SOAS academic awarded British Academy fellowship for FCDO policy research
Dr Avinash Paliwal, SOAS Reader in International Relations, will conduct research for the government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) after being awarded the British Academy’s Innovation Fellowship.
Dr Paliwal, who has been awarded a grant of £104,128, will spend the year on secondment at the FCDO, working on their long-term policy priorities in the areas of India and other South Asian states. His fellowship takes place following the publication of the government’s Integrated Review Refresh 2003 which sets out ways to respond to a more contested and volatile world.
This role will challenge my assumptions about contemporary Britain as much as the Indian subcontinent
On this new endeavour, Avinash said: “I am honoured and excited to be awarded the British Academy Innovation Fellowship. It will allow me to work with and learn from Britain’s finest strategic thinkers. The secondment as a civil servant to the FCDO offers unique opportunities to bridge the gap between academic knowledge and foreign policy practice.
“This role will challenge my assumptions about contemporary Britain as much as the Indian subcontinent, and help me target shared priorities in future academic research.”
Avinash specialises in the International Relations of South Asia and is the author of My Enemy’s Enemy – India in Afghanistan from the Soviet Invasion to the US Withdrawal, detailing India’s role in Afghanistan during and after the Cold War. His forthcoming book, India’s Near East – A New History (Hurst, 2024) unpacks India’s faltering attempts to exert control over its eastern hinterland and the neighbouring states of Bangladesh and Myanmar.
A member of the SOAS Department of Politics and International Studies and former Deputy Director of the SOAS South Asia Insitute, Avinash will deploy his expertise in Indian and South Asian politics in the FCDO secondment.
