Internal Conflicts and Opportunistic Intervention by Neighbouring States: A Study of India’s Involvement in Insurgencies in South Asia

Abstract

Countries in South Asia being religiously, ethnically and culturally diverse are naturally prone to intrastate conflicts and tensions. The inability of their ruling elites to neither grant nor guard the political and economic rights of minority groups cause discontent and conflicts. India being a powerful country and occupying central position in the region could help its neighbours to overcome their problems. Conversely, it can exploit them to its advantage in order to extract various concessions and impose its dictates on them. This article discusses the case of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan and finds that India chose the latter course and used support of terrorism as a tool of its foreign policy to advance its interests in the region.