CONCEPT PAPER

REGIONAL WORKSHOP FEBRUARY 23-25, 2001

THE CHALLENGE OF CONFIDENCE-BUILDING IN 21^ST CENTURY: PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS FOR SOUTH ASIA

Background

 The dawn of twenty-first century provides a valuable opportunity for an evaluation of Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs). Over as period of one decade the concept of CBMs has emerged as a major technique of resolving inter and intra-state conflicts. What is required after going through the literature on CBMs is that an in depth debate and discussion is imperative to identify the challenges which confidence building is facing in the 21^st century.

The security environment of South Asia has drastically changed as a result of Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests conducted in May 1998. From ambiguity, India and Pakistan have now overtly declared their nuclear capability. Events of May 1998 in South Asia tend to redefine the security concerns of India and Pakistan with a feeling that new opportunities for managing unresolved conflicts through cooperative threat reduction and revitalization of CBMs exist in the region. With the overt nuclearization of India and Pakistan and the unresolved conflicts, the need to maintain communication lines between the political and military leadership of the two countries has been realized by the concerned circles.

 The three basic questions, which the workshop intends to address, is:

• What are the challenges of CBMs in 21^st century?
• How could CBMs provide an alternate security environment for South Asia?
• What are the problems and prospects of CBMs in the military and non-military dimensions in South Asia?

 While searching ground for a new mechanism of confidence-building between India and Pakistan the workshop participants will look into factors which will shape the security environment of South Asia in the days to come. The workshop will also suggest how a better understanding about the concept of CBMs could be achieved in South Asia and what are the impediments in this regard.

II. OBJECTIVES

 As a result of nuclear tests of India and Pakistan, the security environment of South Asia is facing numerous challenges. In this background, the question arises: are the policy-makers of India and Pakistan in a position to deal with threats to their security emanating from different directions? The absence of trust and confidence among the leaders of India and Pakistan, as evident during the Kargil crisis of May-July 1999, is cited as a major cause of tension in South Asia undermining the significance of CBMs reached between New Delhi and Islamabad since 1990 for reducing security threats.

The workshop seeks to accomplish the following objectives:

• To examine the role of CBMs in the 21^st century at the global level and see how confidence building can help better the security environment of South Asia?
• To propose new confidence-building measures so as to establish a mechanism of cooperative threat reduction between India and Pakistan in the post-nuclear tests  period.
• To suggest a methodology for the proper management and implementation of existing CBMs between India and Pakistan, particularly at the military level.
• To initiate a debate in the concerned policy-making circles for the establishment of "risk reduction centers" for the avoidance of nuclear war in South Asia.
• To examine the perceptions of small states of South Asia as far as the concept of CBMs is concerned.
• To propound measures, which could promote better management of security challenges emanating from the nuclearization of South Asia.
• To examine how could confidence-building help in resolving non-traditional threats to security in South Asia?
• To promote a discussion and debate in concerned circles, particularly among the young generation about the real security threats to India and Pakistan.
• To examine how India and Pakistan could learn lessons from management of post-nuclear challenges in other similar cases.

IV. THEMES OF THE WORKSHOP

Following are the broad themes of the workshop:-

• The role and scope of confidence building in 21^st century.
• The challenges of Confidence-building in dealing with the traditional and non-traditional security threats.
• Military CBMs in South Asia.
• Non-Military CBMs in South Asia.
• Role of technology and media in building confidence.
• Role of institutions in building confidence.
• The status of CBMs in South Asia in the post-nuclear and post-Kargil events.
• Impediments in the process of CBMs in South Asia.
• The future of confidence building in South Asia: Need  for an alternate approach?

V.  RESULTS AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF THE WORKSHOP

Discussion held during the workshop is likely to produce following results,

a. Better understanding of the concept of CBMs in prevailing security conditions at the global and  South Asian level.

b.  Spread of ideas pertaining to the concepts of cooperative threat reduction, reactivation,   management and adoption of new CBMs between India and Pakistan, particularly in academic institutions, media, print and electronic and sections which are considered critical to the concepts CBMs, Conflict Resolution and the peace process.

c.  Initiate a debate in the academic and non-academic circles of South Asia about the main     theme of the workshop.

d.  To publish the findings of the workshop and to disseminate these findings in concerned policy oriented research centers, think tanks and various government circles of South Asia. It is expected that the deliberations of the workshop will help the policy-makers in New Delhi and Islamabad to formulate a new security approach based on cooperative threat reduction and the proper implementation of confidence-building measures. 

Workshop Main Page

All content (C) Department of International Relations, Karachi University

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