India’s rapid economic growth has raised expectations of India emerging as a major power not only in its proximate region but also on the Asian and global stage. A pre-requisite for India exercising its influence constructively on the international scene is to build up its intellectual capacity and institutional infrastructure for external policy. Capacities and institutions for doing research on India’s strategic objectives, promoting interaction between policy makers and intellectuals, for formulating necessary policies and their implementation are too often under-developed. This has been amply demonstrated by recent events related to the Indo-US nuclear deal, India’s membership of the Security Council and the impasse in the Doha Round.

A far larger policy community comprising intellectuals, younger diplomats and opinion makers, covering both strategic and economic security aspects and a genuine interaction among them is therefore required for a globalizing India. Unless the capacity bottleneck is resolved, India’s external policies will tend to be parochial, reactive and driven by sectional agendas rather than strategic objectives. The situation in other South Asian countries exhibit similar gaps. This creates a hiatus in terms of South Asian regional co-operation possibilities and a short term and narrower focus in their bilateral relationship with India.

The objective of the Strategic and Economic Capacity Building Programme, a 3-year programme supported by the MacArthur Foundation, is to address South Asia’s increasing need for research and capacity-building in formulating its policy stance on strategic and economic international relations. This will be addressed through two modules:

Research Module
The objective of the research module is to promote quality research on international strategic / economic issues of the future in the South Asian context. Every year, six research papers will be commissioned from younger academics, diplomats, media-persons and others in the strategic community. Selected researchers will have six months to complete the research under the guidance of expert mentors of internationally standing. Details can be found in the announcement below:

Call For Research Papers

Training Module
The objective of the training module is to expose South Asia’s younger diplomats and opinion makers to front line international strategic thinking and analysis, by conducting annual Advanced Briefing Programmes on Critical Strategic & Economic Issues for the Future.

The first Briefing Programme was held from November 8-20, 2010. The participants came from a number of South Asian countries (Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives). Participants from the media and other academic institutions were also present for some sessions.

A series of lectures were organized which focused on a wide array of issues ranging from climate change, China, GM crops, energy challenge, to the Af-Pak challenge. The sessions were interactive, and all participants were encouraged to engage in a constructive dialogue. The lectures were followed by a discussion session where the participants asked questions and facilitated the discussion.

The National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister of India, Shri. Shiv Shankar Menon, delivered the valedictory address on the 20th, where he outlined his vision for South Asian cooperation in a number of different areas.

For a detailed prospectus, please see the link below:

Advanced Briefing Programme Prospectus