Adluri Subramanyam Raju, Ph.D., Dean, International Relations; Professor and Head, UMISARC and Centre for South Asian Studies; Coordinator, UGC Centre for Maritime Studies, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India.R. Srinivasan, PhD, Editor-in-Chief, Electronic Journal of Social and Strategic Studies, and Director, Praghna Centre for Research, India.

• List of Tables viiiList of Contributors ixIntroduction 1Adluri Subramanyam Raju and R. SrinivasanPART 1South Asia as a Region 151 Post-Colonial Identities, Ethnic Conflicts, and Security Dilemma in South Asia 17Rajpal Budania2 South Asian Identity: Examining the State-Society Interface 31Udayan Das and Ambar Kumar GhoshPART 2Political, Social and Security Systems in South Asia 473 Politics of Democracy in South Asia: People’s Aspiration and the Structure of the State 49Smruti S. Pattanaik4 Transition of Monarchy in South Asia: The Case of Nepal 65Raksha Pandey5 Transitions in Governance: Polity, Policy, and Regionalism in South Asia 78R. Srinivasan6 Civil Society in South Asia: Plurality, Convergence and Paradoxes 96Amit Dholakia7 Religion and Politics in South Asia: Select Case Studies 110Partha Pratim Basu8 Lilliputians’ Dilemma: Survival Strategies of Small States in South Asia 131N. Manoharan9 Untangling the South Asia–China Nuclear Problematique 147Ravi KomarrajuPART 3Commerce and Connectivity in South Asia 15910 Impact of Globalization on South Asia 161I. P. Khosla11 Prospects of Growth Dynamism in South Asia: Trade and Investment as Drivers of Regional Development 176Saroj Kumar Mohanty12 A Novel Approach for Integration in South Asia: Through Trade Promotion and Economic Corridors 198Srimal Fernando13 Connectivity Across South Asia: Possibilities and Intrinsic Challenges 213Pankaj K. Jha14 Developments in Sustainable Blue Economy in South Asia 227V. N. AttriPART 4Human Security in South Asia 24315 Climate Change and River Waters in South Asia: Scarcity, Security and the Avoidance of Zero-Sum Approaches in the Anthropocene Epoch 245Ananya Sharma and Varun Sahni16 Governing Water Resources in India: Role of Water Law, Policy, and Institutions 263Vandana Asthana17 Environment and Sustainable Development in South Asia 276Nitya Nanda and Susmita Mitra18 Energy Security and Cooperation in South Asia 293Adluri Subramanyam RajuPART 5South Asia in a Multipolar World 30919 A Sub-Regional Resuscitation in South Asia: Enlivening the BIMSTEC 311Sohini Nayak20 Comparing the SAARC and the ASEAN 326Uttara Sahasrabuddhe21 The European Union’s Relations with South Asia 339Ummu Salma Bava22 China in South Asia: The Xi Jinping Era 354Reena Marwah23 United States–South Asia Relations: Challenges and Opportunities Facing the Biden Administration 365M. J. Vinod24 The Multipolar World and South Asia 380Anindya Jyoti MajumdarIndex 391