Pakistan has invariably evoked a great deal of interest among India’s strategic affairs community. Because of historical, geographical, economic and cultural linkages, developments in the neighbourhood have important implications for India’s politics, economy and security. This is especially true in the case of Pakistan. Recent developments in Pakistan have been a cause of concern for all the countries concerned about its future. Given the need for better understanding of developments in Pakistan, IDSA launched its Pakistan Project in the year 2009. The project team began its work in March 2009 and has been meeting regularly to discuss various developments in Pakistan. The reports of the project as well as the discussion summaries of various meetings are produced here for wider dissemination.

Pakistan News Digest

The digest seeks to keep its focus on all round strategic developments taking place in Pakistan on a monthly basis. It culls out information and analyses from the Pakistani media— both English and vernacular— and provides a ready reference material for the wider strategic community. Given the strategic importance of Pakistan for India and the wider world, it is hoped that the digest will be received well by the readers.

Pakistan Project: Weekly E-bulletin

This e-bulletin seeks to focus on major developments in Pakistan and bring them to the attention of strategic analysts and policy makers in India on a weekly basis. It will carry a lead commentary on the most important development during the previous weeks, followed by useful information on the evolving political, economic and security situation in Pakistan.

First Report: June 2010

The Pakistan Project came up with first report titled Whither Pakistan? Growing Instability and Implications for India in June 2010. This report produced by the project team was reviewed by a panel of experts in January 2010 and finalized with their inputs and suggestions. The basic argument that flows from the report is that Pakistan is likely to remain unstable because of inherent weaknesses in its political, economic and security policies. The absence of any long-term shared vision of Pakistan, the over-securitization of the state apparatus because of its obsession with India as a threat and an enemy, and the state’s ambivalence towards the phenomenon of Islamic radicalism will keep Pakistan in a state of chronic turmoil. The report suggests a set of policy alternatives for India to deal with the consequences of an unstable Pakistan, on a long term basis.

Second Report: December 2012

The Pakistan Project of IDSA came up with a second report titled Pakistan on the Edge in December 2012. This Report takes into account various political developments in Pakistan focusing more on the events of the last two years and analyses its impact on the nation’s nascent democracy. The Report takes a broad view of the politics, emerging political alliances, economy, foreign policy, India-Pakistan relations and civil-military relations. Two chapters of this report focus on Pakistan’s English and Urdu language print media and how it looks at the critical issues of domestic and foreign policy.

Weekly Discussion Summaries