Papers by Astha Chadha
Routledge eBooks, Jun 15, 2023
PacNet, 2023
This article (along with its preceding Part I), examines Canada’s 2022 Indo-Pacific strategy (CIP... more This article (along with its preceding Part I), examines Canada’s 2022 Indo-Pacific strategy (CIPS) in terms of how well it aligned with the country’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP). They take a deeper dive to examine ways in which the strategy could improve to better reflect the aims of Canada’s feminist policy on four key areas: i) regional peace, resilience, and security, ii) boosting trade with and within the region, iii) norm-setting and commitment to rule of law, and iv) promoting people-to-people connections, and sustainable future.
Routledge India eBooks, Feb 23, 2023
Indo-Pacific's interstate contentions: introduction The Indo-Pacific, a region stretching from th... more Indo-Pacific's interstate contentions: introduction The Indo-Pacific, a region stretching from the West shores of Africa to the East shores of the United States, is witnessing a period of conflicts involving several states that are contesting over interests and influence, even as they engage with strategic rivals for trade and economic interdependence. The nature of rivalries in the Indo-Pacific is transforming into issue-based conflicts, made severe by an emerging multi-polar world order with several regional powers projecting influence in the Indo-Pacific, which the US and its like-minded partners and allies view as a free, open, and inclusive region. The conceptualisation of the Indo-Pacific as a strategy entails the region being 'free, open and inclusive', which points to the freedom of navigation, free movement of goods and people across the key maritime lanes and access to the Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs) for all Indo-Pacific states. However, due to the strategic importance of these choke points as well as the shipping routes, the navies of several conflicting powers in the Indo-Pacific currently maintain a presence in the region through bilateral, trilateral and multilateral naval exercises and FONOPs among countries like the US, India, Japan, Australia, Vietnam and the Philippines. With rapid globalisation in the last decade of the twentieth century, the energy shipping routes in over 70 million square kilometres of the Indian Ocean became quintessential. The US established its naval presence in the Indian Ocean supported by its presence in the Middle East, and military bases in Oman and Qatar, amid an absence of Soviet presence in the region in 1991. In the 2000s, a Chinese military presence in the three regions of the Indian Ocean, East China Sea and South China Sea, reignited existing territorial disputes with India, ASEAN nations and Japan. Security tensions flared up in Asia with China, Pakistan and Russia spending larger portions of their GDP towards defence expenditures, threatening nations like the US, Japan and India (SIPRI 2020). In the backdrop of China's claims in the East and South China Sea where it claims almost the entire maritime region, its policy towards the maritime zone close to the Indian peninsula in the Indian Ocean was very different. In 2015, while referring to an increased presence of Chinese submarines close to Sri Lanka and Pakistan, Beijing remarked that thinking of the Indian Ocean as India's backyard is a "mistake" which could lead to "clashes" (Dasgupta 2015). The region is not only important for trade but also strategically located at the hub of energy and commercial routes from the Middle East (Map 5).
PacNet, 2023
The article (along with its Part 2), examines Canada’s 2022 Indo-Pacific strategy (CIPS) in terms... more The article (along with its Part 2), examines Canada’s 2022 Indo-Pacific strategy (CIPS) in terms of how well it aligned with the country’s Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP). They take a deeper dive to examine ways in which the strategy could improve to better reflect the aims of Canada’s feminist policy on four key areas: i) regional peace, resilience, and security, ii) boosting trade with and within the region, iii) norm-setting and commitment to rule of law, and iv) promoting people-to-people connections, and sustainable future.
Routledge eBooks, Nov 2, 2022
Asian Affairs
This book, published in 2020 before Prime Minister Abe’s resignation during the pandemic, acknowl... more This book, published in 2020 before Prime Minister Abe’s resignation during the pandemic, acknowledges his contributions to Japanese politics, i.e. bringing political stability, enabling kantei as “effective control tower, capable of reconciling policy conflicts”, and establishing a TPP headquarters to overcome “bureaucratic sectionalism”. Japan is identified as a nation that reconstructed itself through several liberal values (the post-war era’s pacifism, civil liberties, antinuclear values, and post-Cold War’s multilateralism, human security, democracy, and human rights).
International Journal of Religion
While religion’s presence in society is not disputed, its significance in international relations... more While religion’s presence in society is not disputed, its significance in international relations (ir) and the severity of its challenge to the largely ‘secular’ international relations discipline (IR) is still debatable. Also noteworthy is the way IR (theoretical) literature has defined and considered religion: caged in certain dimensions and constrained to specific roles. While Huntington started the debate on civilizational conflicts, several studies in the past few decades have contested the validity of not only ‘warring’ civilizations thesis but also how to incorporate religion in IR. There are fewer studies that discuss in-depth, various theoretical challenges that different groups of scholars have tried to tackle in IR, and the main gaps in those studies. This paper seeks to fill that gap by proposing a different review of the existing IR literature, i.e., in light of key trends in the IR’s quest to incorporate religion into existing theories or newer frameworks. In that cont...
The Twelfth International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS 12)
Asian Studies, The Twelfth International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS 12), 2022
India has been a key strategic player in the Indian Ocean where it sees itself as a net security ... more India has been a key strategic player in the Indian Ocean where it sees itself as a net security provider in the region. However, engagement of other powers in its neighborhood, as well as their partnerships with other South Asian nations towards defense, economics, infrastructure development and technology, has posed a challenge for India's security and foreign policy. The study analyses how the change in South Asia's regional dynamics (especially Pakistan and Bangladesh) have impacted India's neighborhood policy within its larger Indo-Pacific vision. The study also captures the changes and continuities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in India's bilateral and multilateral relationships in the region. The paper argues that while the bilateral relations between India and its South Asian neighbors have been contentious, New Delhi has constantly sought to balance the same through an engagement based on development partnership and new security arrangements. This has helped India in its balancing act in the changing relations of South Asian neighbors with other global powers like China and the US.
International Journal of Religion, 2022
While religion’s presence in society is not disputed, its significance in international relations... more While religion’s presence in society is not disputed, its significance in international relations (ir) and the severity of its challenge to the largely ‘secular’ international relations discipline (IR) is still debatable. Also noteworthy is the way IR (theoretical) literature has defined and considered religion: caged in certain dimensions and constrained to specific roles. While Huntington started the debate on civilizational conflicts, several studies in the past few decades have contested the validity of not only ‘warring’ civilizations thesis but also how to incorporate religion in IR. There are fewer studies that discuss in-depth, various theoretical challenges that different groups of scholars have tried to tackle in IR, and the main gaps in those studies. This paper seeks to fill that gap by proposing a different review of the existing IR literature, i.e., in light of key trends in the IR’s quest to incorporate religion into existing theories or newer frameworks.
Ritsumeikan Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, 2020
India and Japan have upgraded their cordial relations to a special strategic partnership. The dee... more India and Japan have upgraded their cordial relations to a special strategic partnership. The deepening of this relation is particularly evident since 2014, when Narendra Modi was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India, thus leading the nation to embark on a new journey of consolidating regional influence and establishing itself as a regional power amid the rise of China and regional transformations. India is very keen on furthering the special partnership with Japan, which not only allows Indian presence in regional strategic and security architecture, but also does not hinder the Indian autonomy. This paper, through the analysis of India's Japan strategy, security and infrastructure agreements, especially since 2014, seeks to address how India's foreign policy towards Japan has undergone changes to allow for India's greater role in Asia and what factors have led to these changes in India's Japan policy. The paper argues that realist perspective of balance of power in the backdrop of the rise of China as well as constructivist perspective of India's principle of nonalignment (despite strategic friendships), have been the base of India's Japan policy under Modi government, to pursue and promote greater Indian presence in geo-political and geo-strategic spheres. The paper analyses the India-Japan partnership as a response to emerging regional security challenges, explores the prospects of the partnership and charts the course of changing Indian diplomacy towards Japan.
Global Affairs, 2020
The book uses a neo-liberal framework of analysis to determine the clashing policies of major and... more The book uses a neo-liberal framework of analysis to determine the clashing policies of major and middle powers in the Asian political theatre, regarding the institution building as opposed to the ...
Anderson argued that it was not just the ‘innovation’ of nations as an entity that is important b... more Anderson argued that it was not just the ‘innovation’ of nations as an entity that is important but also the material conditions. The extent of nationalism and patriotism used as a tool in mass media (printed texts and popular culture) in India and Pakistan is evidence of the persisting enmity between neighboring states, which popular culture not only depicts but also ends up reinforcing with its construction of ‘the other’ and ‘the enemy’. The paper analyzes two films, Pakistan’s Ghazi Shaheed (1998) and India’s The Ghazi Attack (2017), which are war-at-sea and submarine films, respectively, To answer the research questions: How do these movies depict ‘imagined’ community and ‘blind’ nationalism? How is this depiction of ‘imagined’ community and ‘blind’ nationalism, similar or different in the two movies made on the same theme, given the backdrop of war and its outcome? In my analysis of the two films, I explore two facets of the concept of blindness: first, referencing Anderson’s ...
The views expressed and suggestions made in the book are solely of the author in his personal cap... more The views expressed and suggestions made in the book are solely of the author in his personal capacity and do not have any official endorsement. Attributability of the contents lies purely with author. The publisher does not take any responsibility for the same in any manner whatsoever.
This book presents an in-depth study of the security agreement between the “heavenly land,” India... more This book presents an in-depth study of the security agreement between the “heavenly land,” India, and the “land of the rising sun,” Japan, by tracing the evolution of their initial civilizational ...
Global Affairs
Multilateralism is the participation by several states in an objective-based grouping. The highly... more Multilateralism is the participation by several states in an objective-based grouping. The highly volatile geopolitical landscape necessitates states to engage with each other in an interdependent framework of institutions for fulfilling economic, security and strategic objectives. The book suggests that the post-Cold War world witnessed ASEAN-led institution building among states, which is called “multilateralism 1.0”, followed by a non-ASEAN led institutionalism after the advent of the Global Financial Crisis (2007–2008).
Ritsumeikan Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has swept the world with a state of medical emergency, economic slowdown an... more The COVID-19 pandemic has swept the world with a state of medical emergency, economic slowdown and health infrastructures challenged by multiple wave sand strains of the mutating virus. Despite a good recovery rate from the COVID-19 infections, India is among the worst affected nations by the pandemic economically and from a security perspective. While New Delhi witnessed worsening relations with its neighbors like China, it introduced several policies to tackle the COVID-19, while handling its international relations with its neighbors in the Indian Ocean and beyond. The paper raises the question of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the strategic environment for India. How did India respond to the regional challenges under this strategic environment through its COVID-19 strategy and/or diplomacy? The study uses the neoclassical realist concept of permissive/restrictive strategic environment and the role of foreign policy executive (FPE) in shaping foreign policy. The paper argues that COVID-19 proved to be a catalyst for shaping the strategic environment for India as that of imminent threat, leading to a more restrictive strategic environment for the nation, giving it narrower window of options to exercise its COVID-19 diplomacy and build security partnerships. It discusses how India's COVID-19 strategies were catalyst in shaping India's security policies and initiatives in the Indian Ocean region. The paper states that since India faced a restrictive strategic environment internationally, its foreign policy elite remained key actors that influenced India's foreign policy in the Indian Ocean to balance Chinese influence in the region through its COVID-19 diplomacy and strategy for regional engagement.
Ritsumeikan Journal of Asia Pacific Studies, 2020
India and Japan have upgraded their cordial relations to a special strategic partnership. The dee... more India and Japan have upgraded their cordial relations to a special strategic partnership. The deepening of this relation is particularly evident since 2014, when Narendra Modi was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India, thus leading the nation to embark on a new journey of consolidating regional influence and establishing itself as a regional power amid the rise of China and regional transformations. India is very keen on furthering the special partnership with Japan, which not only allows Indian presence in regional strategic and security architecture, but also does not hinder the Indian autonomy. This paper, through the analysis of India's Japan strategy, security and infrastructure agreements, especially since 2014, seeks to address how India's foreign policy towards Japan has undergone changes to allow for India's greater role in Asia and what factors have led to these changes in India's Japan policy. The paper argues that realist perspective of balance of power in the backdrop of the rise of China as well as constructivist perspective of India's principle of nonalignment (despite strategic friendships), have been the base of India's Japan policy under Modi government, to pursue and promote greater Indian presence in geo-political and geo-strategic spheres. The paper analyses the India-Japan partnership as a response to emerging regional security challenges, explores the prospects of the partnership and charts the course of changing Indian diplomacy towards Japan.
South Asian Popular Culture, 2021
Anderson argued that it was not just the ‘innovation’ of nations as an entity that is important b... more Anderson argued that it was not just the ‘innovation’ of nations as an entity that is important but also the material conditions. The extent of nationalism and patriotism used as a tool in mass media (printed texts and popular culture) in India and Pakistan is evidence of the persisting enmity between neighboring states, which popular culture not only depicts but also ends up reinforcing with its construction of ‘the other’ and ‘the enemy’. The paper analyzes two films, Pakistan’s Ghazi Shaheed (1998) and India’s The Ghazi Attack (2017), which are war-at-sea and submarine films, respectively, To answer the research questions: How do these movies depict ‘imagined’ community and ‘blind’ nationalism? How is this depiction of ‘imagined’ community and ‘blind’ nationalism, similar or different in the two movies made on the same theme, given the backdrop of war and its outcome? In my analysis of the two films, I explore two facets of the concept of blindness: first, referencing Anderson’s definition of being unable to see the community members or enemies, and the blindness one experiences while underwater in a submarine. The paper argues that these ‘imagined’ communities find their stronghold in religion, culture, language, and ways of being in order to justify the existence of separate nations despite being part of the same landmass and empire for centuries. The ‘submarine’ is both an abode for men at sea and a weapon run for the enemy. The submarine, as a patriotically charged body at sea, serving the idea of nationhood, is an extension of the nation’s body in water, unable to see but functioning on the perception and identity gained from the ‘motherland’.
Book Reviews by Astha Chadha
International Social Science Review, 2022
Available at: https://digitalcommons.northgeorgia.edu/issr/vol98/iss1/8
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Papers by Astha Chadha
Book Reviews by Astha Chadha
The thesis focuses on India's policy towards its bilateral relationship with Japan as well as a multilateral approach towards FOIP. Using the case study method for empirical analysis, it analyzes India’s Japan as well as the Quad and Indo-Pacific policy through the lens of IR theories- Realism and Constructivism. The thesis argues that the rise of Chinese influence in and around the Indian Ocean has impacted India’s foreign policy towards Japan to a certain extent, while greatly affecting India’s Indo-Pacific policy. The thesis also argues that India's guiding foreign policy ideal of non-alignment has made India's policy towards Japan and FOIP symbolically non-aligned, wherein India has exercised varying degrees of caution in partnering with other countries to preserve its strategic autonomy by engaging in strategic issue-based engagements with nations without allying with any.
Key rivalries discussed are those of the US (with China and Russia), India (with China and Pakistan) and Japan (with China). The chapter then traces how these rivalries have grown larger over time with the engagement of larger powers in the largely bilateral disputes, and/or engagement of these powers in disputes of other states, thereby forming a network/web of rivalries in the Indo-Pacific.
The overall aims of the chapter are two-fold: Firstly, to trace the (nature of) development of strategic rivalries extending from economic and security issues to technological race since WW2 in the Indo-Pacific region. Secondly, to provide a multi-level web of strategic rivalries in the Indo-Pacific to explain the engagement of intra- as well as extra-regional powers in larger conflicts related to the Indo-Pacific.
in Book : Global India: The Pursuit of Influence and Status
Editor: Chris Ogden
Citation: Chadha, A. & Sato, Y. (2023). India–Japan Alignment in the Indo-Pacific. In Ogden, C. (Ed.), Global India: The Pursuit of Influence and Status (pp. 101-117). Routledge. eBook ISBN: 9781003305132. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003305132-9
Editors: Moises de Souza, Dean Karalekas, Gregory Coutaz