1st Edition
Contiguity, Connectivity and Access The Importance of the Bay of Bengal Region in Indian Foreign Policy
This volume examines themes like contemporary factors shaping the emergence of the Bay of Bengal region as a critical strategic theatre in Indian foreign policy; the inter-connectedness of the Indian and Pacific Oceans; the importance of oceans to security and commerce and India’s role within the broader region; the twenty-first century maritime Silk Road and Indian alternatives and the possibilities of reconnecting disconnected spaces through re-imagining a Bay of Bengal Community. In this connection the volume takes particular note of the emerging regional cooperative order for the promotion of peace and development in the Bay of Bengal region (BIMSTEC). The volume brings together historians, political analysts and political economists to emphasize the interconnectedness of the oceanic space through a detailed analysis of the Bay of Bengal as a space of strategic and economic significance, particularly for India, but also as a space for re-imagining a new regional community.
Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan).
Section 1: Imagining a Bay of Bengal Community: History, Literature and Diasporas
1. ‘Convergence’ across the Bay: Early Interactions and Exchanges between Regions of Eastern Sea-Board of India and Regions of Southeast Asia
Suchandra Ghosh
2. Forging New Friendships through Oceanic Travels: Cosmopolitan and Nationalistic Ideas in Bengali Journals (late 19th and 20th centuries)
Sarvani Gooptu
3. Locating the Bengali Revolutionaries in Burma (1923–33): As Reflected in the History and Literature of the Wider Migratory Culture of Bay of Bengal
Susmita Mukerjee
Section 2: The Contemporary Factors Shaping the Emergence of the Bay of Bengal Region as a Critical Strategic Theatre in Indian Foreign Policy
4. Projection of the ‘Bay of Bengal Initiative’ as a Strategic Endeavour: A Critical Survey
Shantanu Chakrabarti
5. The Bay of Bengal as a Strategic Theatre: Trends in Narratives
Anindya Jyoti Majumdar
6. India’s Bay of Bengal Strategy: Programme and Predicaments
Subhadeep Bhattacharya
Section 3: The Importance of Oceans to Strategy
7. The Strategic Significance of Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Assessing Anti-Access Area Denial Potential in the Bay of Bengal
Vivek Mishra and Rushali Saha
8. India’s Littoral Strategy in the Indo-Pacific Region: Partnership and Beyond
Sayantani Sen Majumdar
9. Piracy and Armed Robbery in Indian Ocean Region: Assessment, Challenges and the Way Forward
Abhishek Mishra
Section 4: Globalisation, Regionalism, and Indian Alternatives
10. Globalisation, Asian Regionalism and BIMSTEC: An International Political Economy Perspective
Avipsu Haldar
11. The Bay of Bengal and the Politics of Strategic Geographies
Pratnashree Basu and Oishee Majumdar
12. Power Projection in the Bay of Bengal: Comparing India and China’s Naval Strategies
Urbi Das
Biography
Suranjan Das is currently the Vice-Chancellor of Jadavpur University and Honorary Director of Netaji Institute for Asian Studies, Kolkata. Professor Das is an Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Exeter. He specialises in South Asian History and Politics, especially on issues relating to nation-building and Indian Foreign Policy. He has authored six monographs, co-authored four books, co-edited seven volumes and published 30 articles in refereed journals and edited volumes, which are widely cited.
Anita Sengupta is an area studies specialist engaged with the study of the Eurasian region. Her areas of interest include issues of identity politics, migration, gender, borders, critical geopolitics and logistics. She has been Director, Calcutta Research Group. She is currently Director, Asia in Global Affairs, Kolkata and Senior Fellow Indian Council for Social Science Research, New Delhi.
