Rejaul Karim Laskar is an Indian politician and scholar of India's foreign policy. He is a former Congress ideologue and has written extensively on the policies of the United Progressive Alliance governments. He is also an eminent scholar of India's foreign policy and diplomacy with his scholarly work having been recognized as constituting a "a major contribution to contemporary diplomatic history" of India.
He is former Spokesperson of Assam Pradesh Congress Committee and former Secretary of AICC Vichar Vibhag (the Intellectual Department of the All India Congress Committee).
He has also served in the past, in the capacity of Observer (Minority Department) to the All India Congress Committee in Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram.
As a Scholar of India's Foreign Policy
According to former Foreign Secretary of India Amb. Shyam Saran, Dr. Rejaul Karim Laskar has made "a major contribution to contemporary diplomatic history" of India through his book Forging New Partnerships, Breaching New Frontiers: India's Diplomacy during the UPA Rule 2004-14 (published by Oxford University Press, a Department of the University of Oxford). Laskar’s book was published after getting due approval from the ‘Delegates of the Press’ of the University of Oxford (a body headed by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford ).
According to the former National Security Advisor of India Amb. Shivshankar Menon, Dr. Rejaul Karim Laskar's scholarly work constitutes "a seminal addition to works on Indian diplomacy".
Prof. Sumit Ganguly, Rabindranath Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations, Indiana University-Bloomington— one of the leading authorities on India’s foreign policy— describes Laskar’s book as "most impressive, thoughtful and insightful volume".
The Executive Director of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy Dr. Vivian S. Walker has prescribed Laskar’s book as a "required reading for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners interested in the emergence of India as a rising power".
Activities as a Congress Ideologue
As an ideologue of the Congress party, Laskar has written extensively to popularize the foreign policy of the Congress party led UPA Government. He asserts that "the ultimate objective" of the foreign policy of the UPA Government has been "to shape India’s external environment" in a way that enhances India’s security and brings about its "rapid, sustainable and inclusive" economic growth. He claims that by means of an "enlightened" foreign policy, carried out through "dynamic and effective" diplomacy, the UPA Government has “successfully promoted” India’s interests on a “broad range of issues, including trade, development, economic recovery, climate change, energy security and counter terrorism”.
Laskar argues that the UPA government has successfully removed the "imbalance" which was allegedly brought in by the previous NDA government in India’s foreign policy. He observes that while the foreign policy of the UPA government has been "firmly committed" to India’s "core national values", the government has, at the same time, pursued a strategy of "dynamic adaptation" to changes in India's external environment.
Laskar is a strong supporter of the Indo-US nuclear agreement concluded by the UPA Government led by Dr. Manmohan Singh and the G. W. Bush administration and claims that the agreement is the first step for India to become a part of the management of the global nuclear order in particular and that of the new world order in general. He terms this agreement as a "diplomatic masterstroke" of the UPA Government, which has put India on the "path of becoming a privileged member" of the global nuclear order from that of being a "victim of discrimination" by the same regime. In fact, he claims that "nuclear diplomacy" of the UPA government has been the "most brilliant component" of UPA government's diplomacy. He argues that UPA Government's "nuclear diplomacy" has ensured that India gets international recognition as a "responsible state with advanced nuclear technology" in addition to bringing to an end the "three decades of technology denial to India".
Laskar also claims that the UPA government has made "great strides" in India's Look East policy and at the same time ensured that this policy "contributes substantially" to India's national interest-both economic and security.
As regards neighborhood policy, Laskar argues that the UPA Government's diplomacy strived for a "stable, prosperous, democratic and peaceful neighborhood" by means of "sustained political engagement, economic partnership, enhanced connectivity, developmental assistance and people-to-people contacts".