Managing Conflicts in India: Policies of Coercion and Accommodation

In managing violent rebellions, democracies must often choose between coercion and accommodation. As the world’s largest democracy, India is no stranger to this trade-off: it has struggled over the past several decades to address several domestic insurgencies.

A new book by Bidisha Biswas addresses India’s approach to internal conflicts. Biswas looked at Punjab, Kashmir, and the Naxalite–Maoist conflict and explored the challenges and choices facing multiethnic democracies. Joshua T. White of the Stimson Center served as discussant, and Carnegie’s Milan Vaishnav moderated.

Bidisha Biswas

Bidisha Biswas is an associate professor of political science at Western Washington University. In 2012 and 2013, she served as a policy adviser on South Asia to the U.S. State Department.

Milan Vaishnav

Milan Vaishnav is an associate in the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he coordinates Carnegie’s India Decides 2014 initiative.

Joshua T. White

Joshua T. White is deputy director of the South Asia program at the Stimson Center. Prior to joining Stimson, White served as senior adviser for Asian and Pacific security affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, a position he held in conjunction with an International Affairs Fellowship from the Council on Foreign Relations.

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.