The Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies is undertaking a project on “Developing a Framework for Regional Cooperation in Southern Asia” with support from the MacArthur Foundation. The project seeks to sustain and strengthen the process by which India and China are able to cooperate on the key challenges affecting their bilateral relationship and, to involve their smaller neighbors in their economic growth stories.

Lasting a period of three years, the project will focus on the following three principal issues:
1. Strengthening Military Confidence Building Measures on Land and Maritime Issues between India and China
2. Expanding Economic Activity along the Sino-Indian Border Areas
3. Developing Infrastructure for Connectivity between India and China

The project aims at strengthening institutional capacities and inter-institutional linkages besides providing substantive and high quality input for policymakers but also at raising the level of public awareness and interest in crucial issues that affect regional stability.

The objective in each case is to produce policy documents, including interim ones, where necessary that will make specific recommendations to the governments involved aimed at pointing out areas suffering for lack of sufficient attention, addressing lacunae, correcting course or creatively dealing with hitherto intractable problems. Ideas generated during field trips and research will be disseminated periodically through extensive interaction and reporting through the media via, op-ed articles, news reports, interviews and other means of information sharing through the Institute’s enormously popular web site.