Previewing Pakistan's 2018 General Election
On 12 July 2018, IPCS hosted a panel discussion, titled 'Previewing Pakistan's 2018 General Election' to deliberate on the various factors at play in the upcoming polls in Pakistan (scheduled for 25 July 2018). The interaction took place from 1500-1645 hrs in the IPCS Conference Room.
Read the discussion report here.
PROGRAMME
1500-1505 hrs | Introductory Remarks
Q | How will the following factors/issues influence voting in the 2018 national assembly elections in Pakistan and why?
1505-1515 hrs | Military and Foreign Policy
Rana Banerji | Member, IPCS Governing Council, and former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat
1515-1525 hrs | Domestic Factors (Social/Economic/Miscellaneous)
Sushant Sareen | Senior Fellow, Observer Research Foundation
Q | Who is likely to win the 2018 general elections in Pakistan?
1525-1535 hrs | PTI's prospects and role of opposition and regional parties
Dr TCA Raghavan | Member, IPCS Governing Council, and former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan
1535-1545 hrs | PML-N's prospects and role of opposition and regional parties
Dr Ashok Behuria | Fellow and Coordinator of the South Asia Centre, Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
1545-1600 hrs | Speakers' Roundtable
Rana Banerji
Sushant Sareen
Dr TCA Raghavan
Dr Ashok Behuria
1600-1645 hrs | Q&A
1645 hrs | Tea
SPEAKERS
Rana Banerji is Member, Governing Council, IPCS. He joined the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) in 1972. Subsequently he served as a senior bureaucrat in the Central Government for 28 years, retiring as Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, in 2009. During his service years he dealt with security and intelligence-related issues impinging on National Security Policy formulation, with focused expertise on the South Asian region. He is a member of the Indian Council of World Affairs’ Core Group on Pakistan.
Dr TCA Raghavan is Member, Governing Council, IPCS. He is a former Indian diplomat and served as India's High Commissioner to Pakistan (2013-2015) and as the Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad (2003-2007). His previous diplomatic assignments include postings in Bhutan, Kuwait, Singapore and the UK. Dr Raghavan has a PhD in History from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. His first book, Attendant Lords: Bairam Khan and Abdur Rahim, Courtiers and Poets in Mughal India, was published in February 2017, and his second book, The People Next Door: The Curious History of India-Pakistan Relations was published in August 2017.
Dr Ashok K Behuria is a Fellow and Coordinator of the South Asia Centre at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi. Prior to joining IDSA in 2003, he worked as Assistant Director at the International Centre for Peace Studies, New Delhi. Dr Behuria has also been Editor of International Studies, the prestigious research journal from Jawaharlal Nehru University, and has been in the Editorial Boards of Journal of Peace Studies and Strategic Analysis, IDSA's flagship journal. He has taught at the University of Delhi and Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. He is a close observer of developments in South Asia and has been awarded the prestigious K Subrahmanyam Award for excellence in strategic studies for his work on Pakistan in 2009.
Sushant Sareen is Senior Fellow, Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi. Prior to this, he was Senior Fellow, Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), New Delhi. Between 2002 and 2004, he was the Honorary Director, Pakistan Centre at ORF. He has also been associated as a Consultant on IDSA's Pakistan Project. He is a columnist and a political commentator and has published and spoken on various media platforms such as Aaj Tak, ABP News, IBN7, ANI, Radio Pakistan, PTV, Lok Sabha TV, DD News etc. His recent publications include Balochistan: Forgotten War, Forsaken People (Monograph, 2017); Corridor Calculus: China-Pakistan Economic Corridor & China’s Comprador Model of Investment in Pakistan (Monograph, 2016); and Zarb-e-Azab: An evaluation of Pakistan Army’s anti-Taliban operations in North Waziristan (Monograph, 2015).