India

The aim of the present study is to investigate and compare the choice of language used in an online platform (Facebook) and during offline communication with reference to a family member, a friend, and an acquaintance in the same multilingual speech community. As part of this study, a structured sociolinguistics questionnaire was administered to 38 multilingual postgraduate students. This is followed by interviewing selected focus group to elicit more information on various factors that influence their language behavior. The major finding of this study is that apart from family circle, a majority of multilingual users in India prefer to use English for Facebook private communications only among friends and acquaintances while Mother tongue is the dominant language use for offline communications.

The core concept of this article i.e. social capital consists of three main components: scope of social relations , level of social trust, and rate of reciprocity. The research is accomplished through 600 cases of Indian and Iranian female secondary school students and their parents, in two cities of Chandigarh in India and Tehran in Iran. Findings of the research show that the scope of social relations in India is higher than Iran, while the true level which was measured in the social network in Iran was far higher than India. Even the third aspect i.e. the reciprocity is also higher in Iran than India. Therefore, the social capital measured among the Iranian cases is higher than the Indian students and their families. Likewise, the level of trust estimated among Indian people is higher than the true level of trust present in the social network whereas; an exact opposite situation could be seen in Iran. In other words, the different aspects of social capital do not necessarily have a high co-variation among themselves.

The emergence of future powers is one of the most important features of the contemporary international system. The collapse of the Soviet Union and a new wave of globalization of the economy and the movement of Russia and China towards a market economy in the early 1990s forced governments around the world to reconsider their foreign policies. At this time, India was experiencing the worst economy of its time. The demonstration of the inefficiency of state socialism made New Delhi think for a change. In the present study, by using the explanatory-analytical method, we seek to answer the question "How and with what methods and tools does India pursue its strategy towards becoming a world power?" The proposed hypothesis for the question is that “India seeks to achieve the position of a global superpower by special emphasis on domestic strategies and relying on a pragmatic foreign policy." Therefore, due to the increasing importance of emerging powers during the transition of the international system, the analysis and examination of characteristics, perspectives and global effects of their empowerment can deepen our understanding of the evolvinginternational system.

Following the independence of 1947, India adhered to a mixed model of nationalist and socialist policies in the early years, with protectionism and closed-borders attitude dominating its approach to foreign relations and global economy. In the aftermath of the economically precarious circumstances during the 1980s, and the subsequent economic crisis in the early 1990s, paradigmatic reforms, widely known as liberalization, were officially announced. However, considering Indian liberalization as a gradually evolving process, rather than a one-off project, this paper intends to take a political economy approach and employ historical analysis in order to scrutinize the pre-1991 contextual trajectory through which India underwent liberalizing its economy. The paper explicates the implemented economic approaches by studying the key primary sources, the Five-Year Plans in particular, and the relevant secondary sources. The authors propound the notion that India, since its independence till the early 1990s, appears caught in a cycle of oscillations between protective measures on one hand and attempts to move towards a liberalized economy on the other. The statist model of development that overwhelmingly disfavored interaction with the global economy at the outset was gradually replaced by a decentralized model that sought to open up the Indian economy to the world.

China has invested in the Gwadar port in Pakistan to create an economic corridor with the aim of connecting China to Central Asia through the Indian Ocean. This program is part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), including several roads, sea routes, and corridors. On the other hand, India, a regional rival to China, is keen to invest in the port of Chabahar in the I.R. Iran to create the International North-South corridor, which can connect India to Central Asia, the Middle East, Russia, and Northern Europe through the Indian Ocean. According to these significant facts, two critical questions will be discussed in the present study: the first question investigates whether Indo-Chinese competition makes Chabahar and Gwadar rival ports, and the second question examines whether it would be possible for China to investigate in Chabahar as an alternative corridor. To address these questions, the present study hypothesizes that Chabahar can be an international port, fulfilling the interests of all parties, including China. This study is a qualitative research, based on the International Order theory by Hadley Bull, using the SWOT analysis in order to address the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of Iran-China bilateral relations in Chabahar for both sides. For collecting the data, existing documents and articles, as well as in-depth interviews have been used. Results indicate that the Chabahar port, as one of the main gateways to the Iranian transit corridors, could be a common point of Interest for Iran, India and China to create a regional order, based on cooperation in transit.

The recent geopolitical transformations that have seen a strengthening of India-U.S. bilateral relations along with strained U.S.-Iran and U.S.-China ties have pushed India into a difficult strategic position with Iran.  Along with the heightened India-China tensions, the proposed China-Iran deal gives China more leverage with Iran, impacting India’s long-term strategic economic relations with the latter. The recent agreements and partnership between Iran and China reflected in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the draft 25- year Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) will pave the way for long-term strategic cooperation between the two countries. The agreement per se and the growing closer ties between Beijing and Tehran can have challenges for India's relations with Iran and interests in the Persian Gulf region. Nonetheless, it is unlikely to affect India-Iran bilateral ties that remain robust seriously and has withstood challenges earlier, and the comprehensive strategic partnership shall not be an exception. India’s stake in the situation hinges on its interest in Iranian natural gas reserves and its desire for continued participation in the Chabahar port project with Iran. With the deal now inked and considering India’s changing geopolitical and security environment vis-a-vis China, what are the key implications of the China-Iran pact for India? How can New Delhi respond to Beijing’s major drive to support Tehran?

India is home to a remarkable variety of religions, and a major challenge that the country faces today is that of conflict between various religious communities. This has taken on menacing forms in recent decades. Incidents of violence between Hindus and Muslims, in which often agencies of the state play a central role in directing anti-Muslim violence, have now become endemic in some parts of the country. This form of communal violence, generally instigated by right-wing Hindu forces, is sought to be given religious sanction and is also projected as a crusade to save the Indian “nation”, which is described and portrayed in Hindu terms. Communal violence and anti-Muslim pogroms in various parts of the country have resulted in mounting human rights violations, particularly of marginalised communities such as the country’s Muslims, who number more than 150 million.

As a region rich in oil and gas resources, low energy prices, and a unique geopolitical position, the Middle East has been the focus of global attention, particularly for economic powers such as China and India. Due to the wide gap between energy supply and demand, especially for oil, the two countries have developed a special diplomacy for their energy supplies. Understanding the oil policies of Beijing and New Delhi as the main actors in the energy market of the Middle East is paramount for the leading oil-producing countries. By conducting a comparative analysis of the Delhi–Beijing oil policies in the Middle East, the present article will ask how domestic, regional, and international variables affect the Chinese and Indian oil policies in this region. The authors have compared the following critical variables in answer to this question: the legal structure and decision-making process, self-sufficiency levels, the geopolitical position toward the Middle East, oil diplomacy, the role of technology, and the international economic-political position of the two countries. Our findings show that the Beijing government has formulated its oil policy using a single, specific decision-making body in the energy sector. It has relied on expanding multilateral ties with other countries, long-term investments, long-term loans, expanding energy transfer pipelines, and long-term contracts to deepen its relations with oil-rich countries, particularly those in West Asia. On the other hand, India has based its diplomacy on short-term economic contracts, situation analysis, and needs assessment. It is, however, clear that both countries will continue to depend on oil from the Middle East in the medium term despite the threat of US sanctions

Iran-India relations are deeply rooted in history,going back to the onset of Indo-migration. Based on the policy of neighborhood, their relationshipgrew smoothly in the spheres of commerce and tradeand thentheir cultural relations and exchangesforged. Thecommercial convergence and cultural similarities between two nations extendedthroughout the Islamic age, followed by the Muslimization of Iran and some parts of the western and southern India. However, the promotion of their relationships can be seenthroughout the relations of the Safavids with the Bāberiyān and Shi’a-ruled states in south Indiasuch asBahmani, Adil Shāhī and Qutb Shāhī and particularlyNīzām Shāhī.It seems that The Shi’areligion have greatly affected these governments to be closer to the Safavids in Iran as aShi’a-ruled state. According to the research sources, the growth of Shi’a-ruled states throughout India began in the 8th century and reached its peak in the 13th century. These states emerged in some areas such as Kashmir, southern India, Awadh and Bengal. The factors behind the spread of Shi’as throughout India have been the presence of Iranian Shi’a Muslim scholars and businesspersons and the propaganda of Shia missionaries. However, not only didthese Shi’as, especially Nīzām Shāhī dynastyshare the religious similarities with Safavids, but also they were considered one of the significant trading partners of this state, who was knownas the main economic, political and religioussponsor of Shi’a-ruled states and Nīzām Shāhī in India in this period. This study aims to investigate the elements affecting the relationships between the Safavids and the Nīzām Shāhīsconsidering the political developments of thisDynasty.“Which factors have created huge impacts on the interpersonal growth of relations between two governments” and “how much impressionsthese relations have had on the political policies of Nīzām Shāhī Dynasty?”To explorethe raised questions, this papertries to hypothesizethe Shi’a-ruled states like the Nīzām Shāhī dynastyin South India have been given the supportof Safavid dynastyin the economic, political and cultural spheres for antagonism towards the Sunnislike the Bāboriyānsin India. Ultimately, what brought about the overthrow of the Shi’a-ruled statesin southern India, such as the Nīzām Shāhī dynasty was that the increased Bāboriyāns’power in northern India had been simultaneous with the vicissitudes of Safavids’ power in Iran. This researchin a descriptive-analytic method has used original library resources.

The strategic map of Iran’s immediate neighborhood will change dramatically following the landmark nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1. Given the tremendous geo-strategic stakes involved, Iran has already begun to explore greater opportunities for economic and security cooperation in the region. This has implications for both India and Pakistan, which are tied to Iran strategically, but bitterly opposed to each other. Per the realist prescription of international relations, survival in an anarchic world requires all states to adopt the certain rational behavior, such as power maximization and balancing strategies. Depending to a large extent on their worldviews, all state leaders translate their perceptions of the locational advantages and vulnerabilities into geopolitical strategies. Iran is preparing itself for a wider and internationally legitimized regional role in which it can act pragmatically to enhance its reputation and take advantage of commercial opportunities wherever it finds them. The peoples of India and Iran, two ancient neighboring civilizations, have enjoyed close historical links through the ages. They had a common homeland and share a common linguistic and racial past. Over the several millennia, they interacted an enriched each other in the fields of language, religion, arts, food, ideologically, academically, and culturally and other traditions. Today the two countries enjoy warm, friendly relations and cooperate in a wide range of fields.

Economic exchanges have long exerted great influence on the relations between nations and nations in various political, social and cultural dimensions, and these effects are increasing in current international relations. Given that the countries of Iran and India are opponents of terrorist and takfiri groups in the region and the country of Afghanistan is one of the main headquarters of the terrorists in the region, it is one of the prerequisites for full and coherent use for security in the economic exchanges of the region.Regarding what has been mentioned, the main question of the paper is about the effect of Indian presence in Afghanistan regarding security and economy?  And the main hypothesis of this paper is that the presence of India in Afghanistan has increased the economic interactions between Iran, Afghanistan and India, and, in addition to the establishment of security cooperation, the internal context of creating insecurity in the region is reduced. The research method used in this article is descriptive-analytical and has used library studies to compare the results of economic exchanges on security creation.First of all, interdependence views have been used to designate India's economic presence in Afghanistan;  and the results of this paper can point to a rise in the economic ties between Iran, India and Afghanistan, leading to an increase in the interests of the three countries, a new balance, the more emphasize and importance of Asian markets Middle and more security in Afghanistan.

Since its emergence in the Levant including Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS Takfiri militant group) selected province of Khorasan (Afghanistan and some parts of Central Asia) as its territory, thus established its sovereignty and identity under the same title. The main question underlying the current study is that what would be the main contexts and substrates for the gradual presence and influence of ISIS in the region? The main hypothesis underlying the article is that: secular authoritarian political structure, the approach adopted and inappropriate actions taken by the governments in the region in response to the extremism, extremist fundamentalist groups in the region, fragile and complex social fabric of Central Asian countries and also the presence of the nationals in the countries of the region in ISIS structure are some of the most important factors that can lead to the formation of ISIS in the region. This presence is a common security threat to Iran and India, which can strengthen the need to security cooperation between the two countries. The current article uses an analytical method, and for data collection, the article has utilized reliable library-based sources.

The contemporary political and economic relations between Iran and India, two major Asian powers are affected by various domestic, regional and international elements, especially after the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979. The gradual increase of economic and political power of India in the regional and global interactions and the dominance of Look East Doctrine in the attitude of some of the Iranian decision-makers have caused both countries plan and pursue a new level of relations in terms of a strategic relationship framework. The relations between Iran and India have gone through many changes in the recent years such as energy security, nuclear program, relations between India and America and developments in Afghanistan. These developments have, on the one hand, created many limitations and on other hand many opportunities for the extension of bilateral relations between both countries. The question that arises now is whether Iran and India could enter the field of strategic alliance with each other? Iran and India share historical and cultural relations with strong roots and both countries are after a balanced and multi-polar power system against the America's unipolar system. It is to be noted that the way is paved for their political, economic and transportation cooperation among others. The hypothesis is that common interests and mutual vulnerabilities have strengthened the capacities for bilateral cooperation in the fields of economy and security. However,  the formation of  a strategic relationship between the two countries seems difficult due to the strategic relations between India and America, India and Israel and a lack of common vision on the power structure in international system.

During the post-Cold War era, while western countries continued to exert their influence on the world stage, Indian and Iranian officials turned their focus to the East. They introduced the Look East Policy and Look to the East Policy respectively, with the aim of leveraging the political, economic, cultural, geographical, and security opportunities available in that region. By adopting these policies, both India and Iran sought to deepen their engagement with countries in East and Southeast Asia, diversify their trade and investment portfolios, and reduce their dependence on western nations. The objective of this article is to analyze India and Iran's Look East Policy and Look to the East Policy, with a focus on their outcomes for national well-being, security, and the potential in the economic, political, and security domains with respect to Eastern countries. To do so, researchers primarily discuss the importance of the Look East Policy in the foreign policy of both India and Iran and discuss why this region comes to the center with full-fledged attention. Furthermore, they scrutinize the accomplishments of India and Iran as well as the structural barriers they encounter in the region, along with their approaches to pursuing their objectives and interests in the area. This article presents an analysis of the constraints, difficulties, and successes of the Look East policy.