ABOUT THE BOOK

This book essentially draws on a collection of articles presented at the two day International Conference on Reconstruction Process in Afghanistan, held in New Delhi, on April 23-24, 2008. The conference was sponsored by the Ministry of External Affairs and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and was attended by scholars, activists, NGOs practitioners, government officials, diplomats, ambassadors and the ministry of external affairs. Covering a wide range of issues ranging from Economy and Society to Strategic and Security Concerns, the book gives a deep insight into the ground realities of Afghanistan. India has been one of the fore runners in the reconstruction process of Afghanistan and is among the top five countries who are actively participating in the reconstruction process. India`s pledge towards Afghanistan`s reconstruction process has now reached to the tune of 1.2 billion US$. Nevertheless human security continues to be a haunting problem in Afghanistan even today. The tremendous loss of lives, the continued food insecurity, the displacement of approximately six million people and the disabling of three million, in addition to the severe reduction in social services, continue unabated. It is exactly seven years since the Bonn agreement was signed. What are the ground realities today? How far have the objectives been met with? How secure is Afghanistan today? What are the major security concerns and how to address these? These were some of the issues which were deliberated at the international conference and have been captured through articles meticulously presented by international and national scholars of repute. This book will be of immense use to the researchers, academicians and the policy makers.

ABOUT Author

Dr. Mondira Dutta, is currently the Director & the Division Coordinator of the Central Asian Area Studies Programme, CSCSEASWAPS, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. With 32 years of teaching and research experience, her fields of specialization include Gender Studies & Human Security with particular reference to India, Afghanistan and Central Asia. She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award, at the International Congress of Women, New Delhi on 7th March 2009 by United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan and the Govt. of India. She has been a Consultant to several national and international organisation.