The chapters in this volume analyse issues relating to political governance, national identity, economic development and regional security that have preoccupied the states of South Asia in the fifty years following independence. India has been faced with the challenge of developing effective democratic structures in the world's most diverse and populous society. It confronts tensions in its efforts to carry out economic reforms in a competitive resource-scarce context, and to maintain its commitment to secularism in the face of the growing influence of Hindu nationalism. The role of the...

The chapters in this volume analyse issues relating to political governance, national identity, economic development and regional security that have preoccupied the states of South Asia in the fifty years following independence.