Strategic and Political Changes in the Former British Colonies of the South Asia

It is a well known fact that India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Sri Lanka and Myanmar are former British colonies. They face economic issues due to population increases, while democracy has still not crossed its infancy in this region.

It is unfortunate that except for India, the rest of the states in this conglomerate are still in a state of democratic chaos. Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh have held elections recently, but owing to the nature of its state as Islamic theocracy with the presence of numerous polarized power groups, and the presence of too strong a military, democracy is only a stop gap measure in the long standing history of ethnic tensions, cleanings, and military dictatorships.

Bhutan, Tibet, Myanmar and Srilanka are all Buddhist majority nations, and Nepal is a Hindu majority nation, with significant Buddhist presence. They all have characteristic regional differences. Tibet is under Chinese occupation and has its own cultural and political issues, in addition to the Han migrations and ethnic tensions. Nepal, and Bhutan are gradually coming under the influence of Chinese strategic power, while Myanmar and Sri Lanka are dealing with ethnic violence. In addition Myanmar is also under a military dictatorship.

India is surrounded by states that are recovering from either military dictatorship or ethnic violence or both. To this unpredictable mix of states is added the Chinese strategic power play, which is further polarizeing nations in the region and pushing India into seeking stabilizing sources from  far away friends and peace seekers.

Any threat to existing balance of power in this region will result in these already fragile states being pushed into war, which will not only pose a danger to the heavily populated region, but to the world owing to the presence of Nuclear arms in India, Pakistan and China.

With an impending election season within months India may not be able to make any strategic decisions now. However, any political party that emerges winner in these elections have to make peace building in this region a priority. India must take lead in forming alliances and fostering lasting friendships in the region.