Politics of Security in India

India is an aspiring global superpower. Her international importance is rising fast in a number of areas, from global economy and international relations to environmental issues and security concerns. To understand India's conception of her security polic y and how international affairs of India are shaped and handled is increasingly important. INDSEC seek to establish a research programme to provide such understanding, looking at global, regional and domestic factors shaping India's politics of security. In order to establish INDSEC we will initiate a pre-project on water security. Water security is a key issue for Indian decision makers as water related conflicts top the agenda at global, regional and domestic levels: Ongoing conflicts with Pakistan ar e frequently couched in terms of water security, again threatening to escalate the destabilisation of the region. A scenario that is exceedingly important to how India's security elites conceptualise the country's foreign and domestic policy. Thus, using water security as the main topic we seek to develop productive and valid approaches, in terms of themes, methods and theories, to the field of security studies in India. During this pilot project we seek together with our partners to answer the followi ng research questions: 1) How is water security comprehended and approached by India's strategic elite in their conceptualisation of their global security policy? 2) To what extent does India negotiate water disputes differently with its various neighbour s? 3) How do Indian states approach questions of water security and how do domestic politics translate into regional disputes? The pilot will enable us to: 1) identify productive and valid approaches; 2) formalise partnerships with Indian institutions t hrough a common seminar, interaction during research stays in India and research collaboration; and 3) arrange a conference in India on the issue of security politics and water.