Paper short abstract:

The paper makes the case for the existence of two distinct variations of communities of practice in South Asia, i.e. a bilateral and a multilateral communtiy of practice.

Paper long abstract:

The paper makes the case for the existence of two distinct variations of communities of practice in South Asia. The community of practice and cognitive-evolution framework was originally developed by Emanuel Adler and centred on NATO and the transformation of Central and Eastern European countries. This paper develops Adler's approach further by transcending the latter's focus on institutional transformation and introduces the hybrid concept of the bidirectional community of practice. First, there is a bilateral community of practice centred on the subcontinent's core state, India, and now linking every South Asian state with New Delhi in the security sphere. Furthermore, there is a multilateral community of practice in the form of three pillars of cooperative-security practices anchored in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The significance of both the norm of non-interference and non-intervention for South Asia is reflected in both these communities of practice which represent the highest possible degree of inter-state security cooperation possible, including military training, political dialogue, the (cognitive) fight against terrorism, and trans-national crimes.