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).

Professor Das provides a fascinating study of the issue of ethnic politics in multi-ethnic Third World countries and discusses the non-convergence of state and nation in the context of Kashmir and Sindh. The artificial de-colonization process in the South Asian sub-continent resulted in the construction of national frontiers for its two successor states that did not rest on a synchronization of ethnic and state boundaries. Consequently, cross-border loyalties amongst significant sections of the population survived the boundaries imposed between the two successor states. In the context of centralizing nation-building strategies, when ethnic political assertions occur in outlying or frontier areas of these nation-states, the distinction between domestic and external affairs or between home and foreign politics tends to lose its significance in the traditional sense. Political actors from across the borders of neighbouring states can then deny the marks of their different objective nationalities and treat themselves as members of a single 'loyalty group'.

Thus, ethnic politics transcends its domestic contours and helps foment regional tensions. In such circumstances, ethnic assertions tend to constitute vital local or domestic ingredients that define the national security priorities within a particular region. The current insurrection in Kashmir and turmoil in Sindh superbly demonstrate this pattern.

Professor Das provides a fascinating study of the issue of ethnic politics in multi-ethnic Third World countries and discusses the non-convergence of state and nation in the context of Kashmir and Sindh. The artificial de-colonization process in the South Asian sub-continent resulted in the construction of national frontiers for its two successor states that did not rest on a synchronization of ethnic and state boundaries. Consequently, cross-border loyalties amongst significant sections of the population survived the boundaries imposed between the two successor states. In the context of centralizing nation-building strategies, when ethnic political assertions occur in outlying or frontier areas of these nation-states, the distinction between domestic and external affairs or between home and foreign politics tends to lose its significance in the traditional sense. Political actors from across the borders of neighbouring states can then deny the marks of their different objective nationalities and treat themselves as members of a single 'loyalty group'.

Thus, ethnic politics transcends its domestic contours and helps foment regional tensions. In such circumstances, ethnic assertions tend to constitute vital local or domestic ingredients that define the national security priorities within a particular region. The current insurrection in Kashmir and turmoil in Sindh superbly demonstrate this pattern.