Politics Of South Asia

The death of General Zia-ul-Haq in 1988 ushered in the civil governments which lasted till 1999 until General Musharraf took over and once again the military era started which lasted till 2007. It is unfortunate that the democratic governments led by Benazir Bhutto and Mian Nawaz Sharif were marred by personal rivalry/vendetta, bad governance, corruption, inefficiency and tussle with the other organs of the state. People of Pakistan remained baffled hoping that the governments would deliver. The political bickering and experimentation with the constitution of Pakistan invited another military dictator to take the reins of the government. As expected the dictator maneuvered to keep intact his governance till 2007 when a civil government restarted the process of democracy in Pakistan. General Zia left a Damocles sword in the form of 8 th amendment in the hands of the President. After Zia's tradition of dissolving the NA and provincial assemblies four times, the tool of 8 th amendment was used to dissolve the legislative assemblies from 1988 to 1997. During this period three elected governments were sent packing. There were four general elections conducted during this period and interestingly, the year of 1993 saw five PMs and three Presidents of Pakistan. It struck as if the democratic order was being built on the shifting sands. This article would discuss the political bickering between Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto and meddling by the military men. It ended in the Martial Law of General Musharraf in 1999 which was again legalized by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. This time the judges were really generous as they granted power to a military dictator to make amendments in the Constitution of Pakistan 1973. The plane crash of military ruler General Zia led Benazir Bhutto to capture the illustrious office of the Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1988 after the hanging of her father ZA Bhutto (a former Prime Minister of Pakistan). The PPP emerged in the elections held on 16 th November, 1988 as the single largest party in the National Assembly. It was a momentous occasion for the followers of the PPP when they saw their leader Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto taking oath of the office of the PM on 1 st December, 1988 in the President's House. She had to endure pangs and grief over the trial of her father Mr. Z.A. Bhutto. She took a stand against the Martial Law of General Zia courageously 1. She was gifted with the gab. She was articulate, bright and enthralled with the wealth of confidence. Benazir Bhutto as the PM was required to share power between herself and the President of Pakistan as per the prescribed Constitution of Pakistan amended by Zia. The PM had no restriction as regards the discharge of her function in governmental affairs. The President was empowered with blessings of the 8 th amendment to make appointments to the important positions of the defense services and governors of the provinces. Above all he had the discretionary power to dissolve 2 the legislative assemblies. General Zia had carved this power to strengthen his own position. Now it was Mr.GhulamIshaq Khan, the President of Pakistan was unwilling to relinquish

https://www.theindiaforum.in/article/politics-language-assam

Language has been at the heart of political debate in Assam since the formation of the British colonial province of Assam in 1874, then through the turbulent decades leading to Independence, the separation of Sylhet during Partition, and into our times.

According to the theory of nuclear deterrence, a state acquires nuclear weapons in self-defense if its territorial integrity and sovereignty come under attack. Nuclear weapons serve as a shield for a state having conventional asymmetries against its adversary.However, emerging technologies are questioning the efficacy of nuclear deterrence. The
unregulated military use of cyber technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI),deep-fakes, quantum computing, hypersonic missiles, and advanced ballistic-missiles defense systems are questioning the credibility of nuclear deterrence, reluctantly increasing the risks of
inadvertent or intentional use of nuclear weapons2. Rebecca Hersman has attributed this situation as “Wormhole Escalation”. According to her, “emerging technologies have created openings (Wormholes) in the fabric of nuclear deterrence that may compel competing nations into anintentional or inadvertent sub-conventional or strategic level of conflict”. Emerging technologieshave also changed the concept of the “stability-instability” paradox and Kahn’s 44 rungsescalation ladder by making the patterns of escalation non-linear and unpredictable. Now
states are using emerging technologies in place of surrogates and proxies to target their adversaries below the nuclear threshold. Moreover, the precision and lethality of digital weapons are blurring the lines between the conflicts at sub-conventional, conventional, and strategic levels and creating a challenging situation for nuclear risks reduction3. Emerging technologies are also threatening the strategic stability of South Asia. In all such scenarios, the presence of three nuclear-armed neighbors i.e., India, China, and Pakistan, intensifying conventional and nuclear arms race, are the factors posing serious challenges for the strategic stability of the region. The nuclear history of the region reveals that Pakistan’s nuclear program is purely defensive and it was forced to adopt a nuclear path. Since the nuclearization of South Asia in 1974, nuclear weapons-free South Asia has remained the cornerstone of Pakistan’s nuclear diplomacy. Since 1947, the dispute of Jammu & Kashmir which caused wars continues to be the mother of all disputes between both countries4. However, the recent developments like growing violence in Afghanistan, border tensions between India and China, and the growing militarization of the Indian Ocean are not a good omen for regional stability. These developments should be analyzed in the context of Indian military modernization and its growing belligerence which has further accentuated after declaring it a Net-Security provider in the Indian Ocean Region.
This paper has been divided into five portions. The first portion discusses the concept of nuclear risk reduction (NRR), its history, and different agreements concluded by the NWS. The second portion outlines the types of new and emerging technologies which are threatening strategic stability. The third part traces the nuclear history of South Asia, broad contours Pakistan’s nuclear diplomacy and the CBMs taken by both countries over time. The fourth part has been dedicated to the study of threats of the military use of emerging technologies specific to South Asia and the fifth part explores the measures which could help mitigate the risks posed by the emerging technologies.