Civil-military relations in British and independent India, 1918-1962, and coup prediction theory.

This thesis explains why India did not experience a military coup d'etat from 1918 to 1962.This involves a detailed consideration of the competing, though often complementary, theories which attempt to analyse the specific conditions and motives that cause officers to intervene against their government. As no one "coup theory" is found definitive, each is deployed when relevant to crucial episodes in British and independent India's civil-military relations from 1918 to 1962, including the history and development of a professional officer corps, Indian nationalism, the Indian National Armies of World War II, the Transfer of Power, Ayub Khan's "Revolution", the rise of the Menon-Kaul nexus, and the 1962 Sino-Indian War. Throughout, the emphasis is on the views and actions of senior retired Indian military officers. The opinions of almost 20 such officers are taken from their respective published (auto-)biographies. The views of another 108 officers (as well as a number of Indian civilians with experience in, or expertise at the highest level of civil-military relations) come from one of two versions of a detailed questionnaire and/or comprehensive personal interviews. This thesis reveals that there was never any serious threat of a military coup in India. Some factors contributing to this phenomenon are inherent: the country is large, diverse, predominantly Hindu, and enjoyed a continuity of political leadership. Other factors are the result of deliberate choices by the civil-military leadership and include the country's stability, quality and tradition of democracy, relative administrative efficiency, institutionalization of diverse centres of power and, most importantly, the professionalism of the officer corps. While this examination suggests measures available to other countries seeking to ensure civil supremacy-of-rule, the particular mix of factors which contributed to India never having experienced military coup is unique

The National Democratic Alliance and National Security.

NoThis new collection examines the emergence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India and the ways in which its Hindu nationalist agenda has been affected by the constraints of being a dominant member of a coalition government. Religious influence in contemporary politics offers a fertile ground for political-sociological analysis, especially in societies where religion is a very important source of collective identity. In South Asian societies religion can, and often has, provided legitimacy to both governments and those who oppose them. This book examines the emergence of the BJP and the ways in which its Hindu nationalist agenda has been affected by the constraints of being a dominant member of a coalition government. The collected authors take stock of the party's first full term in power, presiding over the diverse forces of the governing NDA coalition, and the 2004 elections. They assess the BJP's performance in relation to its stated goals, and more specifically how it has fared in a range of policy fields - centre-state relations, foreign policy, defence policies, the 'second generation' of economic reforms, initiatives to curb corruption and the fate of minorities. Explicitly linking the volume to literature on coalition politics, this book will be of great importance to students and researchers in the fields of South Asian studies and politics

India's National Security under the BJP: ¿Strong at Home, Engaged Abroad¿

NoIn a marked departure from previous national governments, those led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sought to address national security issues both proactively and strategically in line with the party¿s philosophy of achieving a strong India. This paper begins by examining the strategic vision of the BJP. It then analyses how this vision led the BJP to make India an overt nuclear weapons state in 1998, and how this status affected the government¿s actions in the Kargil Conflict of 1999. This is followed by an closer examination of national security strategy under the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), particularly as outlined in the seminal Reforming the National Security System: Recommendations of the Group of Ministers of 2001, and how this administration responded to the near-war situation which developed between India and Pakistan in the spring-summer of 2002. The paper then will conceptualise NDA national security policy as ¿strong at home, engaged abroad¿ as evidenced by defence spending on external and internal security, the military¿s deployment on peacekeeping duties, and defence cooperation with other countries. It will conclude with an examination as to whether this national security policy as conceptualised here will remain effective and/or viable in the future

India as a Regional Power¿Superpower of the Future?

N

How will the return of the Congress Party affect Indian Foreign and Security Policy?

NoThe 2004 Indian general elections stunned observers when, contrary to expectations, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Atul Behari Vajpayee was defeated by an electoral coalition led by the Indian National Congress (INC) headed by Sonia Gandhi. A further surprise came when Gandhi declined to become India's first foreign-born prime minister, opting instead to back party stalwart Dr Manmohan Singh for this office. Dr Singh, India's first Sikh prime minister, now heads a United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government headed by a cabinet containing 19 INC members and 10 members of smaller parties. Will the return to power of the INC after eight years in opposition (during three years of Left Front then five years of BJP/NDA rule) result in a shift of India's foreign and national security policies

Transition from Agriculture to Non-Agriculture Occupations in West Bengal, India: Causes and Way Forward

This empirical study reveals that agriculture in West Bengal, a major state in India, is nonviable as a primary source of occupation for most agricultural households who have been distressed to diversify to the nonfarm sector. However, the underdeveloped rural nonfarm sector does not leave enough economic space for the distressed farmers to have a smooth and remunerative transition from agricultural to nonagricultural employment. Therefore, most farmers end up clinging precariously to the agriculture sector while engaging in nonremunerative activities in the rural nonfarm sector for sustenance. This article identifies several statistically significant drivers of employment diversification through a logit model and revisited the age-old farm–size agricultural productivity debate in India to conclude that agricultural production is not scale-neutral. Therefore, to make agriculture viable and sustainable, the average operational landholdings need to increase through reverse tenancy and/or cooperative farming and through creating gainful employment opportunities in the rural nonfarm sector. This will help farm-dependent, semi-marginal, and marginal agricultural households to transition from agricultural to nonagricultural occupations