ISAS Working Papers

I shall begin this paper with a short biographical note. I do this in order to explain why I have focused so much attention on the importance of history for understanding why people and nations behave in certain ways. Beliefs take a long time to form, but once they are firmly embedded in a society’s culture, history and social norms, it takes equally long to shake them off. By beliefs, I do not mean religious affiliations. My concern is with all beliefs – economic, political and social. Today, South Asia is a highly fractured society in part because of the way the area’s history has unfolded, causing people in the region to harden their attitudes towards one another. It is my contention that unless the people of South Asia begin to look at each other differently, they will not attain for themselves what has become possible by way of the enormous changes occurring around them. The restructuring of the global economic, financial, industrial and trading systems have opened enormous opportunities for the countries of South Asia. To exploit them, the countries have to learn to work together. However, history comes in the way. To cast off the burden it imposes on the societies of South Asia, it is necessary first to understand how it has affected the making of public policy in the region.