price and the international dynamics. The book will be the first comprehensive work on the India-Saudi relations. Though targeting a wider audience, it will be academically grounded and based on primary sources collected from India and Saudi Arabia.

India Migration Report 2015 explores migration and its crucial linkages with gender. This volume: • studies important issues such as irregular migration, marriage migration and domestic labour migration, as well as the interconnections of migration, gender and caste; • highlights the relationship between economics and changing gender dynamics brought about by migration; and • documents first-hand experiences of migrants from across India. Part of the prestigious annual series, this work will be useful to scholars and researchers of development studies, economics, migration and diaspora studies, and sociology. It will also interest policy-makers and government institutions working in the area.

The book is on the Prime Ministers of India since Jawaharlal Nehru. A chapter is devoted to each of them with a focus on their foreign policies. The broad organisational framework, designed and deployed in this publication, begins with a brief analysis of their formative years, their perceptions of the international system, and the architecture of their foreign policies, before delving into their decisional process, and before concluding with an evaluation of their role. All the Prime Ministers were obviously not interested in international affairs. Though the dimensional size of the country had unavoidably pushed all of them to deal with foreign affairs, their role was variegated and their performance was unequal. While the Nehru-Gandhi family were the icons of Indian diplomacy, there were others like Morarji Desai, V.P.Singh, H.D.Deve Gowda, Chandra Shekar, etc. who were really marginal either because their mandate was limited by time or by interest. The uniqueness of the book lies in the fact that the author has dealt with all the Prime Ministers, including the ones for whom foreign policy was not crucial.

This book provides new insights and research studies on how developing countries come to terms with the nationalisation policies of Gulf economies that provide employment for their nationals. Focusing on regions and countries that have traditionally been overlooked, it includes studies on labour migration from Egypt to the Middle East and from the Philippines to Lebanon, migrant experiences and policy prospects in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, and Indian migration to the Gulf. The book fills a critical gap in migration research by studying migration from various Indian states, such as Tamil Nadu, Telugu-speaking states (Telangana and Andhra Pradesh), Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. It also explores the unexpected phenomenon of demographic windows of economic opportunity (not documented in demographic literature) observed in a few Arab countries due to older migrant expatriates returning to their home country; the impact of international out-migration on intergenerational educational mobility among children in migrant-sending households in Kerala; and forced migration of Kerala Muslims to the Gulf.

India, one of the largest importers of oil in the world, has been diversifying its energy resource options and moving towards greater energy security. This book analyses India’s potential for building energy ties in the Asia–Pacific considering the global and regional power politics. Facing China’s growing influence in Asia, India’s eastward engagement with its extended neighbours has been entrenched in its Act East Policy and institutional commitments towards Southeast Asia. This volume focuses on diverse facets of energy security beyond the traditional understanding of demand and supply and price and stability. It examines India’s energy sector, its dependence on hydrocarbons, and the push towards renewable and alternate energy resources. It further looks at the strategic importance of the Indian Ocean and South China Sea regions in geopolitical negotiations from an energy perspective and how China’s influence in the region will affect India’s moves towards greater energy cooperation with the countries of East Asia. With contributions by leading experts, the volume seeks to fill a major void in this theme and cater to the needs of a variety of audiences including academics, policymakers and experts in international relations, geopolitics and geoeconomics, and professionals in the field of energy studies.

India Migration Report 2014 is one of the first systematic studies on contribution of diasporas in development, in countries of origin as well as destination. This volume: examines how diasporic human and financial resources can be utilized for economic growth and sustainable development, especially in education and health; offers critical insights on migrant experiences, transnationalism and philanthropic networks, and indigenization and diaspora policies, as well as return of diasporas; and includes case studies on Indian migrants in the Gulf region — in particular, Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia — and the United Kingdom, among others. With essays by major contributors, the volume will interest scholars and researchers on economics, development studies, migration and diaspora studies, and sociology. It will also be useful to policy-makers and government institutions working in the area.

The global security environment in the last five years has been characterised by a state of ‘no war, no peace’ among major powers, resulting in a state of uncertainty about their national security objectives. For instance, the US has been concerned about the attitudes of Iran, Russia, North Korea, China, and others, and yet did not expect a direct military conflict with them. On the other hand, China has expanded its naval strategy from a mere ‘off-shore defence’ to ‘open seas protection’ and has called for both ‘defence and offence’ instead of merely ‘territorial air defence’, thereby indicating preparedness for the possibility of a military confrontation. The major powers have been thus groping for suitable responses to their threat perceptions. It is in this kind of a complex and confusing international environment that India, as a rising power, has been called upon to wade through its strategic partnerships with major powers and nurture friendships with various Asian and African countries. This sixteenth volume of India’s National Security Annual Review offers indispensable information and evaluation on matters pertaining to national security. It undertakes a thorough analysis of the trends to provide a backdrop to India’s engagement with various countries. The volume also discusses persisting threats from China and Pakistan. With contributions from experts from the fields of diplomacy, academia, and civil and military services, the book will be one of the most dependable sources of analyses for scholars of international relations, foreign policy, defence and strategic studies, and political science, and practitioners alike.

India has the world’s fourth largest military and one of the biggest defence budgets. It asserts its political and military profile in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region. The nation has been in the midst of an ambitious plan to modernize its largely Soviet-era arms since the late 1990s and has spent billions of dollars on latest high-tech military technology. This handbook: canvasses over 60 years of Indian defence policy and the major debates that have shaped it; discusses several key themes such as the origins of the modern armed forces in India; military doctrine and policy; internal and external challenges; and nuclearization and its consequences; includes contributions by well-known scholars, experts in the field and policymakers; and provides an annotated bibliography for further research. Presented in an accessible format, this lucidly written handbook will be an indispensable resource for scholars and researchers of security and defence studies, international relations and political science, as well as for government think tanks and policymakers.