India’s neighbours have not been entirely trouble free in the past, but the preceding few years have been unusually turbulent.
Nepal
has been affected by a law and order poblem that is referred to in the media as a Maoist insurgency. These Maoists have been active in the neglected and underdeveloped western districts of Nepal, where they have set up a parallel government. Attempts to put down the Moist insurgency using the Nepalese Army have not succeeded. The Maoists are opposed to a constitutional monarchy, and are somewhat ambivalent towards a parliamentary form of
democracy. The root causes of dissatisfaction in Nepal are the lack of economic growth and the failure to provide an effective government. Nepal’s economy still largely depends on Tourism; the enormous potential for hydro power generation has not been exploited. Bangladesh, India’s neighbour to the east, has completed three decades of its existence. It has had to chart a delicte balance in managing the state’s economy and politics. It has gone through the trauma of
political assasination and military coup. It seems that parliamentary democracy has struck roots here, but rapid economic growth is needed for it to consolidate. Bangladesh is strategically important for India, as many of the trade and transport links to the North East pass through Bangladeshi territory. The Sri Lankan civil conflict has had an adverse impact on the national economy. Norwegian efforts to mediate in the Sri Lankan ethnic crisis seem to have reached a stalemate. With the passage of time, efforts to reach an equitable and honourable solution are become increasingly difficult. Burma has managed to remain in more or less splendid isolation through the decades since independence. (Barring a short period that brought Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League of Democracy to power in general elections.) It remains to be seen whether the clique of generals can overcome the dissensions which afflict Burmese society, and restore both normalcy and health to the Burmese economy. Pakistan’s General Musharraf, who usurped power in 1999, has sidelined the two main political parties by driving their leaders into exile. Under General Musharraf’s leadership, Pakistan has continued its adversarial relationship with India. India’s invitation to General Musharraf could not have come at a worse time – by giving him the credibility he surely did not deserve. On the law and order front, Pakitan’s record is cause for concern not only to India but to the other countries of the region as well. A Jehadi mentality seems to be overwhelming sections of Pakistani society. Many observers speak of the “Talibanisation” of Pakistan. The presence of the Taliban in Afghanistan is problem enough. A large amount of weaponry is freely floating in the hands of these Jehadi elements, who would not hesitate to turn their weapons against their own countrymen.