Editorial que escrevi no quinto número da revista Think South Asia, que edito com o apoio do South Asia Democratic Forum, apresentando a Índia como um país de oportunidades e futuro:
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Imagine the overall population of Europe and the Americas, all put together. Have you imagined that already? Well believe it or not South Asia, as a region, has even more people than that, which is reason enough to pay attention to its development and potentials. The western countries seem to be obsessed with the financial and economic crisis, but on the other side of the world there is a new land of opportunities asking for support and economic cooperation. Five hundred years after Vasco da Gama and seven hundred years after Marco Polo, we must peacefully rediscover the Indian Ocean and the trade opportunities within the SAARC countries that could help us in leaving the crisis behind. This time, the focus of Think South Asia is on India. It seems paradoxical to put the focus on such a big country, and maybe it is. We will certainly have to come back to Indian issues, perhaps analysing them through the smaller realities at the state-level. But this time we analyse India as a whole, and we try also to see it in the international context.
One of the things that always impresses me is how this huge country with so many different people and potential tensions could be maintained and is growing with the institutional framework of a stable liberal democracy. Professor Subrata Mitra, whose reputation and authority on this issue is well-known, gives us an interesting perspective in his interview. For editorial reasons it will be published in two parts: this one here, and the second in our next issue of Think South Asia in January 2013.
This issue we have a small country profile of India, where we can check out the basic facts about the nation. The Executive Director of the South Asia Democratic Forum, Mr Paulo Casaca, goes further and analyses with precision the main issues around the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and India.
Regarding India’s relations, we have a piece on this topic from Ms Cátia Rodrigues (Policy Adviser in South Asia Democratic Forum) making reference to India’s relations with China, while Dr Siegfried Wolf from Heidelberg University writes about India’s relations with Pakistan after the last terrorist attack in Mumbai. Also concerning China there is a very interesting article from Mr Marco Rossi, who calls our attention to Chinese interests and movements in South Asia.
In the spotlight we have Doctor Massouda Jalal quoting C. S. Lewis with a very eloquent message about Afghanistan, analysing the situation deeply and also making recommendations to fix what is broken. The way Doctor Jalal begins could not be clearer: “democracy and talibanism cannot co-exist because they are antithetical to one another. (...) Thus, to assume that Taliban will embrace peace is an unforgivable mistake.”
Following Doctor Jalal’s article, we have a short interview with Ms Cláudia Pera, who works as the administrative manager of South Asia Democratic Forum, giving her thoughts on women’s issues and her
experience while accompanying Doctor Jalal is her last visit to Europe. Ms Pera sets out the scenario in quite a comprehensive way I’m sure you will agree.
The issue of indigenous people’s rights and their protection through the rule of law is very well explained by Mr S. M. Hasan from the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh. Finally, we have Professor Wolfgang Peter Zingel alerting us on the issue of food security in South Asia and the concrete need for a deeper regional cooperation.
We hope you enjoy this edition of Think South Asia and we wish you a joyful season, especially for your children, who are the ones giving us the most complete perspectives of hope for our future, whether in South Asia, Europe, or anywhere else in the world.
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