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https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ Theses Digitisation: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/research/enlighten/theses/digitisation/ This is a digitised version of the original print thesis. Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] THE NON-COMPLIANT BEHAVIOUR OF THE SMALL STATES OF SOUTH ASIA: NEPAL AND BANGLADESH IN RELATION TO INDIA by Shaheen Afroze A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Department of Politics University of Glasgow October 1994 © Shaheen Afroze 1994 ProQuest Number: 10992253 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10992253 Published by ProQuest LLO (2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLO. ProQuest LLO. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.Q. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ’ GLASGOW^ UNivERsnr l ib r a r y ABSTRACT This thesis is a story of a particular type of behaviour of small states in their relations with a big state. The small states in this study are Nepal and Bangladesh while the big state is India and the behaviour examined is non- compliance. The non-compliant behaviours of Nepal and Bangladesh in their relations with India reveals an anomaly of power prediction based on the notion of power as universal, monolithic, quantifiable and highly fungible entity that can be acquired, possessed, accumulated, measured and used irrespective of time and contexts. Departing from such an explanation of power, which can only predict compliant and dependent behaviour of the small states, this study seeks to place its emphasis on a contextual explanation. An understanding of non-compliance, using a contextual explanation, requires focusing both on small state's 'Motivation to Defy' and 'Capability to Resist'. Within a contextual framework, this study explores the conditions that generate Nepal and Bangladesh's motivation to defy. These conditions include 'Vital-ness of Issues', 'Ambition of the Ruler', and 'Political Tilt of the Ruling Party'. The contextual analysis implies that the non-tangible power resources show no less prospects than their tangible counterparts in aiding our understanding of non-compliance. Given policy contingency frameworks characterised by the motivational conditions, the non-tangible power resources (NTPRs) that appear to constitute Nepal and Bangladesh's 'capability to resist' include popular pressure and popular support, leadership strength, external political support and geo-political leverage. The study concludes that, given the policy contingency frameworks, these non-tangible power resources enabled Nepal and Bangladesh to be non-compliant, but to a limited extent. The existence of non-compliance in the repertoire of the small states under study also suggests that their behaviours are not fundamentally different from that of the big states. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page A b stra ct i Table of Contents ii List of Tables üi List of Figures iv List of Maps v Dedication vi Acknowledgements vii Declaration ix Introduction 1 Chapter 1 ; Differing Perceptions of Relationship 13 Chapter 2 : Literature Survey 36 Chapter 3 : Framework of Inquiry 63 Chapter 4 : Foreign Policy Behaviour of Nepal with 107 In d ia Chapter 5 : Foreign Policy Behaviour of Bangladesh 210 w ith In d ia Chapter 6 : The Indian Response and the Extent of 303 Non-Compliance of Nepal and Bangladesh Conclusion 339 Bibliography 345 Appendix 1 367 Appendix 2 375 Appendix 3 383 Appendix 4 388 Appendix 5 393 11 LIST OF TABLES Page Table 4.1 : A Summary of the Instances of NCB during 139 King Mahendra Regime (1955-1959) along with the Conditions of Motivation to Defy and the NTPRs Used to Explain Them Table 4.2 : A Summary of the Instances of NCB during 168 King Mahendra Regime (1960-1972) along with the Conditions of Motivation to Defy and the NTPRs Used to Explain Them Table 4.3 : A Summary of the Instances of NCB during 198 King Birendra Regime (1972-1990) along with the Conditions of Motivation to Defy and the NTPRs Used to Explain Them Table 5.1 : Agreement to Share the Ganges as per the 229 Ad Hoc Agreement, 1975 Table 5.2 : Depth-Method Baselines drawn by 238 B angladesh Table 5.3 : A Summary of the Instances of NCB during 243 Mujib Regime (1972-1975) along with the Conditions of M otivation to Defy and the NTPRs Used to Explain Them Table 5.4 : A Summary of the Instances of NCB during 275 Zia Regime (1975-1981) along with the Conditions of M otivation to Defy and the NTPRs Used to Explain Them Table 5.5 : A Summary of the Instances of NCB during 296 Ershad Regime (1982-1990) along with the Conditions of M otivation to Defy and the NTPRs Used to Explain Them 111 LIST OF FIGURES Page 14 Figure 1.1 : The Different Forms of Perceptions 26 Figure 1.2 : Foreign Policy Focus of India and its N e ig h b o u rs 77 Figure 3.1 : A Schematic Diagram of the Contextual Framework for Understanding NCB of Nepal and Bangladesh 87 Figure 3.2 : The Conditions of Motivation to Defy and Maslow's Need Hierarchy Theory Figure 3.3 : The Relationship between Capability to 101 Resist (CR) and Non-compliance 304 Figure 6.1 : Reproduction of Figure 3.3 IV LIST OF MAPS Page 12 Map of South Asia 106 Map of Nepal 209 Map of Bangladesh Map Showing the Disputed Island 240 Map Showing the Indian Proposal on Augmentation 269 of Ganges Flows 270 Map Showing the Bangladesh Proposal on Augmentation of Ganges Flows To my parents VI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indebted to • my supervisor Dr. C. M. Mason of the Department of Politics, Glasgow University, for his penetrating criticisms and constructive comments as well as his encouragement in every stage of my thesis. • the Department of Politics, Glasgow University for providing the necessary facilities for my research. Professor Stephen White for his consideration, support, and encouragement and Dr. Richard C. Crook for his generous advise, invaluable comments and guidance. • my employer, Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies for granting me leave to carry out this research and my colleagues in the institute for giving me encouragement and support. • Association of Commonwealth Universities for funding my research and the British Council for the administrative support. • all those respondents in Bangladesh, India and Nepal for giving their valuable views through interviews and discussions. My special thanks to the Institute for Defense Studies and Vll Analysis, New Delhi, for arranging the interviews and my stay in India. • to Professor S. Khan, our families and all our well-wishers for their generous help and assistance. • my husband, Moyeen who despite his preoccupation with his own thesis provided me encouragement and support in every stage of my thesis. And most of all my four year old daughter Sana who had to bear with us the pressures of Ph. D since she was born. Vlll DECLARATION No portion of the work referred to in this study has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification in this or any university or any other institution of learning. IX INTRODUCTION To a large extent, the politics of South Asia are covered by the Morgenthau paradigm; "international politics, like all politics, is a struggle for power. Not only the three wars fought between India and Pakistan since independence, but also the continuing hostility, and rapidly heightening conventional arms race, now with its nuclear dimension, bear out Morgenthau's law in the context of South Asian politics. According to him, all states are impelled by the urge to amass, protect and manipulate power; power is the single 'national interest' of everyone^. But does the foreign policy behaviour of small states pose special problems of understanding, which challenge our general conceptions of the nature of international relations? Do we find boundaries to the applicability of the Morgenthau paradigm? Do we find small states challenging the widely acknowledged "laws" of power politics? What are the most advantageous ecological niches for them? Do large states behave differently in their dealings with small states, and depart from the rigorous application of these "laws"? And if small is different, what adjustment must be made in our general conception of international relations.? These are the questions examined in this thesis, in the context of India's relations with its much smaller neighbours: Nepal and Bangladesh. The history of war and diplomacy in South Asia since 1947 reveals a steady development of power structures. Not long after the partition of the sub- 1 Morgenthau H. J, Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace. 4th edition, New York, 1967, p. 25. 2 Ibid. p. 26. continent, Nehru proclaimed that the new India was the successor of British India and had inherited the mantle of glory that the British had worn.3 To project itself as the security manager of the region India would therefore play a great role in the world starting with South Asia.