- Social Innovation Fellowship
Award Year
Our project is driven by the belief that the next generation of Indian and Pakistani leaders must be prepared to work together. Unfortunately, it is also inspired by the realization that there seem to be limited opportunities for dialogue and for the building of relationships between Indian and Pakistani youth within South Asia. We believe that such a dialogue would promote awareness, remove misconceptions, and unveil greater avenues for collaboration. Networks for Peace therefore seeks to encourage such conversation between Indian and Pakistani students through a combination of web-based social media technology and face-to-face meetings. It uses this model to create ongoing, policy-oriented dialogues and collaborative research initiatives between top university students in India and Pakistan.
Network for Peace Press:
Students aim to expose India Pakistan conflict
Brown Daily Herald, February 26, 2009
Personal Statement
My deep interest in the Indo-Pak conflict stems from my heritage and personal background with the issue. I was born in India, and immigrated to America at the age of 5. Growing up, I spent many summers in India visiting my family, as well as doing work centered specifically on the issue of an absence of a neutral space for ongoing dialogue and peaceful interaction between youths from Pakistan and India. My hope is that, through Networks for Peace, a connection can be made at an early stage between future policy-makers and the people and problems that are most marginalized in current policy in South Asia, and could most benefit from a collaborative engagement from all sides. I believe the most effective way to strengthen chances for future global peace is to connect these young people and challenge them to develop innovative perspectives and solutions to the stale problems at the root of such conflicts.