By C. Raja Mohan

C. Raja Mohan is Professor of South Asian Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and a Contributing Editor of ‘The Indian Express’, New Delhi. He recently made South Asia policy recommendations for the incoming administration through The Asia Foundation’s 2008 America’s Role in Asia project.

Raja Mohan

After the awful terror attacks against Mumbai last month, the conventional wisdom in the Subcontinent and beyond is that the weak governments in New Delhi and Islamabad may be unable to manage the gathering crisis in Indo-Pak relations and will inevitably drift towards a military conflict.

Yet, with the help of some purposeful diplomacy from Washington, the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari have managed to postpone if not avoid the more terrible consequences of the terrorist aggression against Mumbai.
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By Balasubramanian Iyer

Balu Iyer is The Asia Foundation’s Director of Field Operations, South Asia, for The Asia Foundation. He can be reached at bgiyer@asiafound.org.

Many in India expected India’s ruling Congress Party to be defeated in recent state elections because of its inept handling of the Mumbai attacks and the souring economy. It didn’t, proving yet again that politics is local. In the forthcoming general elections, however, these global factors of terrorism and the economy will matter.

In Mumbai and throughout India, there is public outrage not only against the perpetrators of the attacks and their supporters, but against an utterly ineffective intelligence and security infrastructure. The Indian electorate is waiting to see the Congress Party’s response to the terrorist attacks; this will determine the Party’s fate in the Parliamentary elections, to be held in mid-2009.
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This week, President-elect Obama announced his national security team, and with last week’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai, strengthening bilateral and regional relationships in South Asia will be among their most urgent priorities. In The Asia Foundation’s recently released recommendations for the in-coming administration, America’s Role in Asia, former Ambassador Karl Inderfurth provides recommendations for U.S. policy with India, while CSIS scholar Teresita Schaffer weighs in on Pakistan and Dr. Raja Mohan gives insight on what the South Asian region wants to see from Obama’s team.

On October 20th, The Asia Foundation Ambassador Karl “Rick” Inderfurth, Asia Foundation trustee and former Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, spoke at  Stanford University, along with other Asia Foundation trustees, Ted Eliot, Jr., former Ambassador to Afghanistan, and Teresita Schaffer, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, in a conversation called  “Awaiting the Next U.S. Administration: Seizing New Opportunities in India–Addressing Growing Challenges  With Pakistan and Afghanistan.” All three wrote chapters in the just-published volume, America’s Role in Asia. More about the discussion can be read in the article “India, U.S. on Track for More Accords: Inderfurth.”

By V. Bruce J. Tolentino

Bruce Tolentino is The Asia Foundation’s Director for Economic Reform and Development Programs. He can be reached at btolentino@asiafound.org.

Over the past few weeks, as the U.S. financial system has reeled from a shocking series of major “adjustments,” Asia’s economists and bankers remind themselves of the key lessons — painfully taught — by the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s:  (a) all markets are linked; (b) financial markets are much more volatile than others and thus require more stringent oversight and regulation; and (c) refocusing on economic fundamentals is key to long-term recovery and growth.

Taking the long view, the medium-to-long term impact of the U.S. financial crisis on Asia is likely to be muted.
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By Karl F. Inderfurth

Ambassador Karl Inderfurth, a Trustee of The Asia Foundation and contributor to America’s Role in Asia: Asian and American Views, summarized his recommendations for a new U.S. administration on how to strengthen the U.S.-India relationship for The Hindu. In the op-ed, he provides a seven-point agenda for the United States, which focuses on strengthening strategic ties, realizing economic potential, pursuing a broader nuclear dialogue, highlighting higher education, supporting India’s United Nations bid, collaborating more in the neighborhood, and promoting a cooperative triangle with China.

By John Brandon

John Brandon is Director of The Asia Foundation’s International Relations program and head of America’s Role in Asia.

With our election cycle, every four years American foreign policy has a fresh opportunity to be re-examined and re-strategized. Come 2009, U.S. policy towards Asia will continue to directly affect 60% of the world’s population. Many Asians tell me they’re concerned that decisions affecting them, and their countries’ security, are being made unilaterally in Washington. Many say they believe the Global War on Terror tops the U.S. foreign policy agenda, trumping all else. Asian policymakers I’ve spoken to say repeatedly they have little input in decisions made in the U.S. and that their domestic interests are rarely if ever taken into account. Given the political, economic, and security interests of the U.S. in the region, it is essential that both Americans and Asians contribute to solving problems of mutual concern.
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By V. Bruce J. Tolentino

Bruce Tolentino is The Asia Foundation’s Director for Economic Reform. He can be reached at btolentino@asiafound.org.

Widespread hunger now threatens the developing world, especially in Asia. The knee-jerk reactions of individual countries are worsening the situation. Unilateral actions by certain countries have exacerbated the problem of food price increases. Countries and economies are inextricably and unavoidably ever more linked; actions in one nation impact all.

For example, the Indian government imposed a ban on rice exports in November 2007 and took itself—the world’s second-largest exporter of rice—out of the market. This immediately set off repercussions in the countries of other major exporters—particularly Vietnam. In the last twelve months, Vietnam has experienced unprecedented inflation and suffered a slight downturn in rice production. Now, Vietnam is limiting its own exports.
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By Rajendra Abhyankar

Ambassador Rajendra Abhyankar was the Indian Secretary of External Affairs from 2001-2004 and has served as the Indian Ambassador to the EU, Belgium and Luxemburg, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Syria, and Cyprus. He was also the Consul General of India in San Francisco, California. He currently serves as The Asia Foundation’s Program Development Consultant in India.

Finally the US sub-prime crisis caught up with the Indian stock market. The massive fall in the Sensex (Bombay Stock Exchange) last week, and equally rapid rise the very next, sent shock waves leading the regulator to close down the market. The ripple effect of the sub-prime crisis which has taken the toll of major global investors was bound to hit the Indian stock exchange with 1200 foreign financial investors invested to the extent of over US$ 70 billion in a market size of US$ 450-500 billion. It is estimated of this nearly US$ 250 billion was in the Promissory Notes which were bound to be called when the market dipped.
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By Balasubramanian Iyer
 
Balasubramanian Iyer is The Asia Foundation’s Director for Field Operations in South Asia. 
 
On July 27, 2007, the White House announced the conclusion of a technical agreement between the United States and India, which would for the first time allow civil nuclear cooperation between the two countries. The landmark 123 Agreement sets a framework for the two countries to fully cooperate on civil nuclear initiatives such as research and development, and trade in nuclear technologies.  Before nuclear cooperation can begin, India needs to finalize separate agreements with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the nuclear watch-dog, and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) – a cartel of nations that export nuclear material. Then, U.S. lawmakers need to approve the agreement.
 
While India’s cabinet has signed off on the technical agreement, lawmakers from the communist parties – known as the Left Front (who support the Manmohan Singh Government) and BJP, the Hindu nationalist party (currently in opposition), have opposed the deal, although on different grounds.
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