Abstract
Academic engagements with the borders of the South Asian region have been expanding in tone and tenor, interrogating the disciplinary boundaries and framework of the border studies (BS) discourse through various lenses. The discourse increasingly points out the importance of engaging with the conceptualisation as well as the projection of the South Asian region as a post-colonial and post-partition region and the multilayered connotations of borders that it produces. Through these engagements, the BS discourse also continues to explore larger questions around the region, striving for a foundational framework to assess issues such as the future of regional cooperation, greater socio-economic integration and so on. One of the more recent attempts in this direction is the volume ‘Re-Imagining Border Studies in South Asia’ edited by Dhananjay Tripathi.
The fourteen chapters of the book are divided into four well thought out thematic sections. These, as Tripathi claims, are ‘not only discussing the physical borders of the region but also are focusing on theoretical and conceptual parts’ (p. 12). Drawn from scholars broadly from political science and international relations background, the chapters explore multiple frames to theorise BS from a South Asian perspective on regional connectivity and economy, the life and society of borderlands and the issue of border securitisation. The wide range of chapters with distinct themes imparts an interdisciplinary flavour to the work, connected by the common thread of reimagining the South Asian border regimes.
The book indicates its primary agenda at the outset, to address the theoretical void in comprehending and examining the tangled borders of South Asia, a task ‘necessary for generating an intellectual interest to re-examine borders and thereby widen the research agenda of BS in South Asia’ (p. 12). With three theoretically rich essays, the first section ‘Theorising borders: the South Asian perspective’ opens up the conversation around the current debates in the BS discourse. Dhananjay Tripathi’s introductory essay calls for critical engagements within the ‘Third World’ and ‘Global South’, moving away from the dominance of Euro-centric and North American-centric traditional frames. This he argues would be pivotal for a re-imagination of Asian perspectives of BS. The article by Sriparna Pathak ‘the Chinese Concept of Sovereignty and the India-China Border Dispute’ continues the discussion as it examines the interesting phenomena of ‘China’s dual utilisation of Western notions of sovereignty along with the historic-cultural imagination of its borders’ (p. 31). The chapter provides useful insights into understanding and evaluating the nature of the border dispute between China and India, one of the most talked about border skirmishes in the South Asian region between two of the largest military establishments in the world. Vaishali Raghuvanshi’s essay, the second one in the theoretical section, talks of the cultural turn in BS, focusing on the epistemological and ontological underpinnings of the discourse as it sets out to ‘to examine the India-Pakistan border from the point of view of fictional narratives’ (p. 34). To illustrate the argument that borders are not just ‘cartographic lines on the map,’ but also have ‘histories of their own’ (p. 43), Raghuvanshi selects a few prominent works of political fiction (‘Train to Pakistan’ and ‘Tamas’) as important sites that produce or affect the nature of mental borders between India and Pakistan. This brings in a much-needed focus on the dialectics between identities, othering and the processes of border-making, found absent in much of BS discourse. The final chapter in this section by Syed Murtaza Mushtaq brings out an under-researched theme, the religious foundations of the theoretical formulations of BS. Focusing on Islam and its interpretation of borders, Mushtaq offers a philosophical treatment of borders, territoriality, state, nation, citizenship, migration and asylum, themes that have substantial global resonance in contemporary times.
The second section of the book, focusing on the theme of regional economic trade and connectivity, begins with the chapter by Dhananjay Tripathi and R. Madhav Krishnan that looks at ‘Indian ambition to connect with energy-rich Central Asia and economically strong Southeast Asia’ (p. 62). On the discussion of an important aspect, that is, infrastructural expansion and borders, the chapter critically examines various ‘connectivity projects’ along the Central Asian and Southeast Asian borderlands of India. Situating some of these under the rubrics of meta-policy narratives like India’s Look/Act East Policy, the authors flag a few possibilities that have the potential of ‘opening a new path for Border Studies in India’ (p. 72). The next chapter in this section, by Mohit Nayal, deals with critical issues of the maritime border between India and Sri Lanka, focusing on the geopolitical and legal engagements around the Palk Strait. Borders as lines of control often cut through the lived realities of people inhabiting those spaces and as the chapter shows, the lived experiences of the fisherman of both India and Sri Lanka assumes contentious dimensions over the shared space of the Palk Strait, thus putting to test India’s foreign policy ideals like the ‘neighbourhood first policy’. Reflections around similar themes, prospects and contestations over shared resources across borders continue with the empirically rich chapter by Sankalp Gurjar on the various aspects of trans-border energy connectivity in South Asia. Gurjar makes a strong case for the creation of the South Asian regional energy market and interdependent energy space which he argues, would be able to push regional cooperation in other sectors of the regional economy as well (p. 103). The section concludes with Monica Verma’s analysis of cross-border trade and investment where she discusses its opportunities and threats in South Asia, making the argument that challenges to regionalism in South Asia are caused primarily due to the ‘waning of the liberal trade architecture’ (p. 109) that have stalled the overall economic integration and growth of the region. Verma then goes on to mark out bilateralism as an effective approach to transcend these economic borders.
The conversation shifts to the issue of borderlands in the next section, as the editor posits that the periphery, that is, the borderlands, must be brought centerstage in discussions. The chapter by Sourina Bej and Nasima Khatoon maps the emerging changes and contestations among the Monpas in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh. The lived realities of a borderland are analysed with reference to the consequences of large-scale infrastructure projects being implemented in these sensitive zones, without adequate consent or consultations with the local populace. The twin pressure of development and securitisation have an adverse impact on ecology as well as the societal belief systems of these fragile spaces. The following chapter by Bharat Hun continues this thread of argument, where, through an ethnographic study of the Thar desert, he examines how the designs of the post-colonial states, India and Pakistan, play out in marginal states, eventually altering ‘the way people perceive themselves and their relationship with the government’ (p. 153). The concluding chapter of the section by Jigme Wangdi brings out some other aspects of state policies in the borderland and through case studies of border haat (rural spaces of commercial exchange) in borderlands, he looks at such policies through the lens of connectivity. The study of border haats in the two Northeastern states of India, namely Tripura and Meghalaya, with the bordering regions of Bangladesh investigates the presence of the nation-state in the border haat, its mentalities and distinct characteristics. The chapter looks at the varied implications of the border haat and argues that confidence-building measures through proactive creation and support to existing border haats can be instrumental in placing India as a true leader of the Global South.
Sachin N. Pardhe’s theoretically rich chapter on the issue of conflict, cooperation and territoriality in the South Asian region opens the last section of the book on securitisation and borders. Drawing from multiple frames of understanding, the chapter highlights the importance of ‘address(ing) not just the physical, ideational, or perceptual nature of borders but also the contextual nature of borders’ (p. 190). The chapter by Anjan Kumar Sahu seeks to examine the scenario of the China-India water conflict through the framework of the heterogeneous security complex. Discussing cross-border water sharing as a potential flashpoint in South Asia, the chapter connects the issue to major infrastructural endeavours in the region involving India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China. Calling the water security dilemma a defining issue in the South Asia region, being interlinked with erratic climate change impact, economic development, and strategic interest (p. 211), Sahu discusses India’s extensive experience of securitising water boundaries that range from facing China’s ‘hydro-hegemony’ (p. 199) to other negotiations over waters of the Indus and Teesta rivers with Pakistan and Bangladesh respectively. The book ends with Subham Dwivedi’s take on the future borders of the world. Looking at the situation where the Internet has created a ‘virtual space distinct from (but interconnected with) geographical boundaries’ (p. 230), the chapter reflects on China’s role in determining geography and territoriality through cyberspace. These new borders of globalisation, as Dwivedi calls it, bring out the intersections between the different notion of borders as being perceived and practiced by state and non-state actors. What holds significance is the new bordering practices emerging in cyberspace, as an extension of the national space with its attendant anxieties and aspirations.
The book is a useful collection of works that capture the multiple and emerging trends in the BS discourse in the South Asian context. The case studies presented in the book impart a special value to it, which will be of use to researchers and policymakers alike. The book is successful in pushing the discourse beyond conventional tropes of spatiality and territoriality and focuses also on the lived experiences of the people inhabiting the borderlands. In this act of re-imagination, the borders are presented as liminal zones, an outcome of contentious politics that informs a post-colonial and post-partition region like South Asia. Besides, it also presents the borderlands not merely as margins to powerful nation-states but as proactive and dynamic spaces at the centre of international geopolitics. The book hints at the paradoxes that borders in contexts like South Asia represent, where borders are seen as absolute markers of territorial sovereignty, but the process of bordering and its politics also reflects their perpetual incompleteness. The recent example of the attempt at Mizo-Chin integration in the wake of the coup in Myanmar once again brings into sharp focus the nature of porous borders, the play of shared identity and the act of aspirational borders superseding the geopolitical borders in the South Asian region. In this sense, BS discourse needs to go ‘beyond the focus on the “here and now” and probe “histories of friendship” and “expansive personhood” beyond the present lacuna of postcolonial mentality’ (Saikia & Baishya, 2017, p. 10). This edited volume by Dhananjay Tripathi can be considered as a significant starting point of an interesting and insightful dialogue towards this end.