Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
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Item China-Taliban security ties: a reimagining of South Asia's security discourse(Global and National Security Institute, 2025-06) Ramachandran, VeenaThis article examines how China constructs a distinct security discourse on terrorism through its engagement with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Moving beyond traditional materialist interpretations of security, the study draws on critical security studies to explore how China uses language, representation, and institutional practices to frame terrorism and project itself as a regional stabilizer. The Taliban’s return to power in 2021 has prompted China to expand its strategic presence in South Asia, particularly through economic diplomacy, intelligence cooperation, and regional multilateral and minilateral forums. Through qualitative discourse analysis of Chinese official statements, white papers, SCO documents, and state media narratives, this research identifies how China positions the Taliban as a manageable actor and redefines terrorism in ways that serve its domestic and regional interests. The article argues that this discursive framing directly contests India’s traditional dominance over regional counterterrorism narratives and contributes to an emerging shift in South Asia’s security architecture. By focusing on China’s security discourse, the article offers a fresh lens for understanding the politics of counterterrorism in South Asia and the broader implications of discursive power in shaping regional order.Item China’s afghan odyssey: from war to prosperity in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan(World Scientific, 2024) Ramachandran, VeenaFollowing the Taliban’s ascension to power, the Afghan government expresses a keen interest in affiliating with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The prospective inclusion of Afghanistan in the BRI holds the promise of a profound impact on the Afghan economy, security dynamics, and overall stability. Concurrently, such an association can advance Beijing’s strategic interests within its domestic sphere and the broader regional context. Within the intricate geopolitical milieu of Afghanistan, characterized by ongoing legitimacy concerns, China’s escalating engagement assumes paramount importance, bearing substantial consequences for both Afghanistan and Beijing. This paper examines China’s investment and aid strategies in Afghanistan pre- and post-Taliban ascension to power in 2021. Additionally, it delves into the identification and analysis of the pivotal land transport network in Afghanistan, particularly in the context of its potential integration with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and participation in the BRI, assessing the consequential advantages thereof. Furthermore, it scrutinizes the dynamic diplomatic and security relations between China and Afghanistan, with a focus on safeguarding China’s strategic assets in the region. The authors utilize qualitative research, incorporating primary and secondary data from government documents, official speeches, interviews with experts, and various research works. The study concludes that China has increased investments in Taliban-led Afghanistan, confident that Afghanistan’s participation in BRI could reshape its economy, strengthen Beijing’s strategic position in minerals and energy, and considerably improve Afghanistan’s security environment. The research provides valuable insights for policy debates and international efforts to promote stability and long-term growth in a war-torn nation.Item Secularism with Chinese Characteristics: Xi Jinping's Sinicization of Islam in Xinjiang(AIRTI, 2023) Ramachandran, VeenaChina has a long history of Muslims, constituting 1.6 % of the total population. However, modern China has a complex relationship with the Uyghur Muslims, the ethnic Turks who inhabit the North-western Province of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). The ethnoreligious complexity and indigeneity of Uyghur Muslims created a threat perception at the periphery. Consequently, the State employed wide-ranging strategies to assimilate or Sinicize the Uyghurs since the creation of the People's Republic of China. However, Sinicizing strategies such as the Western Development Program (WDP) alienated the Uyghurs rather than assimilated them. The Urumqi riot of 2009 exemplified the impact of such alienation. The post-Urumqi riot scenario has impacted Xi Jinping's focus on Sinicizing foreign religions where Islam is prioritized. Xi Jinping emphasized providing Chinese orientation to religions and urged them to embrace secularism with Chinese characteristics. Consequently, the Chinese regime normalized the human rights violations of detained Uyghurs in the de-extremification camps in Xinjiang, calling it re-education or skill training. It intends to redefine the space of religion in general and Islamic faith and practices in specific. Based on this context, the article examines the conceptualization of secularism with Chinese characteristics and its impact on the Sinicization of Islam in China. The paper explores the Chinese State's design of social re-engineering of Uyghurs that enables the authorities to control the religiosity of the Uyghurs. The paper employs discourse analysis followed by descriptive and analytical methods. The paper is divided into two parts. The first part deals with conceptualizing secularization and its application in the Chinese context. The second part deals with the Sinicization of Islam in Xinjiang, which results in cultural genocide focusing on the Xi Jinping regime. The paper argues that secularism with Chinese characteristics is nothing but the new version of the old project of Sinicization. However, what differentiates it from the past is its implementation which is more institutional, coercive, and unapologetic with an organized effort of cultural genocide. The State initiated a social re-engineering program to depoliticize Uyghurs, and the de-extremification camps are one of the steps adopted in that direction. It is done by distinctively attributing representations of good and bad Muslims, thereby institutionalizing coercive strategies in Islam's adaptation to modern Chinese society and polity.Item OPINION: China expanding clout in Sri Lanka’s politics, after dominating economy(The Week, 2020-07-29) Ramachandran, VeenaThe impending general elections in Sri Lanka, which are scheduled to be held on August 5, present a significant trajectory of power politics in the Indian Ocean region that features China’s expanding dominance. As the election campaign heats up in the island nation, the political parties have no dearth of domestic issues to discuss and debate. But what observers are interested most in are the strategic investments and foreign policy decisions that dominate the election campaign and shape the domestic political discourse. This very pattern exemplifies the role of Sri Lanka in catalysing strategic power projection by the major regional players in the Indian Ocean in the coming years. ‘Mask’ diplomacy “China and Sri Lanka are true friends sharing weal and woe.” This is an excerpt from an official statement by the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka while declaring its donation of 3,00,000 face masks to the island nation as part of China’s mask diplomacy amid COVID-19. The pandemic has rejuvenated the Sino-Sri Lankan engagement through consistent aid diplomacy from the Chinese side. China has granted $500 million as a concessionary loan upon request from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa apart from sharing the COVID-19 combat experience with the Sri Lankan authorities. China is the only country that has created a COVID-19 emergency fund as part of its COVID-19 aid initiative. Sri Lanka was also included in Jack Ma’s COVID-19 aid package along with a few south and Southeast Asian countries. Interestingly, the US and EU pledges of assistance came much later, and the Chinese aid had already started flowing by then.