1 INTRODUCTION
1. Inhabited by approximately 1.4 billion people,[1]
nearly a quarter of the global population, South Asia is one of
the world's most dynamic economic regions.[2]
India, the geopolitical centre of South Asia and the world's biggest
democracy, is expected to overtake the United Kingdom as the fifth
largest economy within a decade.[3]
The wooing of India by the United States with full civilian nuclear
cooperation is a sign that India is beginning to play a major
role on the international stage. Yet South Asia continues to face
considerable developmental hurdles and significant security risks.
It is home to half the world's poor[4]
and the entire region is affected by several unresolved conflicts,
including the dispute over Kashmir, the insurgency in Afghanistan
and the conflict in Sri Lanka.
2. In August 2006, we published a Report on East
Asia.[5] This focused on
the impact of the emergence of the People's Republic of China
on British foreign policy. We decided then that it would be important,
too, to inquire into the rising economic and political importance
of the other 'Asian giant', India. The UK has strong historic
links to South Asia and large communities of Indian, Pakistani,
Kashmiri, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan origin live in the UK. Prime
Minister Tony Blair and Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh
established a "strategic partnership" between the UK
and India in 2004. We also noted that while we and our predecessor
Committees had considered aspects of Indian security policies
and human rights in South Asia in broader inquiries,[6]
we had never examined the region as a whole in detail in a specific
report.
3. We announced our inquiry in July 2006 and agreed
the following terms of reference:
- political and economic developments
in India and its growing importance;
- relations between India and Pakistan, and the
question of Kashmir;
- India's role in the region and its links with
its neighbours;
- India's contribution to the international system,
including to the United Nations and other multilateral fora, such
as the non-proliferation regimes; and
- the roles of the United Kingdom and the European
Union in South Asia.
4. We received almost thirty memoranda from a range
of individuals and organisations. We also heard evidence from
the following witnesses: Rt Hon Margaret Beckett MP, Secretary
of State, Richard Codrington, Head of Afghan Group, and Antony
Stokes, Head of South Asia Group, Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
Mr Rahul Roy-Chaudhury, research fellow for South Asia, International
Institute for Strategic Research, Dr Gareth Price, head of Asia
programme, and Dr Chris Smith, associate fellow, International
Security programme, Chatham House, Lord Desai, retired Professor
of Economics and Director, Centre for the Study of Global Governance,
London School of Economics, Martin Wolf, Associate Editor and
chief economics commentator, Financial Times, Victoria Schofield,
journalist and author of "Kashmir in the Crossfire",
Professor Sumantra Bose, Professor of International and Comparative
Politics, London School of Economics, Michael Griffin, journalist
and author of "Reaping the Whirlwind: The Taliban Movement
in Afghanistan" and Dr Matthew Nelson, lecturer in the politics
of Asia and Africa, School of Oriental and African Studies. We
thank all those who made submissions, whether in written or oral
evidence.
5. As part of our inquiry, we visited India, Pakistan
and Afghanistan, splitting into three groups. The first group
travelled in India, visiting New Delhi, Chennai (Madras) and Mumbai
(Bombay). The second group also started in New Delhi, but then
travelled to Amritsar and crossed the Wagah border by road to
Lahore in Pakistan for meetings in Islamabad. The final group
began its visit in Islamabad then flew to Afghanistan, spending
three days in Kabul before returning to Islamabad. Our programmes
included meetings with government leaders and ministers, security
forces, parliamentary committees, business representatives, non-governmental
organisations and religious figures. Full details are listed in
Annex 1. We are most grateful to those who took the time to meet
us. The discussions we had were very useful and are reflected
in this Report.
Source: United Nations Cartographic Section
1 www.worldbank.org/ Back
2
Ev 157 Back
3
"Indian economy 'to overtake UK'", BBC News Online,
24 January 2007, www.bbc.co.uk/news Back
4
www.worldbank.org/ Back
5
Foreign Affairs Committee, Seventh Report of Session 2005-06,
East Asia, HC 860-I Back
6
For example Foreign Affairs Committee, Eighth Report of Session
1999-2000, Weapons of Mass Destruction, HC 407, paras 9-13;
Foreign Affairs Committee, Seventh Report of Session 2003-2004,
Foreign Policy Aspects of the War against Terrorism, HC
441, paras 255-256; and Foreign Affairs Committee, First Report
of Session 2005-2006, Human Rights Annual Report 2005, HC
574 paras 198-202. Back
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